Debit card fraud hits Hawkesbury, at least 130 clients affected

A large-scale debit card skimming operation in Hawkesbury resulted in significant financial withdrawals from the bank accounts of at least 130 Hawkesbury-area clients last weekend, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

Though the investigation is in its initial stages, Constable Pierre Dubois of the Hawkesbury OPP detachment said early information indicates the perpetrators of the fraudulent activity are from Quebec.

"We can confirm a Hawkesbury business was a victim of this skimming, and that many security services of different banks have contacted us," said Dubois. "We are now working in conjunction with these security services, from many banks and credit unions."

The victims are mostly from the Hawkesbury area, he added, while the withdrawal activity would have taken place over the weekend of April 24 and 25 with the majority of withdrawals on Sunday. The investigation indicates the majority of banks and credit unions in Hawkesbury, if not all, were affected by the crime.

These banks have informed the OPP the skimming operation would have likely been set up sometime in February, and was in effect for a yet-undetermined period of time.

The name of the business in question has not been released by the police.

The Review was contacted last Tuesday by one affected client, who said both he and his parents were phoned by their respective banks last Sunday, April 25, to advise them of the withdrawals and the debit card fraud operation.

Dubois said the normal procedure for such a skimming operation, based on previous cases, is that perpetrators will replace a business' debit card terminal - often around closing time - with one of their own "dummy" terminals. The would-be thieves then modify the original terminal and replace it the next morning, and can use a laptop or electronic device to record and store the debit card and PIN number information at a short distance; for example, from the parking lot.

"Usually, after [the perpetrators] do this in one business, somebody else can do it in Vaudreuil, and maybe again in St-Isidore," he explained. "They then accumulate all these card numbers and PINs and withdraw the money in one day, usually within one hour. Especially if it comes from organized crime, they will coordinate the withdrawals. In this case, we don't know yet if it is affiliated [with organized crime], and I'm not aware of any other skimming at the moment."

The last such skimming operation occurred last May, said Dubois. In such a case, there is nothing the victims can do to "protect" their PIN numbers, as the information is electronically recorded and transmitted.