A Bermuda Dunes man is in jail after police found $20,000 worth of property in his home that he bought with fake credit cards, authorities reported today.
Officers from the La Quinta Police Department responded to an in-progress credit card fraud that occurred Sunday at the La Quinta Circuit City store, according to a news release from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Officers determined that a suspect fled prior to the their arrival. Investigators from the Indio Sheriff's Station Investigation Bureau were called and assumed the investigation.
They were able to identify the suspect, Marc Rossworn, 43, from Bermuda Dunes, the release said.
During a consensual search of his residence, all of the property that was bought through the use of fraudulent credit cards was recovered. Additional electronic equipment that was purchased in the City of Palm Desert also was recovered.
The value of the property that was recovered was estimated at $ 20,000.
Investigators arrested and booked Rossworn at the Indio Jail for commercial burglary, receiving stolen property, use of fraudulent credit cards and conspiracy.
His bail was set at $25,000.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
While most people worry about their credit card information falling into the wrong hands, there is a more ominous problem out there: Identity. Your identity is a collection of information that your doctor, insurance company, bank, credit card companies, employer and others have on file. These companies and people will have your social security number, your address and your date of birth. One misstep by any of these entities and you could be in big trouble.
Once a crook gets your identity, they will usually want to add a new address to your credit. This way they can get the bills for their new credit cards sent to them and not you. They can use your identity and sign up for credit cards without you even knowing it. This was done once to me when they purchased a cell phone in my name. Later they opened up credit card accounts and started charging.
There are several things you should do if your identity has been compromised. You should contact your credit card companies and let them know what happened. They may want to issue you a new credit card with a new number and PIN (Personal Identification Number).
Identity Guard
You will also want to contact the three credit reporting bureaus and place a fraud alert on your credit file. The three companies are Experian, Equifax and Transunion. This will make it hard for the crooks to sign-up for new credit cards with your name on them.
There are two types of alerts to consider. The first is an “Initial Alert” which stays on your credit record for 90 days. You can renew the alert as many times as you want with a simple phone call. Usually when you notify one credit reporting agency they will notify the other two. This will make it nearly impossible for the crooks to open new accounts. I chose to use the “Initial Alert” and called in to extend it several times.
The next alert is called an “Extended Alert”. This will stay on file with the credit reporting agencies for seven years. The “Extended Alert” will allow you to get a copy of your credit report twice. The “Extended Alert” will also remove your name from the pre-screened credit offers marketing lists for a period of five years. Martin Sumner in an article titled “Coping with ID Theft” recommends the seven year “Extended Alert” if your identity has been compromised.
It is a good idea for people to get some sort of credit monitoring service. This type of service will notify you when someone has placed a new address on your account or added a new credit card or loan to your ID. They usually offer free credit reports yearly as well. There are many services available, so you will want to compare prices and features before you decide.
Once a crook gets your identity, they will usually want to add a new address to your credit. This way they can get the bills for their new credit cards sent to them and not you. They can use your identity and sign up for credit cards without you even knowing it. This was done once to me when they purchased a cell phone in my name. Later they opened up credit card accounts and started charging.
There are several things you should do if your identity has been compromised. You should contact your credit card companies and let them know what happened. They may want to issue you a new credit card with a new number and PIN (Personal Identification Number).
Identity Guard
You will also want to contact the three credit reporting bureaus and place a fraud alert on your credit file. The three companies are Experian, Equifax and Transunion. This will make it hard for the crooks to sign-up for new credit cards with your name on them.
There are two types of alerts to consider. The first is an “Initial Alert” which stays on your credit record for 90 days. You can renew the alert as many times as you want with a simple phone call. Usually when you notify one credit reporting agency they will notify the other two. This will make it nearly impossible for the crooks to open new accounts. I chose to use the “Initial Alert” and called in to extend it several times.
The next alert is called an “Extended Alert”. This will stay on file with the credit reporting agencies for seven years. The “Extended Alert” will allow you to get a copy of your credit report twice. The “Extended Alert” will also remove your name from the pre-screened credit offers marketing lists for a period of five years. Martin Sumner in an article titled “Coping with ID Theft” recommends the seven year “Extended Alert” if your identity has been compromised.
It is a good idea for people to get some sort of credit monitoring service. This type of service will notify you when someone has placed a new address on your account or added a new credit card or loan to your ID. They usually offer free credit reports yearly as well. There are many services available, so you will want to compare prices and features before you decide.
Don’t Let Selling Internationally Scare You
Matt Alper launched Copshoes.com three years ago from his living room in San Antonio, Texas. His idea was to sell specialized shoes and boots to police, firemen and security personnel. Now, three years later, he’s moved into his own warehouse, he has 11 employees and 10 percent of his total sales come from outside of the U.S.
“We’ve learned many lessons about selling internationally,” said Alper. “The two primary issues are credit-card fraud and shipping. Any U.S.-based ecommerce business that sells internationally deals with them. It’s not just us.”
Credit Card Pro Offers Fraud Prevention Steps
John Waldron is co-owner of e-onlinedata, inc., a credit-card merchant-account provider. e-onlinedata assists thousands of ecommerce merchants with domestic and overseas credit-card transactions, and he offers the following advice for merchants who wish accept credit-card payments from international customers.
1. Ask customer for fax verification. For suspect orders or large orders, ask the customer to fax the front and back of his credit card as well as a form of identification. This is better than a phone call.
2. Call your credit-card processor. Your credit-card processor has a staff to assist you with questionable orders. Rely on their expertise.
3. Analyze the order, and be skeptical. Why would a customer purchase, for example, 10 routers? Likewise, why would an overseas customer request overnight shipping?
4. Overseas banks are different. Many overseas banks don’t support the card-code verification system, and they can’t verify billing addresses. Be aware, therefore, that these fraud-prevention steps may not help you with cards that have been issued from such banks.
5. Do a BIN look-up. The first six digits of a credit card are called the bank identification number, or BIN. They tell you which bank has issued the credit card. Go to http://all-nettools.com/toolbox,financial, and enter these six digits. If the issuing bank is located in a country that is different from where the order is originating, you should investigate further.
6. Purchase fraud-detection tools. Many credit-card banks and payment gateways offer effective fraud detection tools that are incredibly inexpensive. Use these tools.
Credit-card Fraud Issues
Credit-card fraud occurs when a thief steals a credit-card number (or, purchases a stolen credit-card number) and uses that number to buy legitimate goods and services from an unsuspecting merchant. The merchant will not get paid for the merchandise, but he’ll have to pay the credit card fees and he’ll lose the merchandise because he’s shipped it to the thief. This type of fraud happens every day, and everyone agrees ecommerce merchants selling products internationally are especially vulnerable. That’s because many developing and Third-World countries do not and cannot properly police these thieves and, moreover, the market for buying and selling stolen credit-card numbers is largely outside of U.S. boundaries.
U.S.-based ecommerce merchants who sell products internationally quickly learn these lessons and take appropriate precautions. Ben Boxall is president of VR3 Wholesale, a Los Angeles-based importer, wholesaler and retailer of aftermarket automotive products. Boxall’s company sells its products through several ecommerce sites (vr-3.com, vr3wholesale.com and roadmasterusa.com) it owns and operates.
“We export roughly 1,200 orders a week outside of the U.S.,” says Boxall. “And we’ve learned many credit-card fraud precautions. For one, there are certain countries that we simply will not ship orders to because we’ve received too many fraudulent cards from them. These countries include Latvia, Nigeria, Czech Republic and many others.”
“Second, we individually review each order over $250. We call every customer who placed that order unless it’s a repeat customer who’s previously been approved by us. For our company, we’ve found that fraudulent orders are generally greater than $250 each.”
Boxall continues, “We have other checks, too. We never ship to a post office box. We always compare the credit card billing address to the shipping address. And, we have what I call our ‘too-good-to-be-true rule.’ That is, if an order arrives that’s too good or simply doesn’t look right, we’ll refund the credit-card charge and reject the order. That probably cost us some legitimate business, but it also prevents us from losing money from stolen credit cards.”
AdvertisementStarCom (NetSol)
Copshoes.com’s Alper will not ship to Venezuela, Indonesia or Nigeria, among other countries. “I once shipped goods to Indonesia that were, as it turns out, purchased with a stolen credit card,” says Alper. “I got so angry that I called the Indonesian embassy in Washington, D.C. It was unbelievable. They told me they couldn’t help because the Indonesian national broke no Indonesian law since it was a stolen American card. So I learned a lesson there.”
Alper agrees with Boxall that an experienced merchant can frequently detect fraudulent orders. Alper says that sudden orders from a single country will raise concerns, as will large purchase amounts and orders with multiple quantities of the same product.
Shipping Hurdles
But credit-card fraud is not the only concern for merchants who sell internationally. How to ship the products, many experienced merchants say, is the other primary issue.
Mark Romero is co-owner of Siamese Dream, a California-based retailer of clothing and gift items. Romero launched the business in 1998 as a brick-and-mortar operation, and he created Siamese-dream.com, its ecommerce site, in 1999. The business has five employees in addition to Romero, and roughly 7 percent of overall sales are outside of the U.S.
“We’ve shipped products to 19 different countries,” says Romero. “We’ve found that sending these via the United States Postal Service works best. It’s far cheaper for us than using, say, UPS or FedEx. And, we’ve found the shipments seem to clear the overseas customs process better using USPS than the other carriers.”
Many merchants agree USPS is less expensive for smaller international packages than private carriers such as UPS and FedEx. But, these merchants say, there are drawbacks. For one, merchants cannot track an international package using USPS, but they can track it using private carriers. Second, the USPS coordinates its international shipments with the postal services of recipient countries and, depending on the country, the local postal service may be unreliable.
“You learn,” says Copshoes.com’s Alper, “which countries have good postal services and which do not. Canada, England, Greece and others are quite good. But China’s postal service, for example, is terrible.”
“Lots of international customers don’t understand how expensive shipping can be,” said Romero. “It can be a material portion of the purchase and we are careful to find the least expensive shipping option for them.”
Alper has installed a shipping calculator on his site to assist his international customers determine the shipping cost. He uses the USPS for his international shipments. “The USPS is by far the cheapest, but the lack of tracking can be a problem. Also, if a package is lost, you are frequently dealing with local, overseas postal services. That can be a real hassle.”
VR3’s Boxall agrees that, for smaller packages, the USPS is the cheapest. But for cartons and pallets of goods, Boxall says that he uses UPS. “The UPS provides very helpful information for international shipments,” said Boxall. “I’d encourage merchants to visit both the UPS website and the USPS site. They have lots of advice to help with overseas shipments.”
Boxall also relies on his order-management software to help manage international shipments. Says Boxall, “We use Interapptive’s ShipWorks software to manage all of our orders, including international ones. It’s incredibly helpful. It sorts between domestic and international orders and it automatically prints shipping labels and customs forms — saves us tons of time.”
For ecommerce merchants who ship with the USPS, Boxall offers this advice. “You can negotiate volume discounts with the postal service for certain types of shipments. Many folks don’t realize that. Also, we use boxes and forms supplied by the postal service, which reduces our costs. Because of our volume, the postal service has even agreed to customize boxes for us with our VR3 logo for no additional cost. “
All three merchants have learned valuable lessons about international sales in addition to credit-card fraud and shipping matters. “Toll free numbers don’t work overseas,” says Copshoes.com’s Alper. “Selling products in local currencies can increase your profit margin,” says VR3’s Boxall. “Make sure the customer realizes he’s responsible for import tariffs and customs’ fees,” says Siamese Dream’s Romero.
The three merchants also agree that, in the end, the extra effort is worth it. “It’s far too big of a market to ignore,” said Matt Alper. “It’s profitable business for us, international customers tend to be repeat buyers, and it’s a segment of our business that we hope to grow.”
“We’ve learned many lessons about selling internationally,” said Alper. “The two primary issues are credit-card fraud and shipping. Any U.S.-based ecommerce business that sells internationally deals with them. It’s not just us.”
Credit Card Pro Offers Fraud Prevention Steps
John Waldron is co-owner of e-onlinedata, inc., a credit-card merchant-account provider. e-onlinedata assists thousands of ecommerce merchants with domestic and overseas credit-card transactions, and he offers the following advice for merchants who wish accept credit-card payments from international customers.
1. Ask customer for fax verification. For suspect orders or large orders, ask the customer to fax the front and back of his credit card as well as a form of identification. This is better than a phone call.
2. Call your credit-card processor. Your credit-card processor has a staff to assist you with questionable orders. Rely on their expertise.
3. Analyze the order, and be skeptical. Why would a customer purchase, for example, 10 routers? Likewise, why would an overseas customer request overnight shipping?
4. Overseas banks are different. Many overseas banks don’t support the card-code verification system, and they can’t verify billing addresses. Be aware, therefore, that these fraud-prevention steps may not help you with cards that have been issued from such banks.
5. Do a BIN look-up. The first six digits of a credit card are called the bank identification number, or BIN. They tell you which bank has issued the credit card. Go to http://all-nettools.com/toolbox,financial, and enter these six digits. If the issuing bank is located in a country that is different from where the order is originating, you should investigate further.
6. Purchase fraud-detection tools. Many credit-card banks and payment gateways offer effective fraud detection tools that are incredibly inexpensive. Use these tools.
Credit-card Fraud Issues
Credit-card fraud occurs when a thief steals a credit-card number (or, purchases a stolen credit-card number) and uses that number to buy legitimate goods and services from an unsuspecting merchant. The merchant will not get paid for the merchandise, but he’ll have to pay the credit card fees and he’ll lose the merchandise because he’s shipped it to the thief. This type of fraud happens every day, and everyone agrees ecommerce merchants selling products internationally are especially vulnerable. That’s because many developing and Third-World countries do not and cannot properly police these thieves and, moreover, the market for buying and selling stolen credit-card numbers is largely outside of U.S. boundaries.
U.S.-based ecommerce merchants who sell products internationally quickly learn these lessons and take appropriate precautions. Ben Boxall is president of VR3 Wholesale, a Los Angeles-based importer, wholesaler and retailer of aftermarket automotive products. Boxall’s company sells its products through several ecommerce sites (vr-3.com, vr3wholesale.com and roadmasterusa.com) it owns and operates.
“We export roughly 1,200 orders a week outside of the U.S.,” says Boxall. “And we’ve learned many credit-card fraud precautions. For one, there are certain countries that we simply will not ship orders to because we’ve received too many fraudulent cards from them. These countries include Latvia, Nigeria, Czech Republic and many others.”
“Second, we individually review each order over $250. We call every customer who placed that order unless it’s a repeat customer who’s previously been approved by us. For our company, we’ve found that fraudulent orders are generally greater than $250 each.”
Boxall continues, “We have other checks, too. We never ship to a post office box. We always compare the credit card billing address to the shipping address. And, we have what I call our ‘too-good-to-be-true rule.’ That is, if an order arrives that’s too good or simply doesn’t look right, we’ll refund the credit-card charge and reject the order. That probably cost us some legitimate business, but it also prevents us from losing money from stolen credit cards.”
AdvertisementStarCom (NetSol)
Copshoes.com’s Alper will not ship to Venezuela, Indonesia or Nigeria, among other countries. “I once shipped goods to Indonesia that were, as it turns out, purchased with a stolen credit card,” says Alper. “I got so angry that I called the Indonesian embassy in Washington, D.C. It was unbelievable. They told me they couldn’t help because the Indonesian national broke no Indonesian law since it was a stolen American card. So I learned a lesson there.”
Alper agrees with Boxall that an experienced merchant can frequently detect fraudulent orders. Alper says that sudden orders from a single country will raise concerns, as will large purchase amounts and orders with multiple quantities of the same product.
Shipping Hurdles
But credit-card fraud is not the only concern for merchants who sell internationally. How to ship the products, many experienced merchants say, is the other primary issue.
Mark Romero is co-owner of Siamese Dream, a California-based retailer of clothing and gift items. Romero launched the business in 1998 as a brick-and-mortar operation, and he created Siamese-dream.com, its ecommerce site, in 1999. The business has five employees in addition to Romero, and roughly 7 percent of overall sales are outside of the U.S.
“We’ve shipped products to 19 different countries,” says Romero. “We’ve found that sending these via the United States Postal Service works best. It’s far cheaper for us than using, say, UPS or FedEx. And, we’ve found the shipments seem to clear the overseas customs process better using USPS than the other carriers.”
Many merchants agree USPS is less expensive for smaller international packages than private carriers such as UPS and FedEx. But, these merchants say, there are drawbacks. For one, merchants cannot track an international package using USPS, but they can track it using private carriers. Second, the USPS coordinates its international shipments with the postal services of recipient countries and, depending on the country, the local postal service may be unreliable.
“You learn,” says Copshoes.com’s Alper, “which countries have good postal services and which do not. Canada, England, Greece and others are quite good. But China’s postal service, for example, is terrible.”
“Lots of international customers don’t understand how expensive shipping can be,” said Romero. “It can be a material portion of the purchase and we are careful to find the least expensive shipping option for them.”
Alper has installed a shipping calculator on his site to assist his international customers determine the shipping cost. He uses the USPS for his international shipments. “The USPS is by far the cheapest, but the lack of tracking can be a problem. Also, if a package is lost, you are frequently dealing with local, overseas postal services. That can be a real hassle.”
VR3’s Boxall agrees that, for smaller packages, the USPS is the cheapest. But for cartons and pallets of goods, Boxall says that he uses UPS. “The UPS provides very helpful information for international shipments,” said Boxall. “I’d encourage merchants to visit both the UPS website and the USPS site. They have lots of advice to help with overseas shipments.”
Boxall also relies on his order-management software to help manage international shipments. Says Boxall, “We use Interapptive’s ShipWorks software to manage all of our orders, including international ones. It’s incredibly helpful. It sorts between domestic and international orders and it automatically prints shipping labels and customs forms — saves us tons of time.”
For ecommerce merchants who ship with the USPS, Boxall offers this advice. “You can negotiate volume discounts with the postal service for certain types of shipments. Many folks don’t realize that. Also, we use boxes and forms supplied by the postal service, which reduces our costs. Because of our volume, the postal service has even agreed to customize boxes for us with our VR3 logo for no additional cost. “
All three merchants have learned valuable lessons about international sales in addition to credit-card fraud and shipping matters. “Toll free numbers don’t work overseas,” says Copshoes.com’s Alper. “Selling products in local currencies can increase your profit margin,” says VR3’s Boxall. “Make sure the customer realizes he’s responsible for import tariffs and customs’ fees,” says Siamese Dream’s Romero.
The three merchants also agree that, in the end, the extra effort is worth it. “It’s far too big of a market to ignore,” said Matt Alper. “It’s profitable business for us, international customers tend to be repeat buyers, and it’s a segment of our business that we hope to grow.”
Credit scam hits Adams couple
Pamela Ginter is pretty vigilant about reviewing her bank statement when it arrives in the mail. But last month she was busy with the holidays and a new grandchild's arrival.
"The bank business got put off a couple weeks," the Mount Pleasant Township resident said.
But when she finally got around to looking at her statement, she noticed something odd: three transactions she didn't recognize.
"My first thought was, 'what on earth did my husband buy?'" she said. "Then I realized that É this wasn't right, we had never made these charges."
The Ginters are victims in part of a nationwide debit and credit card fraud case, according to Pennsylvania State Police in Gettysburg.
In Ginter's case, charges of $74.95, $69.95 and $14.95 appeared on her bank statement from a company called "LEANRX," according to police. The charges are for "LEANRX," "XtremeBurn" and "DreamSmile." Ginter said she learned online that the products are diet pills.
An Internet search for the company name leads to several consumer affairs Web sites containing complaints about fraudulent charges.
Trooper Scott Denisch said that hundreds of people in nearly every state have received the same fake charges, in the same time frame, with the same amounts and company names as Ginter.
Police aren't sure how the company is obtaining people's account numbers, Denisch said. Phone numbers for the business lead nowhere, he said.
Internet crimes are "logistically hard to follow up on and prosecute," he said. Police advise possible victims of such fraud to contact the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, because more complaints will likely speed action, he said.
Ginter called her bank when she found the transactions and the bank advised her to call police. No one is sure how the company got her account number, she said.
"I do quite a bit of Internet shopping," she said. But she's "so paranoid" about doing that so she's extra careful to only use secure Web sites.
Online shoppers should make sure they're only making transactions through a server they're confident in, Denisch said, and consumers should also check their bank statements regularly to watch for false charges.
Ginter said the experience hasn't scared her away from online shopping.
"I will be even more vigilant about checking the bank statement. That's the best defense," she said. "If anyone really wants this information, they're going to get it. É The convenience of using the Internet, for me, outweighs the risks."
"The bank business got put off a couple weeks," the Mount Pleasant Township resident said.
But when she finally got around to looking at her statement, she noticed something odd: three transactions she didn't recognize.
"My first thought was, 'what on earth did my husband buy?'" she said. "Then I realized that É this wasn't right, we had never made these charges."
The Ginters are victims in part of a nationwide debit and credit card fraud case, according to Pennsylvania State Police in Gettysburg.
In Ginter's case, charges of $74.95, $69.95 and $14.95 appeared on her bank statement from a company called "LEANRX," according to police. The charges are for "LEANRX," "XtremeBurn" and "DreamSmile." Ginter said she learned online that the products are diet pills.
An Internet search for the company name leads to several consumer affairs Web sites containing complaints about fraudulent charges.
Trooper Scott Denisch said that hundreds of people in nearly every state have received the same fake charges, in the same time frame, with the same amounts and company names as Ginter.
Police aren't sure how the company is obtaining people's account numbers, Denisch said. Phone numbers for the business lead nowhere, he said.
Internet crimes are "logistically hard to follow up on and prosecute," he said. Police advise possible victims of such fraud to contact the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, because more complaints will likely speed action, he said.
Ginter called her bank when she found the transactions and the bank advised her to call police. No one is sure how the company got her account number, she said.
"I do quite a bit of Internet shopping," she said. But she's "so paranoid" about doing that so she's extra careful to only use secure Web sites.
Online shoppers should make sure they're only making transactions through a server they're confident in, Denisch said, and consumers should also check their bank statements regularly to watch for false charges.
Ginter said the experience hasn't scared her away from online shopping.
"I will be even more vigilant about checking the bank statement. That's the best defense," she said. "If anyone really wants this information, they're going to get it. É The convenience of using the Internet, for me, outweighs the risks."
How to...Prevent IDTheft
• Don't leave mail in your residential mailbox.
• Don't store personal information or account numbers on computers with modems.
• Don't carry your Social Security number, other personal information or account numbers in your wallet or purse.
• Take ATM, credit card and other receipts with you, and either save them in a safe place or destroy them.
• Shred documents that could contain personal information.
• Don't give any part of your Social Security number or personal account numbers over the phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you know who you are dealing with.
• Never click on links sent in unsolicited e-mails.
• Don't use obvious passwords like your birth date, your mother's maiden name or the last four digits of your Social Security number.
• Never put your account number on an envelope or a postcard.
• Keep a record of your credit card numbers, their expiration dates and the telephone numbers of each company for reporting losses.
• Open billing statements promptly and compare them with your receipts. Report any mistakes in writing immediately.
DETECT ID THEFT
Be alert to signs of suspicious activity, such as:
• Bills that do not arrive as expected
• Bills and other accounts that have purchases you did not make
• Unexpected credit cards or account statements
• Denials of credit for no apparent reason
• Calls or letters about purchases you did not make
Inspect your credit report.
The law requires the three major national consumer reporting companies -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- to give you a copy of your credit report each year if you ask for it.
IF YOU SUSPECT IDENTITY THEFT
• File a police report immediately.
• Cancel credit cards and get new cards with new account numbers. (Federal and state law limit your responsibility to the first $50.)
• Report missing cards to the three major credit reporting services.
• Place a "fraud alert" on your credit reports and review them carefully. Placing a fraud alert entitles you to free copies of your report. A call to one of the companies is sufficient.
• Call the security or fraud departments of each credit card company where an account was opened or changed without your approval. Follow in writing with copies of supporting documents.
• Ask for verification that the disputed account has been closed and the fraudulent debits discharged.
• Keep copies of documents and records of your conversations about the theft.
• Report the loss to your bank. Cancel checking and savings accounts and open new ones. Stop payment on all outstanding checks.
• Get a new ATM card, account number, PIN and online password.
• Call your utilities, including the phone company. Inform them someone may try to get new service using your identification.
• Report a missing driver's license to the Kansas Division of Motor Vehicles and get a new driver's license.
• Report the theft to the Federal Trade Commission to help law enforcement officials across the country investigate. Contact the FTC at 877-ID-THEFT (438-4338), online at ftc.gov/idtheft, or by mail at Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580.
• Don't store personal information or account numbers on computers with modems.
• Don't carry your Social Security number, other personal information or account numbers in your wallet or purse.
• Take ATM, credit card and other receipts with you, and either save them in a safe place or destroy them.
• Shred documents that could contain personal information.
• Don't give any part of your Social Security number or personal account numbers over the phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you know who you are dealing with.
• Never click on links sent in unsolicited e-mails.
• Don't use obvious passwords like your birth date, your mother's maiden name or the last four digits of your Social Security number.
• Never put your account number on an envelope or a postcard.
• Keep a record of your credit card numbers, their expiration dates and the telephone numbers of each company for reporting losses.
• Open billing statements promptly and compare them with your receipts. Report any mistakes in writing immediately.
DETECT ID THEFT
Be alert to signs of suspicious activity, such as:
• Bills that do not arrive as expected
• Bills and other accounts that have purchases you did not make
• Unexpected credit cards or account statements
• Denials of credit for no apparent reason
• Calls or letters about purchases you did not make
Inspect your credit report.
The law requires the three major national consumer reporting companies -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- to give you a copy of your credit report each year if you ask for it.
IF YOU SUSPECT IDENTITY THEFT
• File a police report immediately.
• Cancel credit cards and get new cards with new account numbers. (Federal and state law limit your responsibility to the first $50.)
• Report missing cards to the three major credit reporting services.
• Place a "fraud alert" on your credit reports and review them carefully. Placing a fraud alert entitles you to free copies of your report. A call to one of the companies is sufficient.
• Call the security or fraud departments of each credit card company where an account was opened or changed without your approval. Follow in writing with copies of supporting documents.
• Ask for verification that the disputed account has been closed and the fraudulent debits discharged.
• Keep copies of documents and records of your conversations about the theft.
• Report the loss to your bank. Cancel checking and savings accounts and open new ones. Stop payment on all outstanding checks.
• Get a new ATM card, account number, PIN and online password.
• Call your utilities, including the phone company. Inform them someone may try to get new service using your identification.
• Report a missing driver's license to the Kansas Division of Motor Vehicles and get a new driver's license.
• Report the theft to the Federal Trade Commission to help law enforcement officials across the country investigate. Contact the FTC at 877-ID-THEFT (438-4338), online at ftc.gov/idtheft, or by mail at Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580.
Mesa No. 3 for ID theft rate; Employment fraud high
Arizona has the highest rate of identity theft in the nation and Mesa is one of the top cities in the state for identity theft, according to Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard.
In the Federal Trade Commission’s annual report released Jan. 25 detailing identity theft in 2005, Arizona had the most victims per 100,000 than any other state with 9,320 cases. Mesa ranked No. 3 in the top 5 cities for identity theft in Arizona in 2005 with 745 victims. Gilbert did not rank in the top cities, but Chandler made No. 5 with 342 victims.
The FTC found 34 percent of Arizona’s 9,320 reported identity theft cases were employment related fraud. The second highest, 23 percent, of the cases were categorized as “other identity theft” and the third highest was credit card fraud at 18 percent. “Other identity theft” includes: evasion of legal sanctions; internet/e-mail; medical; apartment/house rented; insurance; property rental fraud; bankruptcy; child support; magazines; and securities and other investments.
Sgt. Mike Goulet of Mesa Police Department’s Document Crimes Unit said the department does not keep statistics on identity theft specifically, but he informally tracks the crimes.
“I would say I’m getting 50-60 cases per month,” Sgt. Goulet said.
He noted that figure includes cases where the crime is in Mesa, as well as cases where the victim is in Mesa, but their identity is being used in other states.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s definition of identity theft is when someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain.
While the Mesa Police Department has not determined trends in Mesa’s identity theft cases, Sgt. Goulet said he has seen a lot of cases originating from vehicle burglaries.
“People leave personal items in vehicles, such as briefcases and purses. There’s so much information about everyone out there. Don’t leave anything in your vehicle like that,” Sgt. Goulet said.
Sgt. Goulet sees employment-related and Internet fraud frequently as well. While credit card fraud was almost 10 percent lower than the national average in Arizona in the FTC’s annual report, the state’s employment-related fraud was nearly three times higher than the national average.
“Social Security numbers are used by somebody getting employment. I see that occurring all over,” Sgt. Goulet said. “Some cases we also get occur over the Internet. Individuals are contacted by someone they think is their bank and they reveal passwords and pin numbers. People should never do that.”
Vickie Owen, crime prevention specialist with the Gilbert Police Department, said stolen computers are also a way thieves steal identities.
“I tell people to use the metal plumber’s tape to secure their computers to the floor. This makes them harder to take and acts as a deterrent,” Officer Owen said.
She also said encryption programs help protect sensitive information on the computer.
According to Officer Owen, the biggest identity theft issues in Gilbert are mail theft and credit card fraud.
“Those are always in the forefront here,” Officer Owen said. “With credit card slips, some places still have the full credit card numbers on the receipts. You don’t want to throw those away. Shred them.”
Officer Owen said the same goes with Social Security numbers on business documents.
Gilbert Police Department frequently works with the Country Attorney’s Office to offer presentations on identity theft. Officer Owen said the County Attorney Office’s upcoming East Valley Neighborhood Summit at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, March 10 at Mesa’s Word of Grace Church, 655 E. University Drive, will feature a presentation on ID theft. People can register online at www.mcaoconference.com or by calling 602-506-5754.
The Federal Trade Commission estimates as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, most people do not realize how easily criminals can obtain personal information without having to break into someone’s home. Listening in on telephone conversations in public places; looking over one’s shoulder when making purchases or withdrawing money; “dumpster diving” for statements with a person’s name, address and telephone number; and using e-mail or the Internet to obtain information are some of the most common ways identity thieves obtain information.
Sgt. Goulet recommends avoiding check fraud by using post office drop boxes when mailing checks.
Identity Theft was officially recognized as a federal offense in 1998, when Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This act essentially states that identity theft crimes carry a maximum term of 15 years in prison, plus fines.
In the Federal Trade Commission’s annual report released Jan. 25 detailing identity theft in 2005, Arizona had the most victims per 100,000 than any other state with 9,320 cases. Mesa ranked No. 3 in the top 5 cities for identity theft in Arizona in 2005 with 745 victims. Gilbert did not rank in the top cities, but Chandler made No. 5 with 342 victims.
The FTC found 34 percent of Arizona’s 9,320 reported identity theft cases were employment related fraud. The second highest, 23 percent, of the cases were categorized as “other identity theft” and the third highest was credit card fraud at 18 percent. “Other identity theft” includes: evasion of legal sanctions; internet/e-mail; medical; apartment/house rented; insurance; property rental fraud; bankruptcy; child support; magazines; and securities and other investments.
Sgt. Mike Goulet of Mesa Police Department’s Document Crimes Unit said the department does not keep statistics on identity theft specifically, but he informally tracks the crimes.
“I would say I’m getting 50-60 cases per month,” Sgt. Goulet said.
He noted that figure includes cases where the crime is in Mesa, as well as cases where the victim is in Mesa, but their identity is being used in other states.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s definition of identity theft is when someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain.
While the Mesa Police Department has not determined trends in Mesa’s identity theft cases, Sgt. Goulet said he has seen a lot of cases originating from vehicle burglaries.
“People leave personal items in vehicles, such as briefcases and purses. There’s so much information about everyone out there. Don’t leave anything in your vehicle like that,” Sgt. Goulet said.
Sgt. Goulet sees employment-related and Internet fraud frequently as well. While credit card fraud was almost 10 percent lower than the national average in Arizona in the FTC’s annual report, the state’s employment-related fraud was nearly three times higher than the national average.
“Social Security numbers are used by somebody getting employment. I see that occurring all over,” Sgt. Goulet said. “Some cases we also get occur over the Internet. Individuals are contacted by someone they think is their bank and they reveal passwords and pin numbers. People should never do that.”
Vickie Owen, crime prevention specialist with the Gilbert Police Department, said stolen computers are also a way thieves steal identities.
“I tell people to use the metal plumber’s tape to secure their computers to the floor. This makes them harder to take and acts as a deterrent,” Officer Owen said.
She also said encryption programs help protect sensitive information on the computer.
According to Officer Owen, the biggest identity theft issues in Gilbert are mail theft and credit card fraud.
“Those are always in the forefront here,” Officer Owen said. “With credit card slips, some places still have the full credit card numbers on the receipts. You don’t want to throw those away. Shred them.”
Officer Owen said the same goes with Social Security numbers on business documents.
Gilbert Police Department frequently works with the Country Attorney’s Office to offer presentations on identity theft. Officer Owen said the County Attorney Office’s upcoming East Valley Neighborhood Summit at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, March 10 at Mesa’s Word of Grace Church, 655 E. University Drive, will feature a presentation on ID theft. People can register online at www.mcaoconference.com or by calling 602-506-5754.
The Federal Trade Commission estimates as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, most people do not realize how easily criminals can obtain personal information without having to break into someone’s home. Listening in on telephone conversations in public places; looking over one’s shoulder when making purchases or withdrawing money; “dumpster diving” for statements with a person’s name, address and telephone number; and using e-mail or the Internet to obtain information are some of the most common ways identity thieves obtain information.
Sgt. Goulet recommends avoiding check fraud by using post office drop boxes when mailing checks.
Identity Theft was officially recognized as a federal offense in 1998, when Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This act essentially states that identity theft crimes carry a maximum term of 15 years in prison, plus fines.
Thief takes judge’s card for a joyride
Police charged a Fort Wayne woman Monday with racking up nearly $2,000 worth of charges on an Allen Superior Court judge’s stolen credit card.
Barbara Ann Evans, 39, of the 3000 block of Woodrow Avenue, is charged with two counts of forgery, two counts of credit card fraud, three counts of receiving stolen property and one count of check fraud.
According to court documents, Evans is accused of running up charges using the stolen credit cards and checks of Allen Superior Court Judge Kenneth Scheibenberger and his wife, Susan.
Susan Scheibenberger, who works as a home health care nurse, was working at a patient’s home Dec. 17 when family members and their friends distracted her while they took her car keys and stole her wallet out of her purse in her car, Kenneth Scheibenberger said.
They returned her keys as if she had just misplaced them, and Susan Scheibenberger didn’t notice until later that her wallet had been stolen, he said.
Police said Evans purchased $1,178.51 worth of merchandise that same day using Kenneth Scheibenberger’s Macy’s credit card, according to court documents.
Kenneth Scheibenberger said the thief also spent $200 at a gas station and about $500 at a J.C. Penney.
That same day, the Scheibenbergers told police someone had tried to cash one of Susan Scheibenberger’s checks at a Pizza Hut, even presenting Susan Scheibenberger’s driver’s license. The manger refused to accept the check, but kept the driver’s license and later returned it to Susan Scheibenberger.
As police showed the Pizza Hut manager photos from Macy’s, another employee identified Evans.
Evans tried to pass a fake payroll check using Susan Scheibenberger’s check card at White Swan Supermarket on Jan. 14, according to court documents. The store’s managers told police they recognized the check as a fake and denied the transaction.
Evans was arrested Friday on unrelated charges of forgery and receiving stolen property after police said she tried to cash a stolen check.
She has prior convictions for forgery and receiving stolen property.
Barbara Ann Evans, 39, of the 3000 block of Woodrow Avenue, is charged with two counts of forgery, two counts of credit card fraud, three counts of receiving stolen property and one count of check fraud.
According to court documents, Evans is accused of running up charges using the stolen credit cards and checks of Allen Superior Court Judge Kenneth Scheibenberger and his wife, Susan.
Susan Scheibenberger, who works as a home health care nurse, was working at a patient’s home Dec. 17 when family members and their friends distracted her while they took her car keys and stole her wallet out of her purse in her car, Kenneth Scheibenberger said.
They returned her keys as if she had just misplaced them, and Susan Scheibenberger didn’t notice until later that her wallet had been stolen, he said.
Police said Evans purchased $1,178.51 worth of merchandise that same day using Kenneth Scheibenberger’s Macy’s credit card, according to court documents.
Kenneth Scheibenberger said the thief also spent $200 at a gas station and about $500 at a J.C. Penney.
That same day, the Scheibenbergers told police someone had tried to cash one of Susan Scheibenberger’s checks at a Pizza Hut, even presenting Susan Scheibenberger’s driver’s license. The manger refused to accept the check, but kept the driver’s license and later returned it to Susan Scheibenberger.
As police showed the Pizza Hut manager photos from Macy’s, another employee identified Evans.
Evans tried to pass a fake payroll check using Susan Scheibenberger’s check card at White Swan Supermarket on Jan. 14, according to court documents. The store’s managers told police they recognized the check as a fake and denied the transaction.
Evans was arrested Friday on unrelated charges of forgery and receiving stolen property after police said she tried to cash a stolen check.
She has prior convictions for forgery and receiving stolen property.
Woman arraigned on credit card fraud
A local woman was arraigned on Monday in Bennington District Court on charges she fraudulently used a credit card belonging to Hoosick Falls, N.Y., Mayor Laura Reynolds.
Charlotte Rogers, 61, of Rich Lane, North Bennington, pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraudulent credit card use greater than $50, and seven counts of fraudulent credit card use less than $50. According to an affidavit filed by Bennington Police Department Officer David Rowland, the department was contacted by the Hoosick Falls Police Department regarding the use of a stolen credit card. According to police, Reynolds had reported that her purse and wallet were stolen from a restaurant in Hoosick Falls.
Although the card was stolen in Hoosick Falls, the card was being used in Bennington stores, including Hannaford, CVS, Kmart and Wal-mart. The total amount of the charges was around $391.
One of the store employees allegedly identified Rogers as the customer for those transactions. According to police, when they entered Rogers' residence, they found the missing wallet with the credit cards inside.
Reynolds praised the work of the police. "The Hoosick Falls
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police worked very well with the Bennington police," Reynolds said. "They did a great job."
Reynolds recommended that those who find themselves in a similar situation go to the police, because the police may be able to track the usage of the credit card and find those responsible.
Charlotte Rogers, 61, of Rich Lane, North Bennington, pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraudulent credit card use greater than $50, and seven counts of fraudulent credit card use less than $50. According to an affidavit filed by Bennington Police Department Officer David Rowland, the department was contacted by the Hoosick Falls Police Department regarding the use of a stolen credit card. According to police, Reynolds had reported that her purse and wallet were stolen from a restaurant in Hoosick Falls.
Although the card was stolen in Hoosick Falls, the card was being used in Bennington stores, including Hannaford, CVS, Kmart and Wal-mart. The total amount of the charges was around $391.
One of the store employees allegedly identified Rogers as the customer for those transactions. According to police, when they entered Rogers' residence, they found the missing wallet with the credit cards inside.
Reynolds praised the work of the police. "The Hoosick Falls
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Click Here!
police worked very well with the Bennington police," Reynolds said. "They did a great job."
Reynolds recommended that those who find themselves in a similar situation go to the police, because the police may be able to track the usage of the credit card and find those responsible.
Phone Scam Offering Great Rates On Visa Card Targets P.E.Islanders
City Police are advising the public to be on guard against a possible fraud attempt by someone claiming to be a representative of credit card giant Visa.
Constable Gary Clow said Tuesday at least one city resident has received a call from the party in question.
"This person called from the 712 area code in Iowa, said they were from Visa and proceeded to offer the recipient of the call a lower interest rate on their Visa card," Clow said. "They then proceeded to ask for personal banking information."
Clow said police contacted Visa and officials of the credit card company said Visa does not solicit personal banking information over the telephone.
"This is clearly a scam," Clow said.
"Somebody just wants access to your personal information. Anyone who gets a call like this should refuse to provide that information, hang up and call police."
Constable Gary Clow said Tuesday at least one city resident has received a call from the party in question.
"This person called from the 712 area code in Iowa, said they were from Visa and proceeded to offer the recipient of the call a lower interest rate on their Visa card," Clow said. "They then proceeded to ask for personal banking information."
Clow said police contacted Visa and officials of the credit card company said Visa does not solicit personal banking information over the telephone.
"This is clearly a scam," Clow said.
"Somebody just wants access to your personal information. Anyone who gets a call like this should refuse to provide that information, hang up and call police."
How to protect yourself from ID fraud
Figures released last week show one Briton in five thinks they have been a victim of identity crime, and this figure is only set to increase as millions more leave themselves vulnerable to criminals.
Identity fraud is when criminals impersonate someone, using their victim's personal details to take out or get access to credit cards, loans, and other financial products in their name.
For example, bank statements and credit card bills fraudsters find in a bin could be used to get access to a customer's bank account or to take out a loan in that person's name.
But despite the risks, one Briton in three admits to throwing away personal documents such as bank statements and receipts without shredding or destroying them, one person in four does not routinely check bank statements for unfamiliar transactions and almost half of us use the same pin and password across different accounts.
And despite the increased risk of identity theft, four Britons in five have never requested a copy of their credit file. This file holds your credit history and is an easy way to check if credit has been taken out in your name by someone else.
"We are living in an age where protecting your personal information has never been so important," said David Smith, deputy commissioner at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
"Almost every day we give out our personal details which can leave us open to identity theft, unwanted marketing and a loss of privacy."
In response to this danger, the ICO has produced a top ten list of tips to keeping your identity safe from fraudsters and released a new toolkit for protecting yourself from ID fraud.
The ICO's top ten tips to protect against ID fraud
# Remember, your personal information is important - treat it like any other valuable item.
# If you move house, redirect all your mail and inform your bank, utility companies and other organisations of your new address.
# Ensure your home computer is protected before you go online.
# Always think about who you are giving your information to.
# Get a copy of your personal credit file to check any suspicious credit applications.
# Never disclose secret passwords or pins.
# If you have to post personal documents, ask the post office for advice on the most secure method.
# Check your bank and credit card statements regularly for unfamiliar transactions.
# Shred or destroy personal documents you are throwing away such as bills, receipts, bank or credit card statements, and other documents that show your details.
# Stop unwanted marketing by registering with both the mailing and telephone preference services.
Identity fraud is when criminals impersonate someone, using their victim's personal details to take out or get access to credit cards, loans, and other financial products in their name.
For example, bank statements and credit card bills fraudsters find in a bin could be used to get access to a customer's bank account or to take out a loan in that person's name.
But despite the risks, one Briton in three admits to throwing away personal documents such as bank statements and receipts without shredding or destroying them, one person in four does not routinely check bank statements for unfamiliar transactions and almost half of us use the same pin and password across different accounts.
And despite the increased risk of identity theft, four Britons in five have never requested a copy of their credit file. This file holds your credit history and is an easy way to check if credit has been taken out in your name by someone else.
"We are living in an age where protecting your personal information has never been so important," said David Smith, deputy commissioner at the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
"Almost every day we give out our personal details which can leave us open to identity theft, unwanted marketing and a loss of privacy."
In response to this danger, the ICO has produced a top ten list of tips to keeping your identity safe from fraudsters and released a new toolkit for protecting yourself from ID fraud.
The ICO's top ten tips to protect against ID fraud
# Remember, your personal information is important - treat it like any other valuable item.
# If you move house, redirect all your mail and inform your bank, utility companies and other organisations of your new address.
# Ensure your home computer is protected before you go online.
# Always think about who you are giving your information to.
# Get a copy of your personal credit file to check any suspicious credit applications.
# Never disclose secret passwords or pins.
# If you have to post personal documents, ask the post office for advice on the most secure method.
# Check your bank and credit card statements regularly for unfamiliar transactions.
# Shred or destroy personal documents you are throwing away such as bills, receipts, bank or credit card statements, and other documents that show your details.
# Stop unwanted marketing by registering with both the mailing and telephone preference services.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Restaurant Owner Suspected In Credit Card Scheme
Feb. 1 - KGO - Our advice: Check your credit card statements carefully. It's always a good idea, but especially for anyone who's eaten at a certain Chinese restaurant in San Francisco in recent years.
We've uncovered many scams over the years, but the experts say this goes beyond a scam, that it's an out-and-out crime.
When we met 50-year-old Phau Lam, he took off and kept running and running, until he was out of sight. We know why.
Irene Bartholomew, Victim: "It's a scam. It's a crime and he has to be in jail. That's it. He has to be in jail."
Irene Bartholomew used to have lunch at Lam's Home Menu restaurant on Mission at South Van Ness, before it closed almost a year ago. She was shocked when she checked her bank statement recently and found a new charge for $175 dollars.
She went to the restaurant -- still closed -- and confronted Lam.
Irene Bartholomew: "'Why I was charged $175 dollars for just lunch, you know, a rice plate meal, you know.' And he goes, 'Oh, can you come back, my friend, tomorrow at about 12 o'clock at this time?' I go, 'Okay, I'll come back.'"
And she brought the I-Team with her.
ABC7's Dan Noyes: "What's going on here? What happened?"
Phau Lam, Restaurant Owner: "I don't know."
Dan Noyes: "Why did you bill her ATM card?"
Phau Lam: "I don't bill that."
Dan Noyes: "You didn't bill that, well, who did?"
Phau Lam: "No, I don't know."
Dan Noyes: "Oh, come on."
Phau Lam: "No, I don't want to take a picture."
Phau Lam didn't want to answer any questions about his business. He led us through the back of the restaurant and out the loading dock.
Dan Noyes: "You aren't even selling food and you're billing their credit card? Mr. Lam."
He took off and kept running. On few occasions have we seen someone run so far from our cameras. Lam left the doors to his restaurant wide open. It's clear he was not ready for business -- we found no food on the shelves. But two cash registers and three credit card machines were powered up and ready for action.
We found several receipts for credit card charges dated long after the business had shut down -- one for $800 dollars.
Pat Wallace, Better Business Bureau: "This isn't even a scam. I don't even call this a scam. This is just out and out theft."
Pat Wallace of the Better Business Bureau has received several complaints about Lam charging his former customers' credit cards, months after the restaurant closed.
Pat Wallace: "We found that he not only charged once, but two and three times to the same card. So, I guess he ran through his, all of his credit card records and then started over again at the beginning."
Naveen Nathan had his card charged four times since the restaurant closed, for more than $800 dollars.
Naveen Nathan, Victim: "And the credit card company finally said that there's no way that we can stop these guys charging you. Rather you report this as stolen or lost and we could stop the number and we can issue a new number."
In all, we tracked down 15 people who say they've had fraudulent charges from Home Menu or another restaurant Lam's preparing to open, Asia Taste. All of the bills are for much more than you would expect to pay for a meal at a Chinese restaurant -- $145, $218, $475, up to $935 dollars.
Van Dyke Roth, Victim: "Had he been successful it would have totaled, you know, easily, I don't know, $1,200 dollars or so."
One thing we wondered was why -- why would someone think they could get away with this? And what kind of pressures would drive them to take such risks?
Bank records show that someone using Phau Lam's machines tried six times to charge Van Dyke Roth's credit card, but didn't have the correct expiration date. They finally entered the right date at four o'clock one morning -- the charge went through for $125 dollars.
Van Dyke Roth: "How can someone do that? Just how can someone do that? You're still affecting lives even though it's just a bunch of numbers that you're running through a machine."
We may have found the answer in Phau Lam's court records. In them, a picture emerges of a man with serious legal problems and money troubles. He's been sued at least 16 times in the last 15 years by restaurant vendors, car companies, the government and former business partners.
Shun Lui, Lam's Former Business Partner: "It was $180,000 dollars, we lost."
Shun Lui and his brother, Roy, loaned Lam almost $180,000 dollars to help open his restaurant. What's more, they say Lam ran up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges on Shun's credit card. So, they sued and a judge awarded more than $200,000 dollars in damages, finding Lam "guilty of actual fraud."
Shun Lui: "Even a penny, he don't pay back."
Another of Lam's partners even filed a police report in 2004, again, for charging customers' debit and credit cards after they dined at the restaurant.
Agatha Okuda got charged $850 dollars.
Agatha Okuda, Victim: "He just kept giving me the run-around, and call back tomorrow, and we'll get in touch with our bank, yeah."
Dan Noyes: "Eight-hundred-fifty bucks, for how much of a lunch?"
Agatha Okuda: "Seventeen dollars (laughs)."
She can laugh about it now. Agatha Okuda's bank finally credited her account. Next stop for us, the authorities. Tomorrow at 6 p.m., we take the case to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
By the way, we've tried several times to get some explanation from Phau Lam and his attorneys for what he's done -- no luck
We've uncovered many scams over the years, but the experts say this goes beyond a scam, that it's an out-and-out crime.
When we met 50-year-old Phau Lam, he took off and kept running and running, until he was out of sight. We know why.
Irene Bartholomew, Victim: "It's a scam. It's a crime and he has to be in jail. That's it. He has to be in jail."
Irene Bartholomew used to have lunch at Lam's Home Menu restaurant on Mission at South Van Ness, before it closed almost a year ago. She was shocked when she checked her bank statement recently and found a new charge for $175 dollars.
She went to the restaurant -- still closed -- and confronted Lam.
Irene Bartholomew: "'Why I was charged $175 dollars for just lunch, you know, a rice plate meal, you know.' And he goes, 'Oh, can you come back, my friend, tomorrow at about 12 o'clock at this time?' I go, 'Okay, I'll come back.'"
And she brought the I-Team with her.
ABC7's Dan Noyes: "What's going on here? What happened?"
Phau Lam, Restaurant Owner: "I don't know."
Dan Noyes: "Why did you bill her ATM card?"
Phau Lam: "I don't bill that."
Dan Noyes: "You didn't bill that, well, who did?"
Phau Lam: "No, I don't know."
Dan Noyes: "Oh, come on."
Phau Lam: "No, I don't want to take a picture."
Phau Lam didn't want to answer any questions about his business. He led us through the back of the restaurant and out the loading dock.
Dan Noyes: "You aren't even selling food and you're billing their credit card? Mr. Lam."
He took off and kept running. On few occasions have we seen someone run so far from our cameras. Lam left the doors to his restaurant wide open. It's clear he was not ready for business -- we found no food on the shelves. But two cash registers and three credit card machines were powered up and ready for action.
We found several receipts for credit card charges dated long after the business had shut down -- one for $800 dollars.
Pat Wallace, Better Business Bureau: "This isn't even a scam. I don't even call this a scam. This is just out and out theft."
Pat Wallace of the Better Business Bureau has received several complaints about Lam charging his former customers' credit cards, months after the restaurant closed.
Pat Wallace: "We found that he not only charged once, but two and three times to the same card. So, I guess he ran through his, all of his credit card records and then started over again at the beginning."
Naveen Nathan had his card charged four times since the restaurant closed, for more than $800 dollars.
Naveen Nathan, Victim: "And the credit card company finally said that there's no way that we can stop these guys charging you. Rather you report this as stolen or lost and we could stop the number and we can issue a new number."
In all, we tracked down 15 people who say they've had fraudulent charges from Home Menu or another restaurant Lam's preparing to open, Asia Taste. All of the bills are for much more than you would expect to pay for a meal at a Chinese restaurant -- $145, $218, $475, up to $935 dollars.
Van Dyke Roth, Victim: "Had he been successful it would have totaled, you know, easily, I don't know, $1,200 dollars or so."
One thing we wondered was why -- why would someone think they could get away with this? And what kind of pressures would drive them to take such risks?
Bank records show that someone using Phau Lam's machines tried six times to charge Van Dyke Roth's credit card, but didn't have the correct expiration date. They finally entered the right date at four o'clock one morning -- the charge went through for $125 dollars.
Van Dyke Roth: "How can someone do that? Just how can someone do that? You're still affecting lives even though it's just a bunch of numbers that you're running through a machine."
We may have found the answer in Phau Lam's court records. In them, a picture emerges of a man with serious legal problems and money troubles. He's been sued at least 16 times in the last 15 years by restaurant vendors, car companies, the government and former business partners.
Shun Lui, Lam's Former Business Partner: "It was $180,000 dollars, we lost."
Shun Lui and his brother, Roy, loaned Lam almost $180,000 dollars to help open his restaurant. What's more, they say Lam ran up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges on Shun's credit card. So, they sued and a judge awarded more than $200,000 dollars in damages, finding Lam "guilty of actual fraud."
Shun Lui: "Even a penny, he don't pay back."
Another of Lam's partners even filed a police report in 2004, again, for charging customers' debit and credit cards after they dined at the restaurant.
Agatha Okuda got charged $850 dollars.
Agatha Okuda, Victim: "He just kept giving me the run-around, and call back tomorrow, and we'll get in touch with our bank, yeah."
Dan Noyes: "Eight-hundred-fifty bucks, for how much of a lunch?"
Agatha Okuda: "Seventeen dollars (laughs)."
She can laugh about it now. Agatha Okuda's bank finally credited her account. Next stop for us, the authorities. Tomorrow at 6 p.m., we take the case to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
By the way, we've tried several times to get some explanation from Phau Lam and his attorneys for what he's done -- no luck
Police: Crooks Stole $30,000 By Cloning Credit Cards
A sweeping high-tech credit card fraud ring is victimizing dozens of banks, cities and people in northeast Ohio, NewsChannel5 reported.
Authorities said the crooks are cloning credit cards and stealing thousands of dollars. They do it by obtaining working credit card numbers, stamping out duplicate cards and then taking out huge cash advances.
Police said two men shown on a bank surveillance camera ripped off nearly $3,000 from National City Bank using fake IDs.
The high-tech part of the crime is actually duplicating credit cards, even cloning the magnetic strip on the back, police said.
In a three-day period last week, the fraud team hit banks in Beachwood, Strongsville, Shaker Heights, Mayfield Heights and University Circle.
The crooks made off with an estimated $30,000.
Bank security and police passed the surveillance photos around and finally caught up with 31-year-old Larry Colbert.
Police said Colbert came to Cleveland from Tennessee to conduct his credit card crimes. Investigators are now trying to find a man and a woman they believe are his partners in crime.
Colbert is facing a host of charges, including fraud and theft.
Authorities said the crooks are cloning credit cards and stealing thousands of dollars. They do it by obtaining working credit card numbers, stamping out duplicate cards and then taking out huge cash advances.
Police said two men shown on a bank surveillance camera ripped off nearly $3,000 from National City Bank using fake IDs.
The high-tech part of the crime is actually duplicating credit cards, even cloning the magnetic strip on the back, police said.
In a three-day period last week, the fraud team hit banks in Beachwood, Strongsville, Shaker Heights, Mayfield Heights and University Circle.
The crooks made off with an estimated $30,000.
Bank security and police passed the surveillance photos around and finally caught up with 31-year-old Larry Colbert.
Police said Colbert came to Cleveland from Tennessee to conduct his credit card crimes. Investigators are now trying to find a man and a woman they believe are his partners in crime.
Colbert is facing a host of charges, including fraud and theft.
Two arrested for credit card fraud
Two people were arrested after a search warrant served at their residence turned up thousands of dollars in fraudulently purchased merchandise on Monday.
Deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department arrested Jose Trujillo, 33, and Stephanie Martinez, 31, at their home in Ontario, according to a sheriff's statement.
Macy's employees reported the two made purchases with fraudulent credit cards.
Trujillo and Martinez were arrested after deputies found items from Bebe and Victoria Secret stores in their possession. It was later determined that those items were purchased fraudulently, according to the statement.
Investigators later found $4,000 worth of items from Best Buy and more than $8,000 in stereo and electronic equipment, once they served a warrant at the home. Also found were 12 fraudulent credit cards from 12 different victims, according to the statement.
Investigators expect to find additional victims.
Deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department arrested Jose Trujillo, 33, and Stephanie Martinez, 31, at their home in Ontario, according to a sheriff's statement.
Macy's employees reported the two made purchases with fraudulent credit cards.
Trujillo and Martinez were arrested after deputies found items from Bebe and Victoria Secret stores in their possession. It was later determined that those items were purchased fraudulently, according to the statement.
Investigators later found $4,000 worth of items from Best Buy and more than $8,000 in stereo and electronic equipment, once they served a warrant at the home. Also found were 12 fraudulent credit cards from 12 different victims, according to the statement.
Investigators expect to find additional victims.
Funeral director accused of using customer's credit card for online porn
Criminal charges have been filed against a Hippensteel Funeral Home director suspected of using a customer's credit card to access pornography Web sites.
Michael J. Moehring, 31, of Lafayette was charged Friday in Tippecanoe Superior Court 5 with two counts of felony fraud and felony identity deception.
Detective Jeff Rooze of the Lafayette Police Department said a customer had paid for a relative's funeral services in early January using a credit card. About two weeks later, the family found four suspicious charges on their monthly credit card statement.
"They weren't big purchases -- $30, $40. But they questioned it and took the initiative to investigate," Rooze said. "In this case, look what it resulted in."
He said the family was able to track the Internet protocol address to a computer at Hippensteel. Rooze got a subpoena to further narrow it down to a computer that Moehring used.
Hippensteel officials said that Moehring, a licensed funeral director who had worked there since 2003, was immediately terminated upon news of the charges.
Rooze said that Moehring is suspected of using the credit card number on two separate days to pay membership fees to four adult porn sites.
The fees totaled about $179.
Moehring also is accused of using a portion of the dead man's name to create an e-mail address that he used as correspondence for the Web sites, Rooze said.
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He said both Hippensteel and Moehring have been cooperative in the investigation.
"They are devastated by this," Rooze said of Hippensteel employees.
Police believe it was an isolated incident and do not suspect that there are other victims.
Still, Rooze encourages everyone to carefully check their credit card statements and contact the card issuer and police if there are any suspicious charges.
If convicted of the most serious charge, fraud as a Class D felony, Moehring could be sentenced to up to three years in prison for each count.
Moehring, who was arrested Friday afternoon, after posting a $5,000 bond.
Michael J. Moehring, 31, of Lafayette was charged Friday in Tippecanoe Superior Court 5 with two counts of felony fraud and felony identity deception.
Detective Jeff Rooze of the Lafayette Police Department said a customer had paid for a relative's funeral services in early January using a credit card. About two weeks later, the family found four suspicious charges on their monthly credit card statement.
"They weren't big purchases -- $30, $40. But they questioned it and took the initiative to investigate," Rooze said. "In this case, look what it resulted in."
He said the family was able to track the Internet protocol address to a computer at Hippensteel. Rooze got a subpoena to further narrow it down to a computer that Moehring used.
Hippensteel officials said that Moehring, a licensed funeral director who had worked there since 2003, was immediately terminated upon news of the charges.
Rooze said that Moehring is suspected of using the credit card number on two separate days to pay membership fees to four adult porn sites.
The fees totaled about $179.
Moehring also is accused of using a portion of the dead man's name to create an e-mail address that he used as correspondence for the Web sites, Rooze said.
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He said both Hippensteel and Moehring have been cooperative in the investigation.
"They are devastated by this," Rooze said of Hippensteel employees.
Police believe it was an isolated incident and do not suspect that there are other victims.
Still, Rooze encourages everyone to carefully check their credit card statements and contact the card issuer and police if there are any suspicious charges.
If convicted of the most serious charge, fraud as a Class D felony, Moehring could be sentenced to up to three years in prison for each count.
Moehring, who was arrested Friday afternoon, after posting a $5,000 bond.
Customers at 7 Del. banks swindled in debit card scam
Customers of at least seven Delaware banks say money was stolen from their accounts this week, the latest scam where PIN numbers for debit cards have been used to withdraw thousands of dollars from checking and savings accounts.
Customers from Wachovia, Wilmington Trust, PNC, DPL Federal Credit Union, Dexsta Federal Credit Union, Commerce Bank and Delaware National Bank have told The News Journal their money went missing shortly after they shopped at the Rite Aid store in the Graylyn Crest Shopping Center using their debit cards and PINs.
"I went online to check my account and knew I had not made these withdrawals," said Tina Hall, of Brandywine Hundred, who discovered that someone had made three unauthorized ATM withdrawals totaling $1,500 from her PNC account on Wednesday and Thursday. Four days earlier, Hall made a purchase at the Rite Aid store using her debit card and PIN number. When she made a fraud report, bank officials told Hall that two of the $500 withdrawals were made in Montgomeryville, Pa., and the other on MacDade Boulevard in Delaware County, Pa.
PNC spokesman Edward Kozmor confirmed that more than 10 bank customers have been affected by the latest thefts, and the bank is continuing to monitor its accounts.
"If any customer feels that their account has been compromised, they should go to their local PNC bank branch immediately," Kozmor said. "Our customers are not liable for any fraudulent activity on their accounts."
Jody Cook, spokeswoman for the Rite Aid corporation, said the investigation into the origin of the bank robberies is under way.
A company loss-prevention employee visited the Graylyn Crest store Friday morning along with a bank official to investigate the complaints.
The thefts coincidentally occurred the same week that banks sent out reissued credit and debit cards to thousands of customers in response to a massive data breach in December at TJX Companies Inc., parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls HomeGoods and A.J.Wright.
Joel Romaine, vice president of Operations at DPL Federal Credit Union, said the bank sent out about 450 new debit and credit cards in response to the TJX breach.
He said that he hadn't heard from customers about the newest thefts, but advised people to contact the bank immediately if they noticed suspicious activity on their accounts. "The quicker they contact us, the quicker we can get them a new card," he said.
Wilmington Trust spokesman Bill Benintende said the bank learned last month that some of its customers were affected by the TJX data breach, and it has notified those customers and replaced their cards. Many of those customers received their new cards in the mail this week.
The bank is now working with the Delaware State Police on the most recent scam, which it just discovered.
"We started seeing a pattern of fraudulent activity on Tuesday," said Benintende. "Within 24 hours we were on the phone and began calling those clients. Within 24 hours of that, we had printed and issued new cards."
Benintende said the bank continues to monitor the situation "aggressively and proactively."
He could not say how many customers have been affected or how much money had been stolen. "It's still very early," he said.
He recommended that customers not use their PIN numbers, but swipe their debit cards like a credit card and sign a receipt.
Jason Estock, 24, of Brandywine Hundred, said he usually makes purchases with his credit card, but on Jan. 14, when he visited the Rite Aid store in the Graylyn Crest Shopping Center, he used his ATM card and PIN number to make a $1.79 purchase.
"That's the only time in the past two weeks that I used that card with the pin," Estock said.
Early this week, Estock found $980 had been taken from his bank account without his knowledge; $500 on Sunday night at a Wawa convenience store in Lima, Pa, and $480 Monday morning from the Wawa on Naamans Road in Claymont.
Estock's bank, Dexsta Federal Credit Union, took a fraud report and credited the stolen money back into his account as a disputed transaction. He also is awaiting a new debit card from the bank.
Dexsta could not be reached for comment.
Delaware State Police spokesman Cpl. Jeff Whitmarsh said that customers who suspect fraud should report it to their bank immediately.
"The banking industry and the state police in Delaware have a cooperative working relationship," Whitmarsh said. In fraud cases like these, it's more efficient if customers work with their banks first, because a bank can immediately begin an investigation. Police, however, will have to subpoena bank records, a process that takes time.
"If folks think they're a victim of this kind of case, they need to call their bank and make them aware of it," he said.
Customers from Wachovia, Wilmington Trust, PNC, DPL Federal Credit Union, Dexsta Federal Credit Union, Commerce Bank and Delaware National Bank have told The News Journal their money went missing shortly after they shopped at the Rite Aid store in the Graylyn Crest Shopping Center using their debit cards and PINs.
"I went online to check my account and knew I had not made these withdrawals," said Tina Hall, of Brandywine Hundred, who discovered that someone had made three unauthorized ATM withdrawals totaling $1,500 from her PNC account on Wednesday and Thursday. Four days earlier, Hall made a purchase at the Rite Aid store using her debit card and PIN number. When she made a fraud report, bank officials told Hall that two of the $500 withdrawals were made in Montgomeryville, Pa., and the other on MacDade Boulevard in Delaware County, Pa.
PNC spokesman Edward Kozmor confirmed that more than 10 bank customers have been affected by the latest thefts, and the bank is continuing to monitor its accounts.
"If any customer feels that their account has been compromised, they should go to their local PNC bank branch immediately," Kozmor said. "Our customers are not liable for any fraudulent activity on their accounts."
Jody Cook, spokeswoman for the Rite Aid corporation, said the investigation into the origin of the bank robberies is under way.
A company loss-prevention employee visited the Graylyn Crest store Friday morning along with a bank official to investigate the complaints.
The thefts coincidentally occurred the same week that banks sent out reissued credit and debit cards to thousands of customers in response to a massive data breach in December at TJX Companies Inc., parent company of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls HomeGoods and A.J.Wright.
Joel Romaine, vice president of Operations at DPL Federal Credit Union, said the bank sent out about 450 new debit and credit cards in response to the TJX breach.
He said that he hadn't heard from customers about the newest thefts, but advised people to contact the bank immediately if they noticed suspicious activity on their accounts. "The quicker they contact us, the quicker we can get them a new card," he said.
Wilmington Trust spokesman Bill Benintende said the bank learned last month that some of its customers were affected by the TJX data breach, and it has notified those customers and replaced their cards. Many of those customers received their new cards in the mail this week.
The bank is now working with the Delaware State Police on the most recent scam, which it just discovered.
"We started seeing a pattern of fraudulent activity on Tuesday," said Benintende. "Within 24 hours we were on the phone and began calling those clients. Within 24 hours of that, we had printed and issued new cards."
Benintende said the bank continues to monitor the situation "aggressively and proactively."
He could not say how many customers have been affected or how much money had been stolen. "It's still very early," he said.
He recommended that customers not use their PIN numbers, but swipe their debit cards like a credit card and sign a receipt.
Jason Estock, 24, of Brandywine Hundred, said he usually makes purchases with his credit card, but on Jan. 14, when he visited the Rite Aid store in the Graylyn Crest Shopping Center, he used his ATM card and PIN number to make a $1.79 purchase.
"That's the only time in the past two weeks that I used that card with the pin," Estock said.
Early this week, Estock found $980 had been taken from his bank account without his knowledge; $500 on Sunday night at a Wawa convenience store in Lima, Pa, and $480 Monday morning from the Wawa on Naamans Road in Claymont.
Estock's bank, Dexsta Federal Credit Union, took a fraud report and credited the stolen money back into his account as a disputed transaction. He also is awaiting a new debit card from the bank.
Dexsta could not be reached for comment.
Delaware State Police spokesman Cpl. Jeff Whitmarsh said that customers who suspect fraud should report it to their bank immediately.
"The banking industry and the state police in Delaware have a cooperative working relationship," Whitmarsh said. In fraud cases like these, it's more efficient if customers work with their banks first, because a bank can immediately begin an investigation. Police, however, will have to subpoena bank records, a process that takes time.
"If folks think they're a victim of this kind of case, they need to call their bank and make them aware of it," he said.
Hackers access card numbers
Banks are reissuing millions of debit and credit cards after a hacker gained access to TJ Maxx and Marshalls databases, putting customers' financial information at risk of theft.
It's going to cost banks about $20 for each reissued card, according to Joseph Pietroski Jr., president of the Maine Bankers Association.
The stores' parent company, TJX Companies Inc., said it discovered the unauthorized intrusion into its computer systems in mid-December 2006. But it didn't announce the breach publicly until Jan. 17, 2007.
Mark Walker of Maine Bankers Association said CitiBank already has reissued at least 1 million new cards. TD Banknorth's number of reissued cards is in the tens of thousands. Bank of America announced Thursday it will reissue an untold number of cards, Pietroski said.
Walker said usually the reissued cards are attached to new account numbers.
"Banks are absorbing an awful lot of cost for this thing," Pietroski said Friday.
Mark Young, vice president of operations at Maine State Credit Union, said the credit union has been notified by Visa that approximately 3,100 Maine State Credit Union cards were affected. A total of 7,400 Visa credit cards and 8,500 Visa debit cards were issued by the credit union.
Young said it appears the breach involves millions of card accounts across all major payment brands accepted by TJX.
"The credit union's card services department reacted swiftly to the notification by blocking each card that may have been affected, ordering new cards and notifying each member to inform them of the situation," Young said Friday.
"Members were also reminded that account holders would not be responsible for any fraudulent charges resulting from the compromise."
In Massachusetts, 28 banks were contacted by credit card companies indicating some customers had personal information that may have been exposed, according to the Massachusetts Bankers Association.
Walker said most of the affected banks are in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Only about a half-dozen Maine banks are affected.
Pietroski said a breach doesn't necessarily mean accounts have been tapped. Banks often choose to reissue cards as a preventive measure to head off fraudulent charges.
"If TJX had let the banks know early on that the cards had been compromised, then the banks could have responded a lot quicker," Pietroski said. "I don't know the depth of the information compromised. That's the scary thing."
William Lund, director of the Maine Office of Consumer Credit Regulation, said a new state law enacted Wednesday requires individuals, businesses and other entities to notify consumers and state regulators when there has been a security breach of computerized data containing the consumers' personal information that could result in identity theft.
"If these breaches had taken place a couple weeks later, TJX would have had to either call an office like ours or the attorney general's office and also send out individual letters to consumers," he said.
For the time being, Lund said people should monitor their credit reports to make certain they don't fall victim to identity theft. He said there are three steps people can take to protect themselves.
"First, look at your credit reports. You can do that under the law without charge once a year," Lund said. "The second step is to put a fraud alert on your credit report.
"And the third step, under Maine law, consumers are permitted to freeze their files, which locks access to a credit report without the consumer's specific permission. That's the most protective step a consumer can take."
Lund said people can access all three credit agencies -- Equifax, Experian and Trans Union -- at http://www.annualcreditreport.com
Calls to local branches of Kennebec Savings Bank, Gardiner Savings Bank, TD Banknorth and Bank America were unreturned Friday.
On Monday, a lawsuit seeking class-action status was filed in federal court in Boston accusing TJX of negligence for waiting to publicly announce the intrusion and for failing to protect consumer credit- and debit-card information in its computers.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a West Virginia woman, seeks credit-card monitoring for affected customers and compensation for damages.
David Loughran of the Maine Office of the Attorney General said the Massachusetts attorney general also is investigating TJX.
"We're working with the Massachusetts attorney general's office on this to protect Maine consumers from credit card and other fraud," Loughran said.
Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408
mcooper@centralmaine.com
Reader comments
Ben of Cliff Island, ME
Feb 3, 2007 5:13 PM
I believe that this article downplays the impact of this "data breach." My card number was one of those stolen, and I spent most of last Sunday afternoon and parts of Monday and Tuesday dealing with the mess, and there'll be more to come. This is far more than the $20 impact quoted by the article.
The real question is why was TJX keeping our credit card number on file months after we last shopped at their store (the South Portland Home Goods)?
al375 of Dresden, ME
Feb 3, 2007 10:01 AM
I think it is definately time to go back to cash only. It is inconvenient but at least your identity is safe when you make purchases. Many stores, especially the larger grocery chains, treat checks as debit devices - so checks are no longer safe either. Except for banks, businesses don't charge interest or fees for using cash.
GreatNana3 of Augusta, ME
Feb 3, 2007 8:29 AM
I can't imagine a worse time of year for TJX to I hope they are fined "big time" for deriliction of duty. Even if I am not one of the customers that is notified it still reduces my confidence in the security of using credit/debit cards. This is not the first breach of security - it seems to me that it is only a matter of time before there is a major problem. Can you imagine: your credit card info is stolen - and used to finance terrorism. You spend years regaining your "good name" - if ever. I don't even want to think about it . . . .
It's going to cost banks about $20 for each reissued card, according to Joseph Pietroski Jr., president of the Maine Bankers Association.
The stores' parent company, TJX Companies Inc., said it discovered the unauthorized intrusion into its computer systems in mid-December 2006. But it didn't announce the breach publicly until Jan. 17, 2007.
Mark Walker of Maine Bankers Association said CitiBank already has reissued at least 1 million new cards. TD Banknorth's number of reissued cards is in the tens of thousands. Bank of America announced Thursday it will reissue an untold number of cards, Pietroski said.
Walker said usually the reissued cards are attached to new account numbers.
"Banks are absorbing an awful lot of cost for this thing," Pietroski said Friday.
Mark Young, vice president of operations at Maine State Credit Union, said the credit union has been notified by Visa that approximately 3,100 Maine State Credit Union cards were affected. A total of 7,400 Visa credit cards and 8,500 Visa debit cards were issued by the credit union.
Young said it appears the breach involves millions of card accounts across all major payment brands accepted by TJX.
"The credit union's card services department reacted swiftly to the notification by blocking each card that may have been affected, ordering new cards and notifying each member to inform them of the situation," Young said Friday.
"Members were also reminded that account holders would not be responsible for any fraudulent charges resulting from the compromise."
In Massachusetts, 28 banks were contacted by credit card companies indicating some customers had personal information that may have been exposed, according to the Massachusetts Bankers Association.
Walker said most of the affected banks are in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Only about a half-dozen Maine banks are affected.
Pietroski said a breach doesn't necessarily mean accounts have been tapped. Banks often choose to reissue cards as a preventive measure to head off fraudulent charges.
"If TJX had let the banks know early on that the cards had been compromised, then the banks could have responded a lot quicker," Pietroski said. "I don't know the depth of the information compromised. That's the scary thing."
William Lund, director of the Maine Office of Consumer Credit Regulation, said a new state law enacted Wednesday requires individuals, businesses and other entities to notify consumers and state regulators when there has been a security breach of computerized data containing the consumers' personal information that could result in identity theft.
"If these breaches had taken place a couple weeks later, TJX would have had to either call an office like ours or the attorney general's office and also send out individual letters to consumers," he said.
For the time being, Lund said people should monitor their credit reports to make certain they don't fall victim to identity theft. He said there are three steps people can take to protect themselves.
"First, look at your credit reports. You can do that under the law without charge once a year," Lund said. "The second step is to put a fraud alert on your credit report.
"And the third step, under Maine law, consumers are permitted to freeze their files, which locks access to a credit report without the consumer's specific permission. That's the most protective step a consumer can take."
Lund said people can access all three credit agencies -- Equifax, Experian and Trans Union -- at http://www.annualcreditreport.com
Calls to local branches of Kennebec Savings Bank, Gardiner Savings Bank, TD Banknorth and Bank America were unreturned Friday.
On Monday, a lawsuit seeking class-action status was filed in federal court in Boston accusing TJX of negligence for waiting to publicly announce the intrusion and for failing to protect consumer credit- and debit-card information in its computers.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a West Virginia woman, seeks credit-card monitoring for affected customers and compensation for damages.
David Loughran of the Maine Office of the Attorney General said the Massachusetts attorney general also is investigating TJX.
"We're working with the Massachusetts attorney general's office on this to protect Maine consumers from credit card and other fraud," Loughran said.
Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408
mcooper@centralmaine.com
Reader comments
Ben of Cliff Island, ME
Feb 3, 2007 5:13 PM
I believe that this article downplays the impact of this "data breach." My card number was one of those stolen, and I spent most of last Sunday afternoon and parts of Monday and Tuesday dealing with the mess, and there'll be more to come. This is far more than the $20 impact quoted by the article.
The real question is why was TJX keeping our credit card number on file months after we last shopped at their store (the South Portland Home Goods)?
al375 of Dresden, ME
Feb 3, 2007 10:01 AM
I think it is definately time to go back to cash only. It is inconvenient but at least your identity is safe when you make purchases. Many stores, especially the larger grocery chains, treat checks as debit devices - so checks are no longer safe either. Except for banks, businesses don't charge interest or fees for using cash.
GreatNana3 of Augusta, ME
Feb 3, 2007 8:29 AM
I can't imagine a worse time of year for TJX to I hope they are fined "big time" for deriliction of duty. Even if I am not one of the customers that is notified it still reduces my confidence in the security of using credit/debit cards. This is not the first breach of security - it seems to me that it is only a matter of time before there is a major problem. Can you imagine: your credit card info is stolen - and used to finance terrorism. You spend years regaining your "good name" - if ever. I don't even want to think about it . . . .
Detecting fraud means casting wide net
Detecting some fraud means casting wide net Think you've heard most of the tips about preventing identity theft?
You know, shredding documents, checking your credit reports and credit-card statements, keeping your Social Security number to yourself and not falling for phishing schemes or the infamous Nigerian scam.
Actually, there's no such thing as identity-theft prevention, experts say. But, you can reduce your exposure. Here are some ways not often spoken about:
Check for fraudulent account activity in your name, urged Troy Allen, chief fraud solutions officer at Kroll Inc. in Nashville, Tenn. You're entitled to a free consumer report once a year from each of two data warehouses, the Shared Check Authorization Network, which has retailers among its clients, and Chex Systems Inc., whose members are financial institutions. If someone has opened an account using your name, the details will show up on these reports.
Check your Social Security earnings and benefits statement each year. Someone may have stolen or purchased your identity and used it to get a job in your name, as some illegal immigrants are suspected of doing at the Swift Inc. meat processing plants in Colorado, Allen said. "They need your name to live." You'll be liable for the taxes on all that income until you prove it's not yours.
Find out if someone has stolen medical services using your name. If you've applied for life, health or disability insurance during the past seven years, you can find out what insurers know about you by calling the Medical Information Bureau at (866) 692-6901, Allen said. Be sure the codes on your free report match your medical history.
Medical identity theft is "when somebody builds up hospital bills or other medical bills using your name and Social Security number," said Linda Foley, founder of the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego. You are responsible for the charges, unless you successfully dispute them.
Health-care thieves may target your wallet, mailbox, discarded billing statements or a provider's database, said Alex Johnson, head of the special investigative unit at The Regence Group in Portland, Ore., an affiliation of health-care plans. Never give out your health-insurance number and be sure to study your medical bills and explanations of benefits just as you would a bank statement.
Don't let your teen download free music and videos. Not only does it illegally infringe copyrights, but cybercriminals can download a remote-control tool into the family computer that tracks everything anybody does on it, including typing in personal account numbers, warned Ken Colburn, founder of Data Doctors Franchise Systems Inc. in Tempe, Ariz.
Don't open e-greeting cards from strangers. You could be diverted to a third-party Web site that attaches a keylogger, sends it to your computer and then captures everything you do on it, said Roger Thompson, chief technology officer of Exploit Prevention Labs in Atlanta.
Don't carry your child's Social Security card and don't permit your teen to do so, urged the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. Also, don't let your child post his or her phone number, address or school name online. It's a red flag if credit-card offers or other notifications start arriving in your child's name.
Delete personal information from company and family Web sites. Be sure your information is not available via online directories and searchable databases, said Tom Walton, vice president at AlliedBarton Security Services in King of Prussia, Pa.
If someone calls and says you failed to appear for jury duty, don't give out any personal information, Foley said. "No county in the country is going to call you and ask you for information like that to remind you that you've failed to show up for jury duty."
Ask for details if you get a seemingly mistaken call from a creditor, urged Troy Allen. Don't hang up. "Find out why they think you are that person, because you might be." Don't give out any personal information.
Use one low-limit credit card exclusively for Internet shopping, said Jim Ruel, a senior vice president at The Hartford insurance company in Connecticut.
"We haven't even begun scratching the surface of what's going on out there," said Kroll's Allen. "We're not even close"
You know, shredding documents, checking your credit reports and credit-card statements, keeping your Social Security number to yourself and not falling for phishing schemes or the infamous Nigerian scam.
Actually, there's no such thing as identity-theft prevention, experts say. But, you can reduce your exposure. Here are some ways not often spoken about:
Check for fraudulent account activity in your name, urged Troy Allen, chief fraud solutions officer at Kroll Inc. in Nashville, Tenn. You're entitled to a free consumer report once a year from each of two data warehouses, the Shared Check Authorization Network, which has retailers among its clients, and Chex Systems Inc., whose members are financial institutions. If someone has opened an account using your name, the details will show up on these reports.
Check your Social Security earnings and benefits statement each year. Someone may have stolen or purchased your identity and used it to get a job in your name, as some illegal immigrants are suspected of doing at the Swift Inc. meat processing plants in Colorado, Allen said. "They need your name to live." You'll be liable for the taxes on all that income until you prove it's not yours.
Find out if someone has stolen medical services using your name. If you've applied for life, health or disability insurance during the past seven years, you can find out what insurers know about you by calling the Medical Information Bureau at (866) 692-6901, Allen said. Be sure the codes on your free report match your medical history.
Medical identity theft is "when somebody builds up hospital bills or other medical bills using your name and Social Security number," said Linda Foley, founder of the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego. You are responsible for the charges, unless you successfully dispute them.
Health-care thieves may target your wallet, mailbox, discarded billing statements or a provider's database, said Alex Johnson, head of the special investigative unit at The Regence Group in Portland, Ore., an affiliation of health-care plans. Never give out your health-insurance number and be sure to study your medical bills and explanations of benefits just as you would a bank statement.
Don't let your teen download free music and videos. Not only does it illegally infringe copyrights, but cybercriminals can download a remote-control tool into the family computer that tracks everything anybody does on it, including typing in personal account numbers, warned Ken Colburn, founder of Data Doctors Franchise Systems Inc. in Tempe, Ariz.
Don't open e-greeting cards from strangers. You could be diverted to a third-party Web site that attaches a keylogger, sends it to your computer and then captures everything you do on it, said Roger Thompson, chief technology officer of Exploit Prevention Labs in Atlanta.
Don't carry your child's Social Security card and don't permit your teen to do so, urged the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. Also, don't let your child post his or her phone number, address or school name online. It's a red flag if credit-card offers or other notifications start arriving in your child's name.
Delete personal information from company and family Web sites. Be sure your information is not available via online directories and searchable databases, said Tom Walton, vice president at AlliedBarton Security Services in King of Prussia, Pa.
If someone calls and says you failed to appear for jury duty, don't give out any personal information, Foley said. "No county in the country is going to call you and ask you for information like that to remind you that you've failed to show up for jury duty."
Ask for details if you get a seemingly mistaken call from a creditor, urged Troy Allen. Don't hang up. "Find out why they think you are that person, because you might be." Don't give out any personal information.
Use one low-limit credit card exclusively for Internet shopping, said Jim Ruel, a senior vice president at The Hartford insurance company in Connecticut.
"We haven't even begun scratching the surface of what's going on out there," said Kroll's Allen. "We're not even close"
Bargain hunters unfazed by fraud threat
TORONTO -- Assurances from Winners and HomeSense that a security breach reported last month did not involve Canadian debit-card transactions isn't making much of dent with customers of the two retail chains.
Not much can keep them from their bargain hunting.
The deals to be found at Winners make the risk of becoming the victim of credit card fraud worthwhile, said Sherry Croney as she slowly sifted through the blouse racks at one of the chain's cavernous stores in downtown Toronto.
Croney said she never uses her credit card when clothes shopping, and even if she did, a security breach wouldn't stop her.
"The prices (are) unbelievable," she said. "You see really nice stuff that you'd normally see for like one-hundred-and-something and it's excellent."
Winners' president, Michael MacMillan, appealed to Canadian customers directly yesterday with full-page ads in at least two of the country's largest daily newspapers, saying he believed the transactions using debit cards issued by Canadian banks weren't involved in the breach.
"Based on our investigation, we can now report we believe transactions using debit cards issued by Canadian banks were not involved in the systems breach," the ad read.
MacMillan went on to reassure customers the company has beefed up security of its computer systems.
TJX Companies, the U.S. parent company of Winners and HomeSense, revealed last month it was the victim of a massive security breach.
The company discovered in mid-December that customers' credit and debit card information had been stolen from its computer network, which included data from its Winners and HomeSense stores in Canada.
Updating its investigation earlier this week, TJX noted that debit cards issued by Canadian banks didn't seem to have been compromised.
Not much can keep them from their bargain hunting.
The deals to be found at Winners make the risk of becoming the victim of credit card fraud worthwhile, said Sherry Croney as she slowly sifted through the blouse racks at one of the chain's cavernous stores in downtown Toronto.
Croney said she never uses her credit card when clothes shopping, and even if she did, a security breach wouldn't stop her.
"The prices (are) unbelievable," she said. "You see really nice stuff that you'd normally see for like one-hundred-and-something and it's excellent."
Winners' president, Michael MacMillan, appealed to Canadian customers directly yesterday with full-page ads in at least two of the country's largest daily newspapers, saying he believed the transactions using debit cards issued by Canadian banks weren't involved in the breach.
"Based on our investigation, we can now report we believe transactions using debit cards issued by Canadian banks were not involved in the systems breach," the ad read.
MacMillan went on to reassure customers the company has beefed up security of its computer systems.
TJX Companies, the U.S. parent company of Winners and HomeSense, revealed last month it was the victim of a massive security breach.
The company discovered in mid-December that customers' credit and debit card information had been stolen from its computer network, which included data from its Winners and HomeSense stores in Canada.
Updating its investigation earlier this week, TJX noted that debit cards issued by Canadian banks didn't seem to have been compromised.
Getting defensive
Take proactive steps to protect your identity, personal information.
GALESBURG - Lori Brittingham has first-hand experience with identity theft.
The East Galesburg resident became a victim in September when someone stole checks sent to her from her credit card company out of her mailbox. In November she noticed $6,300 of extra charges on her statement.
"(Whoever did it) called the credit card company and said they were me," Brittingham said. "They did it over the phone. Then the money was transferred from my credit card to their bank account."
Brittingham said the only information the thief needed was her mother's maiden name, which people who know her knew as well.
"They did five different transactions in a month's time, so I didn't know that this was going on," Brittingham said.
She made the mistake of not checking her statement in October. Instead, she wrote her usual check to the credit card company without verifying all the transactions registered to her account. She never noticed the checks were missing from her mailbox.
"I never look at those checks, I just tear them up and throw them away," Brittingham said. "They didn't come with the bill so I would've never known that I didn't get them."
Brittingham was able to prove she hadn't used the checks and the charges were removed from her account. And she learned her lesson about protecting personal information.
Chris Kieffer is the vice president for electronic banking for First Bank in St. Louis. He said people tend to be more reactive than proactive when it comes to protecting themselves from credit card fraud and identity theft.
"The biggest things I tell people to be aware of is stay in touch with your bank account, review credit card and bank statements and make sure there's nothing on them you don't recognize, and annually pull a credit report on yourself," Kieffer said. "These are proactive steps any consumer can take."
For credit card offers that are sent through the mail, Kieffer suggests a shredder. Most of those offers will have a lot of your personal information on them already.
"Protect that information about yourself," Kieffer said. "It's just as easy for somebody to tape it together as it is for you to tear it apart once or twice."
Kieffer said online banking is safe on bank sites, but to be cautious of fake e-mail correspondence from banks, called phishing. These e-mails claim to be your bank trying to secure personal information about you. They will link you to a site that looks similar to your banks site. Kieffer said banks will never send e-mails like that to your private account.
"Banks are never going to validate through that mechanism," he said. "If something doesn't look right, don't use it. If you have questions ask a branch employee."
For online shoppers, Kieffer advises getting to know the merchant.
"Make sure it's somebody reputable," he said. "Fraud happens after the fact when we don't know where we're shopping or who we're using as a vendor."
And Brittingham has some advice, too. After her experience she had the limit on her credit card lowered to only $300.
"Never have a limit that's more than you're willing to lose," she said. "Whatever you might spend if you were somewhere and needed to buy something."
And she's learned another lesson.
"I will read every statement that I get," she said. "It's just been a complete nightmare."
GALESBURG - Lori Brittingham has first-hand experience with identity theft.
The East Galesburg resident became a victim in September when someone stole checks sent to her from her credit card company out of her mailbox. In November she noticed $6,300 of extra charges on her statement.
"(Whoever did it) called the credit card company and said they were me," Brittingham said. "They did it over the phone. Then the money was transferred from my credit card to their bank account."
Brittingham said the only information the thief needed was her mother's maiden name, which people who know her knew as well.
"They did five different transactions in a month's time, so I didn't know that this was going on," Brittingham said.
She made the mistake of not checking her statement in October. Instead, she wrote her usual check to the credit card company without verifying all the transactions registered to her account. She never noticed the checks were missing from her mailbox.
"I never look at those checks, I just tear them up and throw them away," Brittingham said. "They didn't come with the bill so I would've never known that I didn't get them."
Brittingham was able to prove she hadn't used the checks and the charges were removed from her account. And she learned her lesson about protecting personal information.
Chris Kieffer is the vice president for electronic banking for First Bank in St. Louis. He said people tend to be more reactive than proactive when it comes to protecting themselves from credit card fraud and identity theft.
"The biggest things I tell people to be aware of is stay in touch with your bank account, review credit card and bank statements and make sure there's nothing on them you don't recognize, and annually pull a credit report on yourself," Kieffer said. "These are proactive steps any consumer can take."
For credit card offers that are sent through the mail, Kieffer suggests a shredder. Most of those offers will have a lot of your personal information on them already.
"Protect that information about yourself," Kieffer said. "It's just as easy for somebody to tape it together as it is for you to tear it apart once or twice."
Kieffer said online banking is safe on bank sites, but to be cautious of fake e-mail correspondence from banks, called phishing. These e-mails claim to be your bank trying to secure personal information about you. They will link you to a site that looks similar to your banks site. Kieffer said banks will never send e-mails like that to your private account.
"Banks are never going to validate through that mechanism," he said. "If something doesn't look right, don't use it. If you have questions ask a branch employee."
For online shoppers, Kieffer advises getting to know the merchant.
"Make sure it's somebody reputable," he said. "Fraud happens after the fact when we don't know where we're shopping or who we're using as a vendor."
And Brittingham has some advice, too. After her experience she had the limit on her credit card lowered to only $300.
"Never have a limit that's more than you're willing to lose," she said. "Whatever you might spend if you were somewhere and needed to buy something."
And she's learned another lesson.
"I will read every statement that I get," she said. "It's just been a complete nightmare."
Monday, January 15, 2007
21 Ways to Prevent Credit Card Fraud
1. Keep an eye on your credit card every time you use it, and make sure you get it back as quickly as possible. Try not to let your credit card out of your sight whenever possible.
2. Be very careful to whom you give your credit card. Don't give out your account number over the phone unless you initiate the call and you know the company is reputable. Never give your credit card info out when you receive a phone call. (For example, if you're told there has been a 'computer problem' and the caller needs you to verify information.) Legitimate companies don't call you to ask for a credit card number over the phone.
3. Never respond to emails that request you provide your credit card info via email -- and don't ever respond to emails that ask you to go to a website to verify personal (and credit card) information. These are called 'phishing' scams.
4. Never provide your credit card information on a website that is not a secure site.
5. Sign your credit cards as soon as you receive them.
6. Shred all credit card applications you receive.
7. Don't write your PIN number on your credit card -- or have it anywhere near your credit card (in the event that your wallet gets stolen).
8. Never leave your credit cards or receipts lying around.
9. Shield your credit card number so that others around you can't copy it or capture it on a cell phone or other camera.
10. Keep a list in a secure place with all of your account numbers and expiration dates, as well as the phone number and address of each bank that has issued you a credit card. Keep this list updated each time you get a new credit card.
11. Only carry around credit cards that you absolutely need. Don't carry around extra credit cards that you rarely use.
12. Open credit card bills promptly and make sure there are no bogus charges. Treat your credit card bill like your checking account -- reconcile it monthly. Save your receipts so you can compare them with your monthly bills.
13. If you find any charges that you don't have a receipt for -- or that you don't recognize -- report these charges promptly (and in writing) to the credit card issuer.
14. Always void and destroy incorrect receipts.
15. Shred anything with your credit card number written on it.
16. Never sign a blank credit card receipt. Carefully draw a line through blank portions of the receipt where additional charges could be fraudulently added.
17. Carbon paper is rarely used these days, but if there is a carbon that is used in a credit card transaction, destroy it immediately.
18. Never write your credit card account number in a public place (such as on a postcard or so that it shows through the envelope payment window).
19. Ideally, it's a good idea to carry your credit cards separately from your wallet -- perhaps in a zippered compartment or a small pouch.
20. Never lend a credit card to anyone else.
21. If you move, notify your credit card issuers in advance of your change of address.
If you suspect credit card fraud:
If your credit cards are lost or stolen, contact the issuer(s) immediately.
Most credit card companies have toll-free numbers and 24-hour service to deal with these emergencies -- they are eager to avoid credit card fraud.
According to US law, once you have reported the loss or theft of your credit card, you have no more responsibility for unauthorized charges. Further, your maximum liability under federal US law is $50 per credit card -- and many credit card issuers will even waive that fee for good customers.
If you follow all these tips, it will go a long way in protecting you from credit card fraud.
2. Be very careful to whom you give your credit card. Don't give out your account number over the phone unless you initiate the call and you know the company is reputable. Never give your credit card info out when you receive a phone call. (For example, if you're told there has been a 'computer problem' and the caller needs you to verify information.) Legitimate companies don't call you to ask for a credit card number over the phone.
3. Never respond to emails that request you provide your credit card info via email -- and don't ever respond to emails that ask you to go to a website to verify personal (and credit card) information. These are called 'phishing' scams.
4. Never provide your credit card information on a website that is not a secure site.
5. Sign your credit cards as soon as you receive them.
6. Shred all credit card applications you receive.
7. Don't write your PIN number on your credit card -- or have it anywhere near your credit card (in the event that your wallet gets stolen).
8. Never leave your credit cards or receipts lying around.
9. Shield your credit card number so that others around you can't copy it or capture it on a cell phone or other camera.
10. Keep a list in a secure place with all of your account numbers and expiration dates, as well as the phone number and address of each bank that has issued you a credit card. Keep this list updated each time you get a new credit card.
11. Only carry around credit cards that you absolutely need. Don't carry around extra credit cards that you rarely use.
12. Open credit card bills promptly and make sure there are no bogus charges. Treat your credit card bill like your checking account -- reconcile it monthly. Save your receipts so you can compare them with your monthly bills.
13. If you find any charges that you don't have a receipt for -- or that you don't recognize -- report these charges promptly (and in writing) to the credit card issuer.
14. Always void and destroy incorrect receipts.
15. Shred anything with your credit card number written on it.
16. Never sign a blank credit card receipt. Carefully draw a line through blank portions of the receipt where additional charges could be fraudulently added.
17. Carbon paper is rarely used these days, but if there is a carbon that is used in a credit card transaction, destroy it immediately.
18. Never write your credit card account number in a public place (such as on a postcard or so that it shows through the envelope payment window).
19. Ideally, it's a good idea to carry your credit cards separately from your wallet -- perhaps in a zippered compartment or a small pouch.
20. Never lend a credit card to anyone else.
21. If you move, notify your credit card issuers in advance of your change of address.
If you suspect credit card fraud:
If your credit cards are lost or stolen, contact the issuer(s) immediately.
Most credit card companies have toll-free numbers and 24-hour service to deal with these emergencies -- they are eager to avoid credit card fraud.
According to US law, once you have reported the loss or theft of your credit card, you have no more responsibility for unauthorized charges. Further, your maximum liability under federal US law is $50 per credit card -- and many credit card issuers will even waive that fee for good customers.
If you follow all these tips, it will go a long way in protecting you from credit card fraud.
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