Charges laid in credit card, ID fraud scam
Bundles of blank cards, equipment seized from southeast residence
A Calgary man who was charged in September in connection with a vehicle odometer rollback scheme is facing fresh charges after police seized various machines and blank cards in a credit card and identification counterfeiting operation.
Officers with the economic crime unit’s fraud team launched a month- long investigation after receiving information from the RCMP about fraudulent purchases. Last Thursday, officers executed a search warrant at a home on Mahogany Heath S. E.
Police removed several items believed to be used to make fraudulent credit cards and identification cards, including bundles of blank credit cards and blank identification cards, electronic scanning devices, an electronic card printer, counterfeit credit cards, counterfeit vehicle registrations and an electronic device used to roll back vehicle odometers.
Police also seized a small amount of MDMA and marijuana.
Staff Sgt. Kristie Verheul with the economic crimes unit said many of the items seized, as well as counterfeiting templates and software, are easily obtainable online. She alleges credit card data was obtained through skimming sites either in or outside the city, and loaded onto blank credit cards, gift cards and even rewards cards.
“Those counterfeit credit cards were used to make purchases at merchants. Those items were also found within the search warrant — brand new items still in packaging. It is believed potentially those items would then be resold or used for personal benefit or gain. We also have seized two instruments believed to be used for odometer rollbacks,” Verheul said.
It’s too early to determine how much money was lost and how many victims were involved, she said.
“In a situation like this, the banks are the victims. There is no independent or any individuals that are the victims that we’ve tracked down to date in relation to credit card funds. There are some merchant impacts as well in certain circumstances, when these individuals go out and purchase items from a merchant,” she added.
Andriy Volodymryrovich Plyusnin, 28, of Calgary, was arrested at his home, where the search warrant was executed.
He was charged with three counts of fraud under $ 5,000, two counts of possession of credit card data, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, one count of possession of a counterfeit credit card, one count of possession of manufacturing equipment, one count of possession of government seals, and one count of possession of stolen property.
He was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
Last September, Plyusnin was charged with one count of fraud over $ 5,000 in connection with a vehicle odometer roll back scheme, in which more than 50 victims were defrauded of about $ 300,000.
An investigation was launched in January 2014 after a credit card company had notified the economic crimes unit about locally skimmed cards being used to pay for vehicle service and vehicle parts.
Police allege that over the course of three years, the accused purchased
Those counterfeit credit cards were used to make purchases at merchants. In a situation like this, the banks are the victims.
54 vehicles at an auction house and the odometers were rolled back before the vehicles were resold online. In one case, around 208,000 kilometres were rolled back.
While this most recent bust is only “one small dent” in the city’s counterfeit credit card and identification operations, Verheul said she hopes the many actions officers in her unit take will make a collective impact in cracking down on credit card labs.
She urged Calgarians to protect themselves from fraud by frequently looking through bills and credit card statements and conducting regular credit checks.