A Toronto city councillor is sounding the alarm over a rise in break and enter thefts targeting local businesses across the city, saying more needs to be done to prevent these crimes from occurring.At a summit he hosted at city hall onFriday, Deputy Mayor Mike Colle said his ward has reported an 'unprecedented' number of small business break-ins.
"They're not only breaking into their business and sometimes taking products, they're taking their point-of-sale terminals… and they're accessing their accounts when they steal the terminals." "We're working diligently on this," Acting Staff Supt. Shannon Dawson told reporters ahead of the summit, adding that it is a widespread issue across the city.Dawson said the increase is likely the result of burglaries being seen as "crimes of opportunity." She said one people are successful, they tend to keep doing it.
"Small businesses are the heart of our neighbourhood, the heart of our economy Toronto," Chow said Friday at the summit. Dan Ferracuti, owner of Safari Bar and Grill in North York, said his restaurant has been broken into multiple times over the past few years. He said thieves targeted its point-of-sale terminals so they could process refunds from the business' bank account onto prepaid debit and credit cards."They're able to do this, and unless you're able to stop it, the money comes out of your account, right onto a prepaid credit card and it happens very, very quickly.