A scam involving fraudulent debit cards and TTC monthly passes resulted in more than $180,000 in losses before five men were arrested, Toronto police and transit officials say.

The suspects are accused of stealing debit card data and creating fraudulent cards to buy legitimate Metropasses with the victims' funds, said Staff Insp. Bryce Evans of the police service’s financial crimes unit.

The passes, later sold for a profit, were purchased at self-serve vending machines inside certain TTC stations, Evans said at a news conference, where police showed off doctored debit cards, compromised PIN pads that were used to steal people’s account information during transactions, and other items seized during the investigation.

According to authorities, the suspects targeted vending machines that are not yet protected by PIN chip technology.

The scheme began to unravel last spring when TTC investigators, Interac and a private company noticed a number of fraudulent debit transactions.

By analyzing surveillance video and debit card use, investigators identified potential suspects and developed a pattern of criminal activity, including routes they used as they travelled from station to station.

Police were notified last month, launching a sting dubbed Project Rocket, and within days four men were arrested after buying passes at North York Centre Station.

A fifth man was taken into custody a short time later.

Officers then searched a west-end condominium belonging to the alleged ringleader of the scam, finding a lab that was used to alter PIN pads, or point-of-sale terminals, and create fraudulent credit and debit cards with the stolen data.

At time of the arrests, the suspects were in possession of 168 fraudulent debit cards and 29 TTC monthly passes, police said.

Police are investigating whether there are additional victims.

Toronto residents Umasangar Ramasamy, 33, Jigme Lhundup, 23, Tenzin Namsal, 24, Tenzin Delek, 28, and Tsering Choden, 26, have been charged with fraud-related offences, police said.

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