The RCMP Southern Alberta District Crime Reduction Unit (SAD CRU), in partnership with Raymond RCMP and the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, has taken over a crime series involving a technique called the “Manual Entry Transaction Fraud”.
Small business convenience stores between December 31st of 2023 and February 26th of this year were targeted by the suspects involved in the crime series.
According to a media release from the RCMP, the manual entry credit card scam involves a suspect or suspects entering the retailer and requesting $5,000 dollars in Sports Select and $1,000 dollars in Keno – the max sales limit in a 24-hour period. Suspect(s) will request Credit Card payment and will then see if the terminal will allow for manual entry. If it does, they enter a memorized Mastercard credit card number that does not match the card entered. The scam continues on from there with a few more steps and police say most retailers have admitted that the transactions seemed unusual but proceeded to sell to the suspect(s) until a call is placed by the Western Canada Lottery Corporation to the retailer to inquire on the payment made on these purchases.
On March 19th, the Crime Reduction Unit executed a search warrant in the 2000 block of 34th Street Southwest in Calgary.
As a result of the investigation, six individuals were charged for offences that occurred in Raymond, Lethbridge, Vegreville, Two Hills, and Sundre. They are all residents of Calgary. One (46 year-old Jay Obrador) will be appearing in court in Lethbridge on April 24th, while the other five accused (44 year-old Maynard Go Recibio, 39 year-old Melody Velasquez, 35 year-old Jessica Nyome Vinje, and 29 year-old Angelo Ross Diaz) are currently on warrant status.