New 'store' front for bank card scam: police

Criminals are going to new lengths to swipe numbers of debit and credit cards, according to police in Ontario.

Ontario Provincial Police in Hawkesbury, about 100 kilometres east of Ottawa, say they've uncovered a fraud ring that started with a new store.

Police say a family incorporated a store on the town's main street in July selling clothing.

"There was lots of nice clothing," said Janick Myre of Hawkesbury. "I wanted to give my resume for a job, but when I came back on Monday, they weren't there."

Thieves posed as merchants and used a counterfeit cheque to rent the building. The store was abandoned after three days of business.

Police say they don't know how many people bought clothes there, but anyone who didn't pay with cash is at risk.

"Some clients went there and noticed they had more than one transaction taken off their cards," said Constable Pierre Dubois of the Hawkesbury OPP.

The thieves used computerized card readers, called skimmers, to swipe the cards and record their numbers. Once they have a number, they can create counterfeit cards.

In this case, the skimmer was disguised as a payment machine. It also recorded a customer's PIN.

Ottawa's police fraud unit warns it's seeing more types of scams like this one.

"The technology is easy to access. It's a huge money-making industry," said Sergeant Anda Pember of Ottawa Police.

The Canadian Bankers Association says skimming is on the rise. Last year, there were more than 27,000 fraudulent credit card transactions totalling more than $128 million. Statistics for debit cards are not available yet.

Police say three victims have come forward and they expect more to come. So far, there have been no arrests in the case.