Debit card fraud reports roll in to Thunder Bay police

Thunder Bay Police are investigating reports of unauthorized transactions affecting some local bank and credit union customers.

A number of complaints came in on Sunday about fraudulent transactions involving debit cards.

Police spokesperson Constable Julie Tilbury said the funds appear to have been withdrawn from ATM locations in the United States.

“At this point in time we are aware that there are debit cards but … because this is in the initial stages of the investigation, our Economic Crime Unit is in the process of going through all the reports that have come in and trying to determine exactly what's going on,” she said.

Tilbury said some card issuers have already contacted clients to tell them their cards have been cancelled, and that they should arrange to get new ones.

In the meantime police are advising people to check their debit card and credit card statements closely, and to report any irregularities to their financial institution and to police.

“A lot of times fraudulent activity will start very small once [a] card has been compromised,” Tilbury added.

“Then we'll end up with these types of mass withdrawals out of bank accounts.  So it's up to the cardholder to keep track and make sure of exactly what is going on in their account.”