Store guard spots men suspected in fraud case

West Shore RCMP have arrested two men from the Lower Mainland suspected of making dozens of purchases using fraudulent credit cards at a big-box store in Duncan.

On Dec. 22, two men made a total of 85 transactions with different prepaid Visa or Mastercards at the Duncan Real Canadian Superstore. Fifty-four of those transactions went through and the rest were declined or cancelled.

North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP officers were alerted and on the lookout for the men.

On Thursday, a security guard at the Superstore in Langford recognized the two men from the fraudulent transactions in Duncan, after their video-surveillance images were shared among store employees. The security guard prevented the men from making a purchase and called West Shore RCMP officers, who arrested the pair.

The men were in possession of dozens of the fraudulent prepaid cards for denominations of $50, $100 and $200.

Police say the prepaid cards were loaded using stolen credit-card numbers from the United States. “Suspects will sometimes use the card numbers associated to active credit cards in the U.S., as they do not require a chip, whereas most Canadian cards require a chip,” said West Shore RCMP spokesman Const. Alex Berube.

The 18-year-old Vancouver man and 19-year-old Burnaby man are both facing 13 counts of fraud. Police continue to investigate and further charges could be laid. Both have been released on conditions and have a court date set for March 24.

Berube said it’s possible the two are part of a larger operation relating to credit-card fraud.

Information is being shared with other RCMP fraud investigators and with the U.S. Secret Service, Berube said.