Photos of debit card fraud suspects released

RCMPhave released photosof two suspects and a person of interest in relationtothe recentrash ofdebit card frauds in Moncton.

The Codiac RCMP is investigating at least 36 casesof unauthorized transactions in the past week, some totalling thousands of dollars.

Early Feb. 16, three men entered a gas station convenience store on Champlain Street in Dieppe, Const. Damien Thriault stated in a news release.

One of the point-of-sale terminals at the counter was removed and replaced, so thesuspectscould obtain banking information from allcards swiped on thatterminal, he said.

Theterminal was removed by the service provider on March 5.

Meanwhile, a terminal at a restaurant on Mountain Road in Moncton may also have been tampered with, but police areunsure whenthat incident took place and whether the two incidents are related, said Thriault.

The investigation so far has shown that the information stolen from the cards was used in a foreign country to obtain funds fraudulently.

Checking statements

Paul Ward says he became suspicious after checking his accounts online.

"It started with a $15.76 charge and a $3 Interac charge,"which came from Malaysia, he said.

That was followed by$600 in other charges over two days.

Ward's Caisse populaire reimbursed him and contacted the RCMP.

"They told me that just that day they were up at 80 cases, just with the Caisse populaire," said Ward.

He believes his debit card was cloned at a gas station while his wife swiped it through the debit machine.

Ward said he's surprised at how easy it was for people to get into his account.

"I did feel a bit cheated by the system, thinking that something like that was secure and somehow you can be a victim."

He said he's now checking his statements a lot more closely.

Anyone with information isasked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.