The Laval Police have arrested an underage fraudster who allegedly convinced victims, including several seniors, to hand over their debit cards and personal identification numbers (PINs), which he then allegedly used to commit fraud.
The LPD believe that up to 30 fraud incidents may all be connected to the same suspect.
As part of the scheme, he would call victims at home and pretend to represent a financial institution.
He would then tell his targets that their bank card had been defrauded.
According to the LPD, the suspect used a classic ruse to deceive the victims.
“He would ask them to place their cards in an envelope and write the personal identification number (PIN) on the back,” said an LPD spokesperson.
“He then told them that a courier would pick up their cards at their home. Once retrieved, the cards were used to commit fraud at bank machines and businesses.”
However, in a few cases the courier called the victims back in a multi-party conference call, so that they could speak directly with a real representative of their financial institution to reactivate their card, which had been blocked on suspicion of fraud.