KAWARTHA LAKES-Kawartha Lakes Police say significant frauds are on the rise in the City.
At the Police Services Board meeting on Monday, Inspector Mark Mitchell outlined recent crime statistics for Lindsay. Mitchell commented on that fact that assaults were down with only two assaults reported in June. The one crime that is on the rise though is fraud and three major frauds recently has police concerned.
A local tire business is out almost $10,000 after a fraudulent credit card was used to purchase tires. Police say on June 2nd 2017 a City of Kawartha Lakes business situated in the former Ops Township contacted Police alleging to have fallen victim to a fraud. It was reported that on May 3rd the business was contacted by a male person requesting to purchase four Michelin Pilot Sport performance tires valued at $2883.76. The caller allegedly provided a VISA number as payment. The tires were retrieved by a courier service on behalf of the caller. On May 5th the same caller requested to purchase eight Pirelli tires valued at $3874.09 in the same manner. A third call came on May 11th with a request to purchase twelve Michelin tires valued at $3460.74.
All transactions were eventually charged back to the business by VISA as fraudulent.
The investigation into the identity of the person responsible for these incidents continues.
A Lindsay travel agency lost more than $6500 in a similar incident. A male allegedly contacted the agency by telephone On June 27th to book a trip to the Gran Bahia Principe Turquesa in Punta Cana on behalf of five women. Police say the caller had never physically attended the agency however all of his communication during the process of the booking the trip was either by phone or e-mail. The trip was paid for utilizing two VISA transactions totaling $6575. Again, the charges were invoiced back to the travel agency as fraudulent. Police are still investigating.
On June 29th a Lindsay resident contacted the City of Kawartha Lakes Police Service to report a fraudulent debit from her bank account. According to police, while the woman was monitoring her bank account online, she noticed a suspicious debit transaction in the form of a cheque for $3000 to a landscaping company in Hamilton Ontario. The cheque was returned to her financial institution as fraudulent and her account was debited.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding that withdrawl.
Officers are reminding business and residents to be wary of taking orders over the phone and to verify the information provided. They suggest when a person comes in to pick-up merchandise employees should ask to see the credit card and verify the person’s identity and the credit card information.