Three offbeat stories today talk about how credit card fraud can be a local issue: a fool, a school, and a ghoul, this last Friday of May.
The Fool
Seekonk, Massachusetts is one of those towns that celebrate Memorial day and here you can see the local police force marching in last year’s parade on a classic New England street. The town looks like a Pepsi-Cola commercial.
But the weekend won’t serve the usual Memorial day fare for Dean Colin, a 26-year-old man held on two counts of larceny for $1,200. Police officers also found four “falsely embossed credit cards” in his possession. When they search his room, they found $65,000 in cash and investigators subsequently found criminal activity valued at $750,000. According to WHDH, Police say other charges may be filed by “a multitude of other Law Enforcement Agencies.”
Score 1 for the good guys.
The School
- A custodian at Long Branch Elementary School is facing a battery of charges after allegedly making fraudulent purchases with the credit cards of school employees.
- Arlington County Police say 25-year-old Kevin Sykes stole personal and banking information by photographing items from a colleague’s purse. The woman, and two other school employees, reported the suspected credit card and identity theft to police.
- At approximately 3:46 p.m. on May 11, police were dispatched to the report of a credit card fraud. Upon arrival, the victim reported her credit cards had approximately 16 fraudulent charges since April.
- The investigation determined that the suspect, a custodian at Long Branch Elementary School, had stolen the victim’s personal and banking information by photographing documents obtained from inside her purse.
Another score for good old fashioned law enforcement. No cartel involved in this fraud case. School won’t be out for summer in this case.
The Ghoul
This one gets pretty low. Newsweek reports: A social media dating scammer who swindled dozens of women in multiple states out of money was arrested yesterday in Van Nuys, Los Angeles police said.
- NAME WITHHELD, 37, is accused of using Facebook, Instagram and dating sites to approach women while posing as a businessman or rap musician. Jackson—believed to have been scamming victims for years—used the pseudonyms “Da Truth,” “Syncere,” and “Outlaw.”
- The suspect was detained on felony charges including identity theft, forgery and grand theft, KTLA reported. Inmate records show he was taken into custody on a $270,000 bail.
Nice guy.
- NBC Los Angeles identified one victim of the dating scheme as Air Force veteran Acacia Oudinot, who said she traveled from Phoenix to California to meet NAME WITHHELD last year. They went for dinner then to a cinema before he later stole her financial details, she alleged.
- The news outlet reported that up to 20 women have already come forward to police, with the victims including a Dallas police officer and a San Diego state attorney. Jackson was reportedly arrested by surprise after appearing in court yesterday on a totally unrelated matter.
- Police alleged at the time that he would gain a victim’s trust, obtain their bank details, then attempt to plunder their accounts.
Score another point for our friends in blue.
The takeaway for today’s read is that there are many types of credit card fraud. The big ones go after huge data stores that repose account numbers, but there is more to fraud than that. It is all around you, in small towns and large towns; where people work and learn; and, sometimes close to the heart. Here are a few success stories for law enforcement, though many never get caught.
Overview by Brian Riley, Director, Credit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group