TORONTO, January 22, 2010 /Canada NewsWire/ - The continuing joint force partnership to combat credit debit and credit card frauds between the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau (OCEB) - Identity Crimes Unit and Durham Regional Police Major Crime - Fraud Unit (DRPS) has resulted in the arrest of seven males and two females for point-of-sale terminal "pin pad" tampering.
The investigation which began in the Parry Sound area in November 2009 identified a group of suspects who were responsible for numerous incidents of credit card terminal tampering across the Greater Toronto area and Ontario. The investigation determined these suspects were also responsible for the use of the fraudulent debit card data collected from the tampered "pin pads". The suspects targeted various retail establishments which conduct credit and debit card transactions without the knowledge of the various retailers.
On January 21, 2010 investigators from the OPP OCEB-Identity Crimes Unit and Durham Regional Police assisted by Peel Regional Police, Toronto Police and Canada Border Services executed nine search warrants across the Greater Toronto area. As a result of the warrants, investigators arrested nine persons and seized stolen point-of-sale terminal "pin pads", hundreds of forged debit cards encoded with stolen debit card data, computer equipment used to encode magnetic stripes and over $100,000 in cash.
Investigators have laid charges under the new Identity Theft legislation brought into Canadian law on January 8, 2010.
Police along with the banking industry continue to work together to detect and prevent these crimes, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars in losses each year in Canada.
Anyone with information in relation to this investigation is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Doug Cousens of the OPP Identity Crimes Unit at 1-905-671-6883 or Detective Jeff Caplan of the DRPS Major Crime - Fraud Unit at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5702.
Police caution the public to always be alert and aware when using their respective bank debit cards.
Anonymous information can be sent to Crime Stoppers where tipsters may be eligible for a $2,000 cash reward.
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