SOME OF THE 37,000 stolen gift cards recently seized by police in Vaughan. Police photo.
Toronto Police are warning shoppers to double check the gift cards they purchase for loved ones for signs of tampering at this time of the year since they can be fake or stolen.
Police have smashed an organized fraud ring in Vaughan and seized 37,000 gift cards from various merchants that were stolen from locations across Canada with the “intention of manipulating them and reintroducing them into store circulation.”
“Many cards were examined and found to have been altered and prepared for distribution back into stores,” according to a police release.
THE STOLEN gift cards are tampered with and put back in circulation for sale in stores.
Officers of a Financial Crimes Unit allege the estimated potential loss from this gift card fraud is more than $2 million dollars.
Police said a probe began in September 2020 into multiple occurrences of identity fraud and bank account takeovers.
A crucial element of these offences was the creation and distribution of convincing fraudulent identifications, detectives said.
Through information obtained from a recent fraud case Project HYDRA, evidence was unearthed that led to a printing business in Vaughan.
A search warrant was issued in September and some 37,000 stolen gift cards were found, some of which had been manipulated and prepared for distribution back into stores.
Police warn that when purchasing a gift card, check the receipt at time of purchase and compare data on receipt to the numbers on the card. Also physically examine the gift card for signs of tampering, use the card immediately after it’s purchased and avoid buying gift cards online or checking gift card balances on websites that are not the store’s official website
Vladislav Tsyganok, 25, of Vaughn, was charged with more than 12 offences related to fraud, forgery and falsifying credit cards.
He is before the courts.