Police crack high-tech bank card scam

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This article was published 14/06/2002 (8732 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Five people have been charged in a sophisticated, high-tech bank card skimming case in which police say forgers stole more than $100,000 from automatic teller machines and partied their way from Winnipeg to Jasper.

What made the alleged scheme possible is the apparent carelessness of debit cardholders when they made purchases at gas bars and a St. James-area video store, detectives say.

“It all comes down to you, the customer,” Det. Const. Gordon Perrier said yesterday. “People have to protect their PIN (personal identification number). Without the PIN, the scheme doesn’t work.”

Perrier and Det. Sgt. Clem Cormier said the scam was so simple in its deviousness that it essentially became a licence to print money. What did the ring in — it allegedly included two brothers and a brother and sister — is that they got too cocky, continuing to work even though they seemingly knew police were hot on their trail.

Here’s how it worked, police suspect:

z One of the five people got a job at a gas bar, usually submitting a false resume and a fake name before being hired.

Once working, they had direct access to debit cards. When someone made a purchase, the employee would secretly “skim” the card into a small electronic card reader, a small black device that reads the personal information contained in the magnetic strip on the back of bank and other cards, like an Air Miles card.

The card reader was plugged into a laptop computer, and once the card was covertly swiped, all information was then recorded on the hard drive.

The employee then watched as the customer punched in the PIN and memorized it.

So, now armed with the PIN and information from the card’s magnetic strip, the ring was then able to make a duplicate ATM card, using the card reader again, by reprogramming the customer’s information onto another card, like, for example, an A & B Sound or Petro Points card.

The ring then used that reprogrammed card to raid the customer’s bank account, sometimes inputting false deposits to inflate it and then withdrawing as much cash as they could.

“They went to a lot of work to do this,” Perrier said. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. This is easy money. This is huge money.”

The equipment the ring allegedly used, such as the card reader, is easily obtained, either over-the-counter or on the black market, police say.

Cormier said police first became aware of the scam last September, when they got involved in an unsolved fraud case in Lorette. Police had an ATM surveillance photo of a person taking money out of an account that wasn’t his, and linked him to the skimming scheme when a fellow officer complained his bank account had been emptied of $1,000.

That officer identified the suspect in the photo as being the same person who swiped his card at a gas bar just before the money went missing from his account.

Cormier said a member of the ring was first arrested and charged Feb. 5, but, on his release, was soon back at work, using more deceptive means to avoid capture. For example, police also seized a video camera they believe was surreptitiously recording people entering their PIN numbers at some locations.

As well, police suspect, ring members started wearing disguises or covering their faces when they withdrew money from ATMs.

They also toyed with police; one of them used Det. Const. Gordon Perrier’s name on a job application just before he was caught.

Police allege a member of the ring would only work at a business for a few days until they had obtained enough PINs and debit card information. The group would then leave the city to party, withdrawing money in Regina, Edmonton, Calgary and Jasper.

“They had an active lifestyle,” Perrier said.

In total, police believe about 60 people fell prey to the scam, losing an average of $2,000 each from their accounts after their debit cards had been forged. One person lost $5,000.

Perrier said the scam is more common in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, but that that shouldn’t dissuade people from protecting their bank card PIN.

Police say banks and credit unions have since reimbursed the customers the lost money.

The businesses where the alleged scam occurred are Dawson’s Shell Service in Lorette; Petro Canada at 142 Main St.; Esso Service Stations at 1678 Main, 1300 McPhillips St. and 1015 Notre Dame Ave.; and a Shell Service Station at 609 Regent Ave. A St. James video store was also involved, although police would not disclose its name.

Police have seized computer equipment, magnetic strip readers and other related material, including $2,700 in cash.

They also seized material related to the Hells Angels, a small decal on a black case saying, “Support Your Local Big Red Machine — Winnipeg.”

Cormier said investigators are still looking at whether the group had connections to organized crime.

Charged with trafficking in credit card data, possessing credit card data and possessing instruments of forgery are Rodney Bruce, 31, and Robert Kirk MacWilliams, 30.

Steven Matthew Bruce, 20, has been charged with trafficking credit card data, possessing credit card data and personation.

Chantelle Leclerc, 19, has been charged with trafficking in credit card data, possessing instruments of forgery and personation.

Anthony Leclerc, 20, has been charged with trafficking in credit card data, possessing credit card data and possessing instruments of forgery.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

PHOTO JOE BRYKSA/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS