(Laval) A minor fraudster was arrested by the Laval police after he allegedly managed to convince several victims, often elderly, to give him their debit card and their personal identification number (PIN). The cards were then used to commit fraud.
The Laval Police Service (SPL) indicates that it has identified around thirty cases that have occurred since March and believes that the suspect could have caused other victims in the Montreal region.
As part of this scheme, a suspect called victims at their homes and pretended to be a representative of a financial institution. He then informed his targets that their bank card had been defrauded.
“After gaining their trust, he would ask them to place their cards in an envelope and write the personal identification number (PIN) on the back. He subsequently told them that a courier would pick up their cards at their residence. Once recovered, they were used to commit fraud at bank counters as well as in businesses,” explains the SPL.
The fictitious names of “Simon Cloutier” and “Simon Blais” would have been used in particular to identify the courier who was to travel to the victims.
The SPL also emphasizes having discovered a new element which alerted its investigators: “In the context of some cases, the courier would have called the victims back so that they could speak directly with a real representative of their financial institution in order to have their card reactivated which had been blocked for suspicion of fraud. Everything would have been carried out within the framework of a conference call with several parties. »
The Laval police force mentions that it is possible that the suspect could have been active and have caused other victims in the Greater Montreal region.
He recalls that it is imperative to never give personal information to a stranger, in particular bank or credit card numbers, and reiterates that no financial or government institution communicates by email, telephone or text message to request personal data.