REGINA – A rollover last month in Saskatchewan ended up with police seizing a large quantity of fake gift credit cards. The rollover happened late in the evening on March 21 on Highway 1 near Ernfold.
Mounties say an eastbound Dodge Durango entered the centre ditch and rolled, coming to a rest upright on its wheels. Two of the people inside were taken to hospital and have since been released.
During the initial investigation, officers found a firearm and seven grams of crystal meth.
Police then obtained a search warrant for the Durango where they found 30 altered gift cards, computers, two grams of cocaine and drug paraphernalia.
Investigators say the majority of the cards seized were Visa and MasterCard gift cards.
The real numbers, along with the amount of the gift card, had been sanded off. Police believe the suspects then embossed stolen credit card numbers onto the cards, along with expiry dates and a customer name – either “preferred customer” or the suspect’s name.
Police say the altered cards had a number of errors and were not of good quality.
The screen printed first four digits did not match and the last four digits on some signature strips did not match. The cards also had no magnetic stripe data and to finalize any sale, merchants would have to manually enter the numbers.
READ MORE: Unlicensed collection agents target Sask. consumers, businesses
Mounties are advising merchants who manually enter credit card numbers to carefully examine the card being used to make sure it hasn’t been altered. Purchases made on a fraudulent credit card are generally charged back to the merchant by credit card companies.
Three men from Calgary were arrested for possession of a controlled substance and were released with a promise to appear in Swift Current provincial court on June 15. Mounties say further charges are pending as they continue their investigation.
Comments