Surrey RCMP say a 30-year-old man was arrested and later charged with offences relating to fraud following a traffic stop in Whalley.
On Oct. 10, shortly after 9 p.m., a member of the Surrey RCMP Community Response Unit conducted a traffic stop “with a suspicious vehicle” near 107th Avenue and Old Yale Road, according to a release from police Tuesday (Oct. 20).
READ ALSO: Surrey man charged with series of break-ins in Surrey, Langley, Sept. 21, 2020
Police said that during the stop, the man used a stolen driver’s licence, and he was arrested for “obstruction for providing a false identity to the officer.”
After searching the vehicle, Surrey RCMP say officers seized “stolen credit card data, lock picks, demagnetization devices, and other items consistent with identity theft and fraud.”
The driver, 30-year-old Tyler Missen, was charged on Oct. 11 with “offences related to fraud, driving while prohibited, and breach of probation.”
“The items we recovered in this traffic stop are more than just data or credit cards numbers, they represent victims of crime,” said Sergeant Stuart Gray of the Surrey RCMP Community Response Unit. “Identify theft can have a significant personal impact on victims, Surrey RCMP will continue to conduct targeted traffic enforcement, disrupting criminal activity in the city.”
Surrey RCMP recommended the follow tips to prevent identity theft:
• Familiarize yourself with billing cycles for your credit and debit cards, as this information is of interest to thieves during mail thefts.
• Trash bins are a goldmine for identity thieves. Make sure you shred personal and financial documents before putting them in the garbage.
• Periodically check your credit reports, bank and credit card statements and report any irregularities promptly to the relevant financial institution and to the credit bureaus.
• When you change your address, make sure you notify the post office and your bank and credit card companies.
READ ALSO: Police warn of break-and-enters through unlocked windows in Surrey, Aug. 28, 2020
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