Two York Region men are facing charges of fraud after bar code stickers from stolen gift cards were placed on grocery store meat to activate them at the checkout.
Investigators from Waterloo Regional Police Service said between Oct. 31, 2024 and Jan. 29, two men went to grocery stores in Kitchener, Cambridge, and Waterloo and fraudulently obtained activated gift cards.
They then went to stores with fraudulent barcode stickers associated with the unactivated gift cards and placed the bar codes on top of the barcodes of similarly priced meat products.
Can you spot the scam?
— Waterloo Regional Police (@WRPSToday) January 31, 2025
The suspects apply unactivated gift card barcodes to packages of meat. Unsuspecting shoppers who purchase the meat with altered barcodes inadvertently activate the gift cards.
WRPS investigators have arrested and charged two males in connection to this… pic.twitter.com/i9ykroI23q
When one of the meat products was selected by an unsuspecting customer and scanned at a checkout, the gift card associated to the barcode placed there by the suspects was activated.
On Jan. 29, at around 6 p.m., suspects attended a grocery store in the area of Erb Street West and Fischer-Hallman Road in Waterloo, where they were observed by store employees placing barcodes on high-value meat products and leaving the store.
The employees contacted police and noted that the men had left the area in a black Ford F150.
Police responded and conducted a traffic stop of a Ford truck. Two men were subsequently arrested and charged with fraud under $5,000.
The men, a 38-year-old and a 30-year-old from York Region, were held in police custody for a bail hearing.
The investigation remains ongoing and additional charges are anticipated.
Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 519-570-9777, extension 6370, or to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
