Unactivated gift card barcodes applied to meat packages in latest scam: WRPS

WRPS posted a video on X that appears to show people handling meat packages at a grocery store. (X/@WRPSToday)

Two men have been arrested after police say they attached unactivated gift card barcodes to packages of meat at grocery stories in Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo.

Waterloo Regional Police say it happened between Oct. 31, 2024 and Jan. 29, 2025.

Police said two men went to the stores with fraudulent barcode stickers associated to unactivated gift cards in their possession. Police believe they put the gift card bar codes on top of the functional barcodes of similarly priced meat products.

“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,” police said in a news release.

On Wednesday, police said the men were at a grocery store in the area of Erb Street West and Fischer-Hallman Road in Waterloo, where store employees spotted them placing barcodes on high-value meat products and leaving the store.

On X, police posted video that appears to show two men in a grocery store, handling meat packages.

The employees contacted police and told them that the men drove off in a black Ford F150.

Police responded and stopped the Ford truck. The men from York region, a 38-year-old and a 30-year-old, were arrested and charged with fraud under $5,000.

Additional charges are anticipated.