Nanaimo RCMP are advising merchants to be wary of debit fraud, following reports of a man and woman targetting small businesses.
Several local stores have had fraudulent transactions carried out on their debit machines in the past two weeks.
One suspect will approach the clerk and begin to make a small purchase, according to RCMP. The second suspect distracts the clerk, as the first inserts a debit card into the portable machine.
The first suspect then enters the store’s generic merchant authorization code, cancels the original purchase and quickly rips off the printed copy. He then refunds between $100 and $1,000 into his debit account.
The first suspect is described as a white male in his early 30s and about six feet and one inch tall. He has light brown hair, a goatee and tattoos on his upper arms.
The female is described as white, about five feet and five inches tall with long blonde hair. She has been “well dressed” and on one occasion was reported wearing a black dress and carrying a red neon purse.
They were seen driving a dark coloured, newer model Lincoln Navigator.
RCMP recommend that merchants change their authorization code to a unique password.
