The Calgary Police Service is hoping the public can help to identify a group of people who are buying up prepaid Visa gift cards using fraudulent credit cards.
In a release, police say that between November and mid-December, a man and two women have entered several food stores and retail outlets and used fake chip-and-pin credit cards which do not have a real ‘chip’ activated.
When the chip fails to work, the clerk has to swipe the card’s magnetic stripe, which has been loaded with information from a compromised credit card.
Police believe that the trio is working as part of a larger theft/fraud ring operating in the province.
The male suspect is described as:
- Caucasian
- 20 to 25 years old
- medium height
- medium build
- brown hair
- brown eyes
He was seen wearing a distinctive brown bomber-style jacket with a white, fur-trimmed collar. He has also been witnessed wearing a dark-coloured baseball cap.
The female suspects are in their late teens or early 20s, short, with slim builds and darker skin.
One suspect had black hair slightly below the shoulders while the other has waist-length black hair.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police, or Crime Stoppers anonymously using any of the following methods:
TALK: 1-800-222-8477
TYPE: tttTIPS.com
TEXT: tttTIPS to 274637
