Check your credit card statements, online accounts and points accounts immediately.
This was the advice of Vancouver Police after a fraud investigation spanning several weeks led to a search warrant at a Surrey apartment, where two suspects, a male and female couple, were arrested and charged with a long list of offences.
While more than 100 victims of the scam have been identified, police believe there could be many more.
“We think it’s quite a bit bigger,” said VPD Sgt. Randy Fincham. “We think there’s a lot of people who may have accessed their credit card statements last night or logged into their points accounts and figured out that they’re missing some points, so we think this is sort of the tip of the iceberg.”
The scam, which impacted victims from all over B.C., Canada and parts of the United States, involved thieves accessing RBC Visa customers’ points accounts and purchasing gift cards with the victims’ points.
Surrey residents Daniel Adam Suchecki, 34, and Christa Dawn Hucal, 25, are facing a combined total of 217 credit card fraud and identity theft-related charges.
Others on the low end of the fraud ring have also been charged for stealing from mailboxes, post office boxes and cars to obtain credit cards, statements or other documents that can be used for identity theft purposes.
Seized in the search were approximately 200 credit cards and IDs in other peoples’ names, stolen mail, a credit card reader/writer and credit card data, along with $20,000 in gift cards and three stolen vehicles.
Also seized was a $51,000 Mitsubishi Lancer, which spawned the name of the investigation, Project Lancer.
Given the geographical scope of the fraud committed, police are urging everyone to check their credit card statements and points accounts, especially those with an RBC Visa.
