**TIMMINS POLICE SERVICE NEWS RELEASE**

The Timmins Police Service has received increasing reports of thefts and frauds being committed using the ‘tap’, or ‘Interac Flash’ feature on debit and credit cards.

This feature allows individuals to make purchases by simply tapping the card on the terminal, without entering a PIN number. Although this may be more convenient for some users, unfortunately, it also makes it easier to make purchases using lost or stolen bank cards.
Police are asking residents to be aware that all cards which have the ‘contactless’ symbol on the front  are automatically equipped with the ‘tap’ feature. In order to disable the feature, residents must contact their financial institution.

In providing information about the risks of this particular banking feature, the Timmins Police Service hopes to see a decrease in the incidents of this type of theft and fraud, and prevent further monetary losses.