What 2 strangers taught me about fraud

January 22, 2010 was a normal day. I was at my desk by 7:30am. Left at 10:00am to meet David D. at Panera’s in Trexlertown to discuss an upcoming project. Then I went straight to Bear Creek for a Vistage 1-2-1 lunch with Joe. I got back to the office just ahead of a 3:00 conference call. I saw there were messages, but they would need to wait until the call was over. At 4:00, I had a chance to listen to those messages. They were all from credit cards companies asking me to verify charges that were out of my normal buying patterns. I rushed to my purse and pulled out my wallet. To my horror, there were empty slots where 4 of my cards should be. But how? I had not even pulled my wallet from my purse that day. I paid cash for my ice tea at Panera’s and Joe picked up the tab at Bear Creek in honor of my birthday a few days earlier. I felt violated.

At some point while I was at Panera’s that day, my cards were taken. I don’t recall bumping into anyone or leaving my credit cards exposed. The officer simply said to me, “Lori, they are that good.” The thieves – I’ll call them Lester and Princess, because those are their real names – went on a 2-hour spree at 2 Walmarts in Allentown and another in Reading before ending their spree at Wendy’s trying to buy a late lunch. Guess all that shopping gave them an appetite.

I’m deviating from my usual monologue about design and marketing, because I hope this true story will help someone else. Here’s what I learned…

Capital One has the BEST fraud department
In a frenzy, I began calling the card companies involved. My local bank was supportive in cancelling my debit Visa card and filing the $1,000 Walmart purchase as fraud. The Bank of America customer service rep gave me dollar amounts and store names, but this information paled in comparison to what I would receive on my next call.

When I got through to my CapOne fraud representative, he immediately asked if I had a pen and paper handy. He proceeded to give me dollar amounts and store names, like Bank of America, but then he went on to list store numbers and transaction time stamps. He also implored me to file a police report. This detail would pay off later in a huge way.

The Police Need Our Help
After 2 hours on the phone with 2 credit card companies and my bank, I called the police to file a report. The Officer physically arrived at the house about 8PM that night. He took my statement of the day’s events, then asked if I knew what was charged on each of the stolen cards. I slid my neat, detailed list of dollar amounts, store names, store numbers and transaction time stamps across the table to him. He scanned the document. After a few moments, he looked up with an unexpected expression on his face. It was gratitude. “Thank you. You have no idea how much work this saves me.”

Walmart’s Major Flaw
I’ve always avoided Walmart. Don’t like the lighting, the greeters, or how this mega store has driven small Mom & Pop specialty stores to extinction. So it only added to my disdain to learn that Walmart is the “store of choice” for thieves of stolen credit cards. Why? The cashiers. As I would learn later, Lester was buying large amounts of gift cards – $1,000 worth at a time. It’s January 22nd – not December 24th. Why would this not be a red flag? It’s not as if gift cards go on sale after the holidays. Walmart cashiers either lack training in recognizing credit card fraud or have the attitude they don’t want to get involved – I suspect it’s a combination of both. The only ones that saw the red flags were my credit companies, because Walmart was not part of my normal shopping pattern.

Walmart’s Saving Grace
Video. Lots of video. Using the transaction time stamp, dollar amount provided by Capital One plus the last 4 digits of my Visa, the police were able to identify exactly which register Lester used. Still other video cameras confirmed that Lester was not working alone. After he purchased the gift cards, he would circle back and meet up with Princess, giving her the gift cards to pay for all the laptops, Xbox 360s and flat screens she had in the cart.

Carrying Too Much Risk
I had 7 credit cards and my driver’s license in my wallet the day. Thankfully, they only picked 4 of them. It was a wake up call that I was inviting a credit catastrophe by carrying too many cards. I have since removed all but 2 cards – one for business expenses and one for personal use. I now only bring those specialty cards (i.e. my Target Visa or Talbots charge card) with me on that specific shopping trip. As soon as I get home, it is filed away. This experience has also changed my view of credit. My new motto…”cash is king”!

Know What is in Your Wallet
How many of you could name every card in your wallet right now? If you lost it, do you have all those credit card account numbers and 800 numbers in one place that you could quickly start calling to report a stolen card?  Every New Years Day, I take all my credit cards, along with my driver’s license, and photocopy the front and back. This documentation then gets filed away and hopefully never sees the light of day until I replace it the following year. It gives me peace of mind. So to borrow from a well known Capital One ad tagline, “What’s in your wallet?”

Sign your cards “Ask for Photo ID”
I’ve been signing my cards “Ask for Photo ID” for years. I’ve seen conflicting advice on this protective measure, but have only been challenged on it at one place. Would you believe the post office? Yes, my local Fleetwood post office. The postmaster would have allowed me to sign the card on the spot and use it, but would not take my driver’s license as proof that I was indeed the person whose name was embossed on the front of the card. That’s our government at work! If only the Walmart cashier would have asked Lester for photo ID. In the Walmart video footage, it showed that Lester swiped 5 different cards for a $1,000 purchase before the 6th card (mine!) was approved. We’ve all had a card get declined, but you’d think that 5 cards in a row for the same transaction would be a red flag. And be sure to thank those cashiers that do ask for your ID. If they see that we really want and need their help protecting our credit, they’ll do it more often.

Good Guys Can Win
When I filed my report, I did it to follow fraud reporting procedures and to give myself a sense of control after feeling violated. I had little hope that the perpetrators would actually be caught. Yet from the start, the police said this was a big case and mentioned several times that the Secret Service was involved. (Side note: it has nothing to do with the White House. The Secret Service has a department that deals with crimes across state lines.)

In July, I was subpoenaed to the district court to present my story. Seems that Lester had been a busy man. He had warrants issued for his arrest in 8 states. It was this event when I realized I wasn’t the only victim. There were at least a dozen other people who were there to face Lester and Princess. In fact, due to the number of people that were present, Princess decided to turn state’s evidence and be a witness against Lester. His defense team had no choice but to waive the hearing and move the case forward.

With the amount of evidence against him, Lester will be off the streets for a long time. But unfortunately there’s another person just like him, waiting to prey on unsuspecting people. Be careful. Be diligent. And I hope that my experience helps you be prepared if you should ever encounter the likes of Lester and Princess.

Until the next issue of thoughts on a full moon on November 21, remember your image matters… protect it well.

Lori Blatt
Owner, Blatt Communications
610.987.9202
lori@blattcom.net