Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 17, 1994, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press Tempo Section Gail c1 i police highly critical Over ease of credit card crime attic fraud by Bruce Owen staff writer there he Flash ing two unsigned Royal Bank visa cred it cards cards he came by illegally and that hell use to do some shop buy expensive meals and maybe some airline tickets for a Winter these Are As Good As he and its virtually impossible for me to get because no one not the not the not the credit card Welcome to the world of credit card fraud a crime which Cost the credit card Industry about million last year in Canada and billion around the in More than Canadian credit cards found their Way into the hands of thieves and fraud while these numbers sound intolerably the losses average about per considering an estimated 25 million credit cards Are in use in what perpetrates these losses is who would let alone an extra on their monthly credit card statement and do people consider credit card fraud to be a serious crime its not says Roland director of Security and risk management for Mastercard but irreparable damage is being when you think in the wrong and activated each card is Worth to that a lot of police say its not just the pub Lic which is Many they and even the credit card companies make it easy for Crooks to commit fraud and get away with As Long As some clerk at some store gets an authorization for the card and you sign it it Doest matter what name you sign accept it because they still get their says Dan fierce of the Winnipeg police commercial crime and its the same with some of the credit card companies and in theres one com Pany which has made it its policy that store clerks dont have to ask for id or a phone number they want to make it As easy As possible for the Cus Tomer to use the who spends much of his time investigating credit card says a big part of the problem is the lucrative Ness of the credit card in the credit card companies Only lost about one per cent of their earnings to during the last couple of that Fig ure has climbed five per and until that number gets there not going to take any theres just too much Money to be to its there still making a huge and the Bottom line is that the vast majority of card holders Are still according to the major credit card companies want As Many people As possible using their if fraud is Mak ing cards tougher to then people wont use them As freely As they do they Are so greedy for the fierce they want people to get and use their fierce and John Ormon Droyd say if credit card Compa Nies were genuinely committed to eliminating they make it tougher for thieves to acquire legitimate credit one of the easiest ways for them to get cards is to steal them through the mail or from some ones for last september two men were arrested in the cites North end using a Home made Mailbox key to open apart ment mailboxes to steal credit fierce and Ormondroyd say such theft is common and accounts for about 12 per cent of All credit card fraud in another Way is to rip off Canada Post drop off or to Sim ply follow a letter Carrier and steal mail from residential mail take these Steps to guard your card heres How you can protect your credit card report lost or stolen credit cards Fri never give your credit card number Over the b More credit cards Are stolen in the never leave them b never leave credit cards in your b never lend your b sign new cards As soon As you get b when using a always keep it in Fri examine sales draft so additional charges cant be added b destroy Carbon b keep receipts and compare to monthly Jeff free press such thefts net Crooks an unsigned credit card which has not been reported All the thief has to do is make As Many purchases or Cash advances As possible within a Short the card is Only reported stolen when the legitimate Holder gets his monthly statement and notices All the purchases he didst of the legitimate Holder int held liable because he never got the if the Crook is the thefts Are virtually so there is Little fierce and Ormondroyd say such Brazen crimes could be eliminated if the credit card companies required card hold ers to sign for renewal cards at their Bank or if the cards were sent through registered but they dont want to do it that because they do not want to inconvenience the Cus fierce maybe that tells you How seriously they treat Michael Vic president of Security for the Canadian Bankers Assoc a says credit card companies dont use registered mail because its not immune from theft and he dismisses the idea of picking a card up at the Bank As being too great an inconvenience for honest card the basis of the business is to make sure the customer has the card in he major card companies to Royal Bank Cibic american express and Bank of Montreal Mastercard each refer Calls to there Are no easy he i can Tell you the cred i card companies do care about fraud and Are spending millions of dollars to make it More for credit card companies Are experimenting with systems in which the card can Only be activated by the actual and in the United Citibank visa has introduced a card with a photo of the holders face on the much like a Drivers to thwart Ballard and Macdonald maintain the toughest obstacle to overcome is that society and Short staffed police View credit card fraud As a Low priority the fact is the More we pre vent the better off we because in the end Well All Macdonald fierce and Ormondroyd agree to a they say they solve about 25 per cent of their credit card fraud cases when they have the time and evidence to follow up the they must take a harder line on for if youre caught using a credit card illegally in youll Likely get a sus Pended sentence with restitution for a first even though the maximum punishment is 10 years in our courts Here dont look at this Type of crime As they do in the fierce we dont seem to get the courts treat it As a victimless like the rest of fierce lawyers and judges will continue to perceive credit card fraud As a victimless until their rates go use of counterfeit cards doubles by Bruce Owen staff writer got a credit card then youve basically got a licence to the Only thing keeping you from crossing the line buying something and then reporting your card lost or stolen is that youre and so Are the vast majority of card credit card fraud comes in several most involves lost or stolen cards about 57 per cent of credit card fraud activity in this Type of fraud is now on the not because of what police and cred i card companies Are but because Crooks Are getting sophisticated counterfeit credit cards which pass As the real thing now account for about 24 per cent of credit card fraud in in the Canadian Bankers association says the number of counterfeit cards in circulation has More than Dou bled in the past organized primarily asian crime has mastered the process of stamping the cards and printing the Neces sary information on the magnetic strips on the Back of each even visas Holographic Dove and Mastercard once thought to be impossible to have been accurately these popular in East Ern Canada and the West have made their Way to win where there used by Small criminal its not the Guy on the Street Corner who is doing this sort of says John Ormon Droyd of the Winnipeg police departments commercial crime its fairly counterfeit cards come in three varieties either lost or stolen cards altered in some Way White plastic Blanks on which legitimate cards have copied or outright fakes produced by skilled Ormondroyd says police have had Good Success controlling use of the cards in usually through confidential tips they no sooner get going than we grab he 91miata or 89 Park or 89 Corolla 8987 or Hoied r c f f f their Way into the hands of Small criminal counterfeit credit cards have made but these 90 integral or prix or 89 929 or Down or equivalent Trade 36 to term 20 Down payment 49 lease used vehicles 89camry 92f150 or 89 Accord Exi or 111 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