Merchants who manually enter credit card numbers are being urged to be vigilant after police discovered a number of forged credit cards in a vehicle rollover.
On March 21, RCMP reported that members from Morse detachment responded to a single vehicle rollover near Ernfold on Highway 1. A 2004 Dodge Durango had rolled in the ditch and two occupants were taken to hospital.
During the investigation a suspected firearm and seven grams of crystal meth were located and seized. Three people were charged and are to return to court in Swift Current June 15.
Afterwards, a search warrant was executed on the Durango and according to police, a number of altered gift cards were discovered, in addition to computers, two grams of cocaine and drug paraphernalia.
Police say the majority of the cards were Visa and MasterCard gift cards that had the real numbers sanded off along with the gift card amounts. Police say the suspects appear to have embossed stolen credit card numbers onto the cards along with expiry dates and the customer name, whether it be the suspect’s name or “preferred customer.” These cards had no magnetic stripe so it would have required merchants to manually enter the numbers to finish the sale.
The cards had many warning signs. Some had the screen-printed first four digits not matching, others had the last four on the signature strip that did not match either.
Police are urging merchants who manually enter credit card numbers to be aware of what they are doing and examine the card being used carefully. Police say these are not good quality forgeries and can be easily identified. If merchants suspect a card has been tampered with an alternative form of payment can be asked for. It should also be noted that if a merchant manually enters a fraudulent credit card number at the point of sale, the purchase amount is generally charged back to them by credit card companies.
