April 06, 2010
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News: An Inside Job; 8 Men Arrested
It was an inside job. A New Jersey federal prison was the home of a credit card fraud ringleader. The prisoner, along with 7 more men, allegedly racked up over $1 million in fraudulent charges. The 8 men have been charged with credit card fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The ringleader ran the operation by telephone from a Fort Dix, NJ prison. The gang scammed customer service departments at various department stores to gain information that allowed them to authorized access to the victims' credit cards. The cards involved were issued by GE Capital, Citigroup Financial, and HSBC. The thieves conducted their card scam throughout several cities in northeast Ohio.
The thieves used a number of methods to obtain the credit card information. The men would ask the store employees to look up their accounts by showing counterfeit IDs and giving them the last four digits of the victim's Social Security Number (SSN). Once they had access to the accounts, they changed the cardholder's information or added themselves as an authorized user. Department stores targeted included Lowe's, Home Depot, Best Buy, Macy's, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sears, Staples, and hhgregg. The thieves used the stolen credit cards to purchase high ticket items including a tractor and household appliances. Afterwards the thieves would take the merchandise and then resell them.
According to C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a search uncovered a John Deere tractor, numerous big screen televisions, snow-blowers, and stoves. The raid took place at a home that the thieves used to store the stolen merchandise. Two men armed with guns watched over the house. When the authorities arrived, one of the men was asleep. The FBI was able to crack the case by using an electronic surveillance device that tapped into the inmate's unauthorized cell phone and through store surveillance of the thieves using the stolen credit cards.