Originally Posted by
Tom M King
A card doesn't have to be physically stolen to be stolen. My Wife had the use of hers stolen, we think after using it in a vending machine. It was used for two trips to a Buffalo Wild Wings in NY. We didn't notice it for a couple of days, and then is was used to order masks online from an outfit in Wisconsin. The real killer, and trail to the perps was that they used it to pay their electric bill on Long Island of around $400.
The numbers to the places where the illegit purchases were made were on the statement. I called the Buffalo Wild Wings, and they reversed the charges right away, and didn't want to spend any more time on it.
I called the costume place in Wisconsin. They wouldn't tell me where they were sent to, but did tell me what the purchase was for-two masks. When I asked them if the masks had been sent to Long Island, the person on the phone said that they couldn't tell me, but that it was a pretty good guess.
Then I called the electric company. I didn't know what the initials stood for, but the lady on the phone told me that it was the local electric company, and the amount was to pay someones electric bill.
Having the perps in the crosshairs now, I looked up the phone numbers for the police department on Long Island. There was more than one police department, so I just picked one. I talked to a detective, and asked him if there had been any crimes lately that involved the perps wearing masks. He said there hadn't been. When I told him about the electric bill being paid, he said, "It's just a f-----g bank credit card. Call the bank, and they'll give you the money back". I did, and they did. I wanted to do more, but if the police don't care about 5 or 6 hundred dollars getting stolen, who will?
Paying an electric bill with a stolen credit card is kinda dumb. As soon as the fraud is reported the electric company will reverse the payment and they will still owe the money. The electric company has a big hammer in that they can turn off the power. The only way they could get away with it is if it was a final bill but the next effect would be the same as if they just didn't pay it.
Stolen credit cards need to be used for things that can be converted to cash (merchandise purchases) or things like meals or drinking where the store can't get back at them.
And now that cards have chips in them, it's difficult to pass off a card that has been cloned (as you described). If the merchant accepts a chip issued card with a swipe s/he is totally liable for the loss. This has caused people who steal card numbers (not physical cards) to use them on the Internet instead of in physical stores.
Mike
Last edited by Mike Henderson; 10-03-2019 at 8:59 AM.
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