Several children’s charities are out thousands of dollars after an incident of fraud that happened at the Esquimalt Ribfest event.
Victoria police said at the end of the event, held in the 1100 block of Lyall Street from Sept. 5 to 7, they received a report about the use of counterfeit tokens.
Initial indications suggest the tokens were likely produced using a 3D printer, police said, and someone made several hundreds of copies of the $8 token used to purchase beer, wine and coolers.
“Every festival that uses these plastic tokens, it’s a shot across the bow,” Tom Woods, the Esquimalt Ribfest Committee chair, told Global News.
“You can’t do this anymore because you can show up in the morning with a digital printer, buy one token and go home and create 50 of them, right? So we all have to figure out different ways. There’s ways you can load a wristband and then tap the wristband.”
The loss, estimated to be about $2,000, has been raised by business and community members once they heard about the missing amount.
“This is a disappointing incident, particularly given the important role Ribfest plays in our community,” Insp. Conor King, VicPD Esquimalt Division, said in a statement.
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“The use of 3D printing to create counterfeit currency, even in a localized event like this, is concerning.”
Police are asking anyone who may have encountered suspicious activity during the event or who has information regarding the counterfeit tokens to come forward.
Investigators are particularly interested in anyone who may have observed individuals attempting to exchange an unusually large number of tokens, or who may have noticed anything out of the ordinary.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the E-Comm non-emergency line at 250-995-7654 ext. 1 and reference file number 25-35469 or report anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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