Forged prepaid MasterCards alert
A forged prepaid MasterCard recently seized by Columbia Valley RCMP
by S/Sgt Marko Shehovac.
Columbia Valley RCMP have been looking into information in regards to an organized group of people in the valley who have been able to obtain numerous forged credit cards. The cards in particular are Mosaik MasterCards with West Jet Mile logo. It is believed that the cards originated in Montreal. A photograph is attached. A week prior to this search a number of these forged cards were seized during a routine police check.
The cards are marked “PREPAID CARD”. There is no name on the card however the MasterCard numbers attached to the cards are in fact actual card numbers belonging to innocent people who have had their cards compromised.
What the suspects in this case have been doing to many local businesses is take the prepaid card and purchase in bulk 10 gift certifiacte cards in the amount of $100.00 each. In most cases in the area gift certificates from gas stations have been marked as targets.
The suspects in theses instances have been males and described as having French accents. A number of identical cards were seized along with property that the police believe were purchased with the cards. This information will be shared with all surrounding detachments.
The important thing to remember in this instance is that it is the norm that prepaid cards do not have a signature block on the back. All the cards seized to date and the ones still outstanding have the same three digits of 261 on the back of the card.
It is believed that some of the cards have been sold to others in the community or distributed to others. The investigation is revealing that some of the users have been video taped using the cards.
The investigation is continuing.
Retailers must be suspicious of such transactions. Take complete photo identification and record this information.
Any person using the forged cards once identified will be charged. Property obtained from using the cards will result in each piece of property as one count of possession of stolen property.
Columbia Valley Detachment will be sharing this information with the local Chamber of Commerce who have the ability at the stroke of a key get this information out to Chamber members. The local Chamber will be forwarding this on to all Chamber of Commerce in the area as well as Alberta.
January 26, 2010
Invermere
Columbia Valley RCMP
