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An auto parts business in southern Saskatchewan says it is among more than a dozen transportation equipment companies across the province that have fallen victim to a widespread credit card scam.
Leanne Tuntland-Wiebe, the owner and manager of the Great West Auto Electric in Assiniboia, Sask., says her store lost around $20,000 earlier this year after a scammer made three separate purchases of power tools using fraudulent credit cards.
“He gave us a business name, gave us his personal name, gave us an email address, gave us a phone number, which sounded legit, so my guys didn’t think that much about it,” Tuntland-Wiebe told Global News in an interview.
Earlier this week, the Saskatchewan RCMP put out a notice cautioning the public about “large-scale fraud” targeting transportation companies across Western Canada, in which scammers purchase a range of products, including tires, oil, and mechanical tools, from businesses over the phone using fraudulent credit cards.
“It appears to be legitimate and like it’s an approved purchase, and in some time within a day or two, the purchase is being disputed, and then the businesses are out the money that’s associated with it,” RCMP Sgt. William Groenen told Global News in an interview.
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Fraudsters have stolen around half a million dollars’ worth of products in Saskatchewan so far, said Groenen, adding that investigators are aware of the scam happening in other western provinces, too.
Businesses from several communities across the province have reported the scam, including Battleford, Weyburn, Kindersley, Hudson Bay and Moosomin.
The widespread nature of the scams and the anonymous nature of the purchases are creating challenges for investigators, said Groenen, adding that they can be living almost anywhere.
“These digital types of offences continue to increase. They’re long, drawn-out investigations, and they take a lot of resources, but they’re important for us to keep trying to coordinate,” he said.
Mounties say investigators began looking into the scam in March and believe the same group is responsible. Police have not charged anyone in relation to the scam.
Tuntland-Wiebe says her business, located nearly a two-hour drive southwest of Regina, only found out the purchase was fraudulent when its bookkeeper was doing bank reconciliations and saw the three transactions charged back to their account three months later.
“We weren’t notified of the chargebacks. So, if we had been notified at the time, maybe we could have given more information to the RCMP,” she said.
Tuntland-Wiebe recalls the individuals who picked up the order were “nondescript,” with their vehicles unmarked, adding there was no way to tell they were fraudulent at the time, as the transactions initially went through.
When trying to recover the lost funds, Tuntland-Wiebe says she was told to contact her financial institution and point-of-sale provider, but neither could help.
“The insurance policies have to be updated so that companies are protected for credit card fraud, wherever they’re stolen from,” she said, adding that while the loss hit the small business “pretty hard,” it is also hurting the community.
“You can’t do as much of that when you’re trying to recoup $20,000. So maybe our sign won’t be at this event or at that event, or we can’t contribute to a silent auction or an auction to raise money for certain things.”
RCMP believe there are additional businesses that have been defrauded and are urging them to come forward.
Police recommend that businesses get to know their customers and be wary of any orders in which the first payment is declined to avoid the scam.
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