Credit card fraud suspect nabbed red-handed

Calgary police say the keen senses of a store employee helped them catch someone trying to commit credit card fraud.

Investigators say a man entered a business in the 3800 block of Memorial Drive S.E. on Jan.30 and tried to use a prepaid card that was loaded with stolen information.

The store clerk became suspicious of how the man was acting and noticed that the gift card wasn't being recognized as it should have been, so they called police.

Officers arrived and the suspect was caught red handed.

A 26-year-old man is now charged with six counts of possession of credit card data and could face further charges.

Calgary police's economic crimes unit is reminding businesses and their employees of how to prevent credit card fraud:

- Be aware of any suspicious customer behaviour.

- Always insert a chip card into the terminal and only swipe transactions when the chip is not present.

- Manually entering credit card data could leave a merchant liable for fraudulent activity.

- Report suspicious activity by calling police 403-266-1234, or 911 if a crime is in progress.

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