Achi news desk-
Six Calgary residents have been charged in connection with a credit card scam involving Sports Select and Keno.
Raymond RCMP and the Western Canada Lottery Corporation worked together to take down a series of crimes known as “manual transaction entry fraud” that occurred at convenience stores in Raymond, Lethbridge, Vegreville, Two Hills and Sundre between Dec. 31, 2023 and Feb. 26, 2024.
The scam involved the suspects entering a store and ordering $5,000 in Sports Select and $1,000 in Keno cards, which is the maximum one person can purchase in a 24-hour period.
The suspects would ask for a credit card payment and then see if the terminal would allow manual entry. If it did, they would enter a memorized Mastercard number that did not match the card number they had in store. The card number would go through, but as the physical card was not in the store at the time of the transaction, it would eventually be reported by the cardholder and returned by the bank at the retailer’s expense – but it would how many weeks go by before the charges are reversed.
In the meantime, the suspects, knowing that the store had received manual access, would continue to use the tactic to purchase gift cards, prepaid credit cards and scratch and win tickets.
The affected retailers acknowledged it was unusual, but continued to allow the transactions until the Western Canada Lottery Corporation contacted them with questions about the transactions.
On March 19, a crime reduction unit team executed a search warrant on the 2000 block of 34 Street SW in Calgary. As a result, two Calgary residents were charged with fraud over $5,000, possession of credit card data or human trafficking, and laundering the proceeds of crime.
Four other Calgary residents were charged with fraud over $5,000 and possessing or trading credit card data.
One of the accused will appear in court in Lethbridge on April 24. The other five are on bail.
