Mounties are warning the public to protect their identification after learning of a Chilliwack man who has been fraudulently buying booze with other people's credit card data.

Police say a liquor store in the Vedder area discovered in late January that a customer had made several fraudulent credit card transactions over the previous six months.

The transactions began in July 2012, police say, and continued up to Jan. 4. Each time, police say the suspect bought liquor with a new Mastercard with a chip. The machine would report an error during the transaction, causing the clerk to swipe the card's magnetic swipe.

Unbeknownst to the cashier, the strip was loaded with another card holder's information. The owner of the data would not be in the store, and would only be aware of the transaction after receiving the bill.

"It has been confirmed that in some of these cases, the credit card data used to fraudulently make purchases has been obtained from people who have had their vehicles broken into and wallets stolen," RCMP spokesperson Const. Tracy Wolbeck said. "We really cannot stress enough the importance of not leaving your wallet in your car. Identity theft is very far-reaching."