Stop what you’re doing and check the amount of points on any rewards program you’re enrolled in — particularly if it’s with RBC.
That advice came Wednesday from Vancouver police, who disclosed details of a credit card and identity fraud with a new twist — the scammers exchanged rewards points for gift cards.
Not all the points would have been taken because people would notice if their balance was suddenly zero, said Vancouver Detective Phil Ens.
He couldn’t pin down the exact amount of fraud, but said there were more than 100 victims.
“I would say in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Ens of the stolen funds, adding that recovered cars alone were worth $200,000.
The Project Lancer joint investigation, involving Vancouver police and the Canada Border Services Agency, began in January.
When the bust went down, police found ID and credit cards in a victim’s name, about 200 credit cards and ID in other names, stolen mail (from which the scammers got the details to enact fraud) and a credit card reader/writer.
Also recovered was $20,000 in e-gift and hard-copy gift cards, along with four cars.
One of the vehicles was a $51,000 Mitsubishi Lancer EVO purchased using a stolen identity. Also recovered were three stolen vehicles: a 2010 BMW 323i, a 2011 Ford Escape and a 2007 Honda motorcycle. A credit card manufacturing machine was found in a fraudulently rented 2011 Jeep Cherokee.
While RBC was a favourite of the fraudsters because their reward program allowed people to cash in points for gift cards without using a personal identity number, Sgt. Randy Fincham said: “It’s not just RBC.”
“What people need to do is look at their cards’ [monthly statements],” said Fincham.
Any irregularities need to be reported, said RBC, which is working to address any shortcomings in the security of their rewards program.
The scammers are alleged to have obtained their information from mail theft, as well as break-and-enters. Some of the personal information used in the fraud was apparently also obtained online.
A long list of fraud charges has been approved against a Surrey couple, 34-year-old Daniel Adam Suchecki and Christa Dawn Hucal, 25.
