Durham police yesterday said a male is in custody after tampering with gift cards at a grocery store in Oshawa.
On Tuesday, December 16, members of Central East Division responded to a fraud-in-progress at the Real Canadian Superstore located at 481 Gibb Street.
Loss prevention officials contacted police after they observed a male taking tampered gift cards out of his pockets and placing them on shelves near legitimate gift cards, police said.
It said this scam can be done in two ways once a criminal has stolen or manipulated gift cards from store racks. Criminals will either record the gift card numbers and PINs or replace legitimate gift card barcodes with fraudulent barcodes, before resealing the packaging so it looks untouched. The tampered cards are then placed back on shelves for unsuspecting customers to purchase. Once purchased and activated, the funds on the card are immediately drained by the criminals using the stolen details or swapped barcode.
Police attended the area and took the suspect into custody without incident. A search of the suspect and his vehicle located a large quantity of tampered gift cards, including those for: the LCBO, Home Depot, Petro Canada, Canadian Tire, Roots, the Keg, Amazon, Mastercard, and Ultimate Dining. The value of tampered gift cards would have been over $5,000 if purchased by the public.
The suspect was held for a bail hearing. Name and further details available at www.drps.ca.
Anyone with about this or similar incidents is asked to contact D/Cst. Azzano of the Financial Crimes Unit at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5364.
Editor’s Note: Durham Post does not name the accused parties as:
1. Of this time, they are suspect[s] and not convicted by a court, and
2. Sometimes charges are amended or dropped.