February 25,2009
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News: Million Dollar Scam Nets A 3 ˝ -Year Fed. Term.
In Mitchellville, MD, a million dollar scam landed 28-year old Dain Claude McCalla in federal prison on a 3 ˝ -year sentence. McCalla was tagged as the mastermind in a credit card scam, burning dozens of credit card holders. The scheme was to steal credit card profile information and to rack up hundreds of thousand dollars worth of charges. The money was squandered lavishly as the crew continued their operation even after other ring members had already been indicted for the same activities. In addition to the sentencing, McCalla was required to forfeit lavish property like cell phones, computers and a BMW automobile. He was also to pay restitution of $950,000.
The scam went something like this. Members of the crew would steal victims' identities. Then they would open credit card accounts in those victims' names. Sometimes, they would just take over existing accounts. The billing addresses for these credit card accounts would be routed to a remote location where the thieves could access them more safely.
Believing they were ‘under the radar', the ring built on these operations by obtaining victim's credit ratings and continually adding more and more ‘authorized users' to the accounts. Over fifty people were involved by the end. Eventually, it all started to crumble when the credit card lending companies became suspicious. A trap was set for the ring. After already being arrested and charged, the ring continued operations, oblivious to the common sense that they were being watched.
A federal investigation had already begun. The trap was set the next time a request was made to add another ‘authorized user' to a credit card. A ‘tracer' card was mailed to the remote address and transactions on the card were closely monitored by the lender, who was now cooperating with authorities. When the next charge was placed on the tracer credit card, the lender notified the authorities. The trap was sprung when the authorities showed up at the lavish hotel in Miami where the card had been charged. Behold, none other than the ring leader, McCalla and his brother were caught in the trap. In the end, those two, plus four others, were all indicted and found guilty for varying involvement by their own admissions.