4 charged in credit-card skimming seizure

An illegally parked rental car in downtown Calgary led to one of the largest seizures of credit- and debit-card skimming equipment in the city's history.

Four men with suspected ties to organized crime in central Canada were arrested, said Calgary police on Thursday.

Patrol officers saw the car in front of the Eau Claire Market on Wednesday morning. Upon further investigation they found three PIN pads, commonly used in retail stores, that appeared to have been tampered with.

The three men inside the car were taken into custody for further questioning.

Police subsequently searched two suites at a northeast hotel and seized evidence relating to skimming equipment, including:

• Electronic data storage devices.
• 30 computer memory chips and gel pads.
• Credit cards.
• $4,000 cash.

A fourth man found in one of the rooms was also taken into custody.

The seized items could have compromised card readers of Calgary retailers, netting suspects tens of thousands of debit and credit card numbers and potentially millions of dollars, claimed police.

"If you are a victim of this event, you will always have your debit card with you but they have been able to retract information from your debit card," explained Const. Andrea Tirrell of the Calgary police economic crimes unit.

"So what will happen is they will take that information, they will apply it to another card of some sort, and then they'll use that card to purchase items or to make cash advances out of your account."

It's unclear if any there are any actual victims in Calgary, as investigators believe the suspects were in the city for only a few days.

Fourmen from Quebec, aged 19 to 29, have been each charged with one count of possession of instruments for forging or falsifying credit cards.

Further charges relating to counterfeit credit cards and the possession of stolen credit card data are pending, police added.