Credit Card Theft

[Ronin Tactical]

My wife and I haven't had a credit card for over 12 years, enjoying the idea of socking away money and paying cash for everything. My son's illness depleted our savings, and the recent loss of career came at a strange time when I had already agreed to move my son to Oklahoma.

Since we bought our new Dodge last year, I'd gotten several credit card offers, most recently in November...and it was 1.9% for life, locked in. Can't beat it, and I knew I was going to spend $1500-2000 during the move. I applied for it, got the Dodge Rewards Visa with an $8k credit line, bought some stuff for the truck, and used the card on the trip. All was good until I got my statement yesterday, noting several charges that were made AFTER I'd gone to Oklahoma, but were still IN Oklahoma (the charges).

I'll go ahead and publish names and addresses, since it's all a matter of public record. Moral of the story....watch your receipts, check your statements closely....this young lady worked at the Motel 6 I stayed at in Midwest City, where my son and daughter live....

Here's what I sent the police:

To: Pennsylvania State Police, Troop K, Trooper Hulstine
Midwest City Police, Officer Blanton (Re: Case #07-01611)
Motel 6 Area Manager Todd Blanton

From: James E. Lewis

Re: Visa Credit Card Theft/Charges, Shanika Walker, Donald Fisher, Leslie Blalock

February 21, 2007

<Personal information/identity>

The following is a listing of fraudulent charges placed on my credit card (Dodge Rewards Platinum Visa, card #xxxxxxxxxxxxx, account now closed) and further information I discovered through investigation:

Retailer Date Amount Reference Number

US Cellular 01/17/07 $100.00 5900

US Cellular 01/17/07 $100.00 9514

Dell Catalog Sales 01/18/07 $951.55 7950

Dell Catalog Sales 01/18/07 $134.35 7968

OK Gas & Electric 01/18/07 $204.95 9909

US Cellular 01/23/07 $250.00 8342

Pizza Land 01/17/07 $14.00 7697

Aaron’s Rents 02/17/07 $65.02 (Confirmed by Visa and Aaron’s Rents)

Shanika Walker (Motel 6 employee) phoned Aaron’s Rents (Branch #C0655, 200 N. Air Depot, Midwest City, 73110, 405-737-3471) with my credit card number and had household items delievered to her cousin, Donald Fisher, at 1316 Midwest Blvd #E, Midwest City, OK, 73110.

Leslie Blalock ordered a Dell computer and accessories on two separate orders and had them shipped to 1422 N. Midwest Blvd #F, Midwest City, OK, 73110. The cell # given to Dell (405-200-5015) is out of service, but she gave an alternate number of 405-732-3317, which belongs to an older lady who claimed not to know any of these people.

The Dell products were shipped via UPS, tracking number 1ZE19A394212726366. The status of this/these order(s) is unknown.

I am still waiting for an account number and address for the $204.95 paid to Oklahoma Gas & Electric through their “Choice Pay� vendor.

I have no information on the US Cellular charges ($450), but assume this was for initial deposits for cellular phone service.

I spoke with desk personnel at Motel 6 #0479, I-40 @ Hudiburg Dr, Midwest City, which is where I stayed on January 16, 2007, and it was confirmed that Shanika Walker works there.

It should go without saying, but I authorized NO ONE to use my credit card or numbers and all of these charges (totaling at least $1,819.87) are fraudulent and constitute theft, and would like to prosecute these people.



James E. Lewis

[Ronin Tactical]

Not complaining and whining, just trying to inform people - this could have happened with a credit card or debit card...

[CobaltGrl]

I work for a bank and sadly, this happens all the time. Scammers are every where.

[mr340]

Wow. sorry to hear this. Hope it gets resolved in your favor. This is a main reason I cut up all my CC's and don't have any desire for another one.

[Ronin Tactical]

Same deal with a debit card....

Visa credited all the money back, so now I'm just going after the retailers who were blind or just didn't care when this person bought stuff....

[Ronin Tactical]

Originally Posted by CobaltGrl

I work for a bank and sadly, this happens all the time. Scammers are every where.

Motel 6 is my main target - that's where the lady was working (who stole my card numbers)....I've mailed out nastygrams to all 5 retailers and Motel 6, and if they don't respond, i have no problem at all getting an attorney in Oklahoma involved, and rolling down there for court. My son and daughter are there, and we can go out to eat and go sing karaoke....

[james_ls]

Holy crap dude.

Looks like you got a hell of a road ahead.

Best of luck!

[TrboChicsRock]

My boyfriend used his credit card at a local Chinese food restraunt. Within a couple days after that, they charged several thousand dollars at a camera store in China. The credit card company noticed unusual transactions and turned off his card before he even realized it was happening.

[Ronin Tactical]

That's the great thing about a good card company....in fact, the day before the woman stole my numbers, Visa contacted me while I was on the road to Oklahoma with my son, making sure it was OK that there were charges for fuel, restaurants, and hotels in VA, TN, and AR....I explained that I was making a trip to Oklahoma, and they pulled the security hold.....all of these other charges came up in Oklahoma starting the next day, ironically, right after I had OK'd charges in Oklahoma and surrounding regions....!

[ITSTOCK]

Originally Posted by Jim Lewis

Not complaining and whining, just trying to inform people - this could have happened with a credit card or debit card...

It doesn't sound like you are complaining or whining at all.

My aunt (mothers sister) was a victim of identity theft. 6 years later, after the lady was caught, she is STILL on the phone every week trying to clear crap up. Imagine that nightmare!

Also, credit cards are usually really good about this stuff, it's one thing they do good. Sorry to hear it happened to you.

[Ronin Tactical]

I'm still getting calls for the people who used to have my phone number, now tied into my business....I got 15-20 calls per week when I first moved and got the number, now it's down to 2-3 calls per week. Sheesh, people, pay your danged bills...

I'm interested to see the reactions of these retailers and of Motel 6 - I'm thinking that most of them will feel they have no liability.

[DoubleOughtCel]

Yea, unfortunately this type of crap seems to be almost commonplace anymore. Good luck getting it all straightened out.

[blu4door]

My discover card number was stolen before.

They called me and asked if I made 3 purchases totaling $6700 for some computer parts. I said, no. The lady said, OK, I didn't think so. Just cut up your card, and we will get you another card sent out right away.

When I called to activate my new card I asked if they had any luck catching them. She said yeah they caught the people, but wouldn't tell me who it was.

[antlip]

My gf's aunt and uncle had CC theift. The best part of the story is they live in NJ and the card was being used over seas. I guess a thousands of dollars being spent over seas wasnt enough to throw up a flag because they didnt know about this until they got the bill. Everything got straightened out and they dont owe the thousands.

[Ronin Tactical]

I'm just looking forward to being in court in Oklahoma when these people are arraigned. Also looking forward to Motel 6's response...

[CobaltGrl]

I got a letter from a company who services one of my school loans saying there was a breach in security and something like 5 thousand peoples personal info such as addresses and ss #s had been jeoporized. Just so happens I won that lottery and since then have had a fraud watch placed on my credit report. Your information is never really safe. People are ruthless.

[gpzjack]

Heres the truth of what happens....the person uses your card to make charges...the vendor gets their money...you then report the crime...the cc company credits your account and the vendor gets the money taken back from them and they are left with nothing....Its a bunch of BS. We don't get too many frauds on our site but when we do we lose the money..not the cc companies...must be nice to have nothing to lose. CC companies suck!

[Ronin Tactical]

There's a second side to that, having been a regional manager for a large performance parts chain (Super Shops)....every one of these misuses of my credit card was preventable. Allowing someone to use someone else's card without first clearing it with the cardholder via phone, letter, or something, isn't smart on the part of the retailer and they deserve to lose money if they are a party to theft. That's exactly what happened here.

With Aaron's Rents, for instance, they wanted a credit card or debit card to secure the account. When "Shanika Walker" was allowed to call up the store, not even appearing in person, and was allowed to use "James Lewis's" credit card numbers for an account that wasn't even HERS, it was her cousin's "Donald Fisher".....they were delivering stuff in the same town, within 5 miles, and Aaron's didn't require actually SEEING and touching the card...and you have three different names involved in the account, and the one paying for the stuff isn't on the account!! Hey, why don't we CALL this james Lewis guy and see if it's OK if Shanika uses his credit card ???!!! How hard is that?

What, you don't have James's number? Sorry, we can't use his card...seems all to easy to me.

That's the retailer's problem, it cost them the amount charged, plus it's going to cost them being sued over this. Also, I'm not one of those guys who threatens that "I'll call a lawyer"....I've made two lawfirms in our region of $6 million in the past 6 years....trust me when I say it's handled. I've already gotten two law partners who will pro hoc into Oklahoma and go down there with me...let's rock.

Poor retailers? As long as they follow the guidelines that retailers are supposed to use, the chance of bed debt due to theft is nearly eliminated, and a retailer should have business insurance to cover any amount not eliminated through good, solid business practices.

These retailers will be getting exactly what they deserve.

[ozthunder]

PayPal is also pretty scary. Some people are vehemently for, some vehemently against. I just know my fathers had thousands of dollars taken out for erroneous computer purchases through his account, so he has a seperate checking account and credit card dedicated to paypal to prevent any major damage.

Credit card fraud ftmfl..

[Evolved]

Damn that sucks. My mom had a CC stolen by an employee at a store in the Christiana malls years ago.

Anyway, if a women presents a CC with a mans name on it the retailer usually just assumes that the women is the card holders wife. It was over the phone so it's not like they could ask her for i.d.

What do you think you're going to get out of a lawsuit?