Fraud at Petro Canada
Yesterday morning Brockville Police responded to a complaint at the Petro Canada at 340 Stewart Blvd of 3 males using a Petro Points App on their phone to purchase pre-paid VISA cards.
At 930 am yesterday morning officers attended and spoke with staff at the Petro Canada and learned that the suspects attended inside the store and purchased the cards using their phone app. It wasn’t until after they had left staff learned the Points Card numbers used in the phone app were either fraudulent or stolen.
During the investigation police also learned that the Petro Canada at 325 Stewart Blvd was also a victim of the scam and this fraud is in use along the Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa highway corridor.
Businesses are encouraged to act cautiously when accepting points or reward cards as payment for prepaid VISA cards or gift cards especially in large amounts. Either ask for the actual card or for identification of the customer when possible.
Grandparent Scam:
The “grandparent” scam is active in the Brockville area again.
In this scam, residents will receive a phone call saying a family member has been involved in an accident or similarly is in some sort of difficulty while away travelling or on business. The caller will say the loved one is in need of money immediately for such things as medical treatment, travel expenses, or bail money and will provide an address to wire the information.
Please do not send money to anyone you do not know. Check with your other family members about the loved one, prior to sending any money.
Busy 24 hour period:
The Brockville Police responded to 34 calls for service during the 24 hour period from 7 am Tuesday morning until 7 am Wednesday morning. There were 4 calls of suspicious persons near businesses or residences, 4 community service calls to assist our partner agencies, 3 alarm calls, 2 threatening complaints and 2 calls for domestic disputes. In addition officers responded to a number of traffic complaints and collisions.