mike cluett

It seems it’s now a fact of life. Where there are debit and credit cards, there will be scams.

Milton has never been exempt from this unfortunate truth, and now police are investigating a recent rash of debit card PIN pad thefts as part of a much wider problem.

“This is not (only) a Milton problem. This is right across the GTA and southern Ontario,” said Det. Duncan Taylor of Halton Regional Police’s fraud unit.

In the scam, suspects steal a store’s PIN (personal identification number) pad and alter it by putting their own software into it to capture customers’ data, Taylor said. They then either replace the store’s machine with the altered version before the store’s employees have a chance to notice it’s missing — by stealing it at closing time and replacing it upon opening — or go to another store with an identical-looking PIN pad and swap the two.

When customers use this tampered PIN pad, the information on their debit cards’ magnetic strips are recorded, as well as their PINs, Taylor said. Sometimes the suspects must steal this PIN pad back to access the information, while other times they can access it remotely through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth technology, he explained.

This information is then used to clone debit cards.

“To have all this equipment (to carry the scam out) takes a certain amount of sophistication,” Taylor said.

In some stores the same machine is used to swipe debit and credit cards, meaning both can be compromised through this scam, Taylor said.

From March 23 to April 5 in Milton, four PIN pads were swapped, with one swap attempted, at stores around town — Shoppers Drug Mart on Main Street near Martin Street, Tip Top Tailors in Milton Crossroads, Mucho Burrito near Main Street and Thompson Road, and PJ’s Pets in Milton Crossroads, said Det. Sgt. Murray Drinkwalter.

Two of the incidents occurred just an hour-and-a-half apart.

Although the first two incidents were previously reported by the Champion,police didn’t disclose details of the latter three until recently due to the ongoing and widespread nature of the investigation, Drinkwalter said.

“We’re closely in touch with investigations by other (police) jurisdictions and we’re comparing notes,” he said.

All five incidents involved two or three men who entered the store. One suspect would distract the employee while another made — or in one case, attempted to make — the switch, he said.

Similar descriptions were given in each case: males in their twenties or thirties with dark complexions, possibly south Asian. One man had a stocky build and a black beard, while another was slim, police said.

But Drinkwalter declined saying if police believe it was the same suspects in each case.

He said he doesn’t know if the suspects have been successful at gaining any information as a result of these incidents.

There haven’t been any such incidents reported since last month.

The incident at PJ’s took place April 5 at about 6 p. m. Store manager Fay Lepore said two males entered the store and one kept the cashier busy by asking her to get things off shelves while the other swapped PIN pads.

When an employee went to use the machine moments later, he noticed it was a different one, Lepore said. The employee saw the suspects get into a vehicle, and he jumped into his own and chased them out to James Snow Parkway, calling police with the licence plate and vehicle description.

But no charges have been laid.

“They knew exactly what they were doing and they did it so quickly,” Lepore said of the suspects.

Drinkwalter said the swapped PIN pad had been stolen from Toronto April 1.

Wes Jordan, director of IT with PJ’s Pets, said the situation was discovered right away and that no customers used the fraudulent PIN pad.

But, he said area banks notified customers who had shopped at PJ’s Pets in the five weeks leading up to the incident, advising them as a precaution their cards might have been compromised.

The constantly evolving frauds keep him on his toes, Jordan said, adding he has to be one step ahead of the criminals.

Drinkwalter said it’s important for all businesses to check their debit PIN pads upon closing and before opening to make sure they haven’t been tampered with. It’s a good idea to check the serial number, too.

As for cardholders, it’s important that they check all their statements carefully, Drinkwalter said, in case their cards have been cloned, and to report any unusual activity to their banks.

“I’d like to advise people not to use their debit cards, but debit cards have become a way of life,” he said. “It seems no matter what we do with debit cards or credit cards, there are groups out there that will find a way to cause issues.”

Taylor added cardholders should change their PINs regularly and that employees should keep PIN pads behind the counter when they’re not in use.

Stephanie Hounsell can be reached at sthiessen@miltoncanadianchampion.com.