The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) announced on Tuesday the arrest of eight suspects in connection with a hundred frauds of the “false representative” type committed against seniors living in the boroughs of Anjou, Montreal North and Saint-Léonard.
The eight suspects, aged 19 to 21, were apprehended following a police investigation that lasted several weeks, the official said. SPVM, in a press release. Searches carried out in two residences located in Bois-des-Filion and Terrebonne, as well as in eight vehicles, led to the seizure of cell phones, bank cards, transaction records, uniforms and an air gun. .
Released on a promise to appear at the Montreal courthouse next September, the eight suspects will face multiple charges, the court said. SPVM.
Well-oiled stratagem
The scheme used by the fraudsters is essentially the same in the 110 fraud files analyzed by investigators from the Economic Crimes Section of the SPVM.
First, a suspect phones a vulnerable elderly person posing as an employee of a financial institution, using an app that pops the institution’s name on the victim’s caller ID.
Then, he tells the victim that there has been a fraudulent transaction on his bank card and that there is an urgent need to act to correct the situation. Thus, he asks the elderly person to provide him with his personal identification number (PIN), to put his bank card in an envelope, and assures him that a postman will pick it up to bring it back to the financial institution.
A uniformed accomplice then takes over and goes to the victim’s residence to retrieve the envelope and clear off.
In the 110 files consulted, the fraudsters were able to make ATM withdrawals or make various purchases with the stolen cards, according to the SPVMwhich calls for caution.
Radio CanadaMartin Leclerc
Source: Radio-Canada
