Hamilton man arrested for credit card skimming fraud

The Hamilton Police Service Major Fraud Unit arrested and charged a man alleged to be involved in a Credit Card Skimming operation in Ancaster after being alerted by an unusual fraudulent credit card use pattern recognized by various financial institutions.

Islam SALHA was employed as the assistant manager at the Shell gas station located at 10 Legend Court in Ancaster. It is alleged that from March 16th to May 1st 2011, SALHA was using a handheld skimming device to copy customer’s credit cards presented to him for legitimate purchases. The device was small enough to be concealed in his hand and would go unnoticed by the customers. The data collected and stored in the device was then uploaded to a computer and downloaded to another card with a magnetic stripe to create an unauthorized duplicate card.

The data collected can be transmitted anywhere in the world over the Internet or by text message. The cards can then be used to make fraudulent purchases as credit cards are generally accepted worldwide. The customer retained their original credit card and would be unaware of any fraudulent activity until their next statement, thus giving the involved criminals time to make numerous fraudulent purchases.

The reported frauds to date on the cards skimmed by SALHA are in excess of $40,000.00 (forty-thousand dollars) with many more anticipated victims yet to be identified.

On Monday, May 30th, 2011, Islam SALHA was arrested. He appeared in court on Tuesday, May 31st 2011 for a bail hearing.

Charged: Islam SALHA, 23 yrs. of Hamilton
Charges: Fraud over $5000 x 4
Fraud under $5,000 x 2
Identity Theft x 19
Possession of a Credit Card Copying Device
Possession of Identity Information fo