A Chilliwack woman is facing multiple charges after Mounties uncovered what they say was a complex identitytheft scheme operating out of a Yale Road house.

While executing a search warrant at a home in the 46300 block of Yale Road, Mounties found around 1,000 stolen personal ID cards along with computer hard drives full of credit card data The search came as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of stolen credit cards at businesses in Chilliwack.

The cards recovered from the home included credit cards, drivers licences, BC Care Cards, SIN cards, status cards, school identification, foreign identification and firearms licences.

Police believe the cards were stolen from vehicles and in dozens of breakand-enters dating back to 2009 in Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Maple Ridge and Agassiz, according to RCMP Cpl. Kurt Bosnell.

Mounties also turned up technology to transfer data from credit cards and pointof-sale machines. Bosnell said the hard drives contain spreadsheets full of credit card numbers.

"They've got spreadsheets of countless numbers of credit card numbers, of expiry dates," he said. That data often comes from point-of-sale machines surreptitiously installed and removed from local businesses and used by unwitting customers. With a name, Bosnell noted that additional information can be gleaned from the Internet and, in particular, Facebook.

Bosnell said it also appeared that those involved in the scheme had the ability to emboss new names and numbers on stolen credit cards and alter stolen photo identification.

"They can make it look like they have a legit card," he said. "They can go into a store, make $500 of purchases and then, if they ask for ID, no problem, they whip out a Care Card, a SIN card, a status card with their photo ID."

The investigation continues, but charges have already been laid against one person.

Dawn Robberstad, 40, has been charged with one count of identity theft, one count of possessing counterfeit money, possession of stolen property, possession of instruments to forge or falsify credit cards and possessing or using stolen credit cards. She has also been charged with two counts of causing a person to use a forged document and two counts of fraud.

tolsen@chilliwacktimes.com