Canadian police break up identity theft ring specializing in credit cards

Consumers are becoming increasingly vulnerable to identity theft, as the very technologies they've grown dependent on have been turned against them. Halton Regional Police, who oversee the Greater Toronto area, have arrested five people after discovering two high-tech identity labs at two of their homes in Toronto and Mississauga, The Canadian Press reports. The labs were being used to produce counterfeit driver's licenses and credit cards. As a result, the five suspects have been charged with more than 300 criminal charges offenses, the news source explains. The greater part of the evidence was found on thumb drives and computer hard drives seized by investigators, which contained forged checks and images used to create the fake credit cards. Additionally, $354,000 in Nigeria-printed counterfeit U.S.$100 bills and $67,890 in Canadian notes were found in the houses. Already, the police have identified 100 victims in the Greater Toronto area. However, many were unaware that they had fallen prey to identity thieves.