February 12, 2010
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News: Telemarketer Steals Client's CC Info
A St. Petersburg, Florida telemarketer has been arrested for stealing the credit card numbers of clients of the marketing firm for which he worked. Christopher Albert Fregapane worked for the Eclipse Property Solutions marketing firm in St. Petersburg. While under the company's employ, Fregapane eased dropped on co-workers' conversations with the company's clients. As the co-workers repeated the clients' credit card numbers back to them for confirmation, Fregapane wrote them down and then used them to fund his extravagant life style. Michael Northcutt another co-worker was Fregapane's accomplice in the scheme. Together, the two racked up over $30,000 in fraudulent charges. Court documents indicate that the two thieves cleverly used the stolen credit card numbers to live a lavish life of travel, dining, limo rides, and parties.
Sgt. Tom Nestor of the Pinellas Sheriff's department said Fregapane was arrested and charged with felony charges of scheming to defraud and stealing credit card numbers. The our month investigation began when one of the victims, an Oklahoma resident, discovered unauthorized transactions on his credit card statement from Florida's Pinellas County area.
The two thieves used the cards to fund a trip to Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando and to throw an extravagant birthday party for Fregapane's girlfriend. He booked an entire banquet room for the party. The two also used the stolen credit card numbers to pay personal bills, buy gift cards and buy lots of pizza. They started out by ordering pizzas from Hungry Howie's and then Domino's and Pizza Hut until the restaurants realized they had become a victim of fraud. Authorities are holding Fregapane in the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail. The authorities expect to arrest Northcutt as well as soon as they are able to locate him. It is believed he had fled the state.