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Police in Moncton are warning some customers of Rallye Motors-owned dealerships to check their credit history after personal and financial information taken from the trash was used to allegedly commit fraud totalling about $1 million.
The alleged fraud included the purchase of luxury vehicles, Codiac Regional RCMP acting Supt. Benoit Jolette told a Codiac Regional Policing Authority meeting in September. He said a person had been arrested in August.
“The individual had got their hands on financial information from over 100 individuals, and had used this information to purchase luxury vehicles and various other items” Jolette said at the time. “Some items ranged up to $70,000.”
This week, RCMP issued a news release warning customers of Rallye Motors Hyundai or Rallye Motors Mitsubishi between 2012 and 2017 to check their credit history for signs of fraud.
Codiac RCMP Sgt. Mathieu Roy said police determined people not linked to the dealerships used personal information to fraudulently apply for various types of financing, such as car loans and credit cards, in other people’s names.
Roy said Wednesday that so far, 29 former customers of Rallye Motors have been identified as victims of fraud or identity theft.
Jolette confirmed to CBC News the case he mentioned in September is the same one in the news release.
Dealership won’t comment
In Canada, the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act applies to private-sector organizations that collect, use or disclose personal information for commercial activity.
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada website says it’s the organization’s responsibly to ensure private information it holds is disposed of in a way that prevents a privacy breach, such as shredding documents or deleting electronic records.
It’s unclear whether the records were thrown out in whole, or had been shredded.
The company isn’t answering questions.
A person who answered a call at Rallye Motors Hyundai on Wednesday directed questions to RCMP before hanging up.
The company said in a Facebook post Tuesday it had contacted affected customers.
Police say the alleged fraud was discovered after a woman was arrested for an unrelated issue in June.
Two to appear in court next year
She allegedly had documents with personal and financial information of other people that police determined came from Rallye Motors Hyundai and Rallye Motors Mitsubishi dealerships.
Four search warrants were executed by police between July and September, resulting in the seizure of a “significant” number of documents, the news release states.
Police say a 41-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman from Moncton have been arrested and are scheduled to appear in court Jan. 24.
Jolette told the policing authority the charges that are expected to be laid are “immense.”
RCMP say police have been contacting dealership customers whose documents were found during the searches.
Several have told police there are financial irregularities that appear connected to the investigation.
Customers alarmed
Sarah Gallant was among those contacted by police. Police said documents found in a home in Moncton had Gallant’s name, address, social insurance number and date of birth.
“Everything basically that you could use to apply for credit,” Gallant said in an interview.
A credit check didn’t indicate anything suspicious.
“They didn’t have a chance to do anything with my credit,” Gallant said.
However, Gallant was told by police an email account had been set up in her name, suggesting someone was about to use her identity.
What’s unfolded has made Gallant anxious.
“Who knows what they could do with it, even in the future. Did they give it to someone, did they make photocopies? It’s out there. Once it’s out there, it’s gone. It’s no longer private.”
Gallant tried calling Rallye to find out when the information was taken, but hasn’t been given that information.
Sylvette Benoit told Radio-Canada she bought a car from Rallye Motors Mitsubishi in 2012.
Benoit isn’t sure if she was among those affected but is still concerned.
“Honestly, it’s always something I’ve been afraid of, someone taking my identity or something,” Benoit said.
Rallye Motors Auto Group has several dealerships in Moncton, Dieppe and Rexton.
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