April 3,2009
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News: Wal*Mart Scam in Georgia.
Well, the scam scum have struck again – this time in Georgia. Covering from Fort Oglethorpe, Dalton, Marietta, Kennesaw to College Park along that strip of I-75, most every Wal*Mart was hit. The team of four scammers were hitting every Wal*Mart they spotted along the way to hit them up with credit card fraud. Possessing an unknown number of stolen credit cards, the team would split up. Two would become the ‘lookouts' while the other two would perform the dirty deeds inside the store. First they would go the front counter to purchase gift cards. One-by-one they would try out different credit cards. Most wouldn't validate. When they finally hit upon a card that would ring up, they would purchase a gift card with it. Then, they were stupid enough to spend the gift cards in the same store for expensive electronics.
Last Sunday was their ‘Waterloo'. What were they thinking? Detective Sgt. Greg Wingo of the Fort Oglethorpe Police Department supposes that they chose this method because gift cards are harder to trace than credit cards (and they are). Probably so. But how stupid is it to shop at the very same store where, less than an hour before, they had linked those gift cards to credit cards themselves, on video. So much for safety. The blundering band did, however, go to the trouble of renting and (presumably) traveling in two different cars. Thus, two got away (the two lookouts) while the other two were apprehended and one rental car was impounded. The two that got away were presumed to have fled to Atlanta where it is believed that they live.
From Fort Oglethorpe to Dalton and lastly to the Whitfield County jail Abdoulaye Barry (28), from the Bronx (NY) and Mamadou Diallo (24), from Riverdale (GA), were each charged with 18 counts of financial card fraud. Among the charges were: First degree forgery; Forgery of a financial transaction card; Financial transaction card fraud and; Identity theft. Although there was some doubt about fake names, both have been confirmed to have come from Africa. Their immigrations records rang clean but their criminal history did not.
If the case becomes substantial, the Secret Service may take over the case. Wal*mart's loss prevention staff has already done much of the legwork where they have been tracking the fraudulent credit card activities through their stores.