LEO advice wanted

[TyGuy]

So my credit card was compromised after a recent online purchase. No big deal, my card company froze the card after the thief attempted two purchases in a row on the same site. We were notified and got everything taken care of. The first purchase went through and we have been reimbursed already.

Then something interesting happened. Received that first purchase in the mail. It had my name and address on the package but when I opened it the invoice has the alleged thief’s name and address on both the purchase and ship-to lines. It seems there was a mix up in shipping and they sent it to me instead of them.

So my question to any LEOs out there: what would you suggest I do with this information? I have been told that the credit card company will go after fraud offenders but I find that hard to believe. I was thinking about making a call to the local sheriff’s office in the town on the invoice and passing the info to them but wanted to hear from folks who deal/dealt with this sort of thing.

[knifemaker]

Call your local law enforcement dept. and see if they will take a report for followup investigation. Different agencies and states have different laws and procedures that will determine if they will investigate it as a crime. If the transaction crossed state boundaries, the Feds may or may not get involved. A lot will also depend on your local District Attorney if they will followup in a criminal investigation. The agency where the suspect may reside will want a report from your local law enforcement in order for them to conduct any investigation.

[Ural Driver]

We call this a "gimme"......give your local LEO shop a call. Be advised, there could be some shuffling to find the correct agency that has the proper jurisdiction. Gotta love stupid crooks.

[Mal Paso]

Thanks! It's nice to hear the bad guys have bad days.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Same thing recently happened to me. The bank froze my debit card account, and subsequently issued me a new one. So what you probably have here, lacking more details, is a crook in one state committing a crime in another state. The thing being that if you live in State #1, and the crime was committed in State #2, the authorities in State #2 probably wouldn't be interested in attempting to extradite the criminal, all of the expense and paperwork. I think you would be best served to contact the law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction where the crook lives. Also, the interstate commerce thing is worthy of follow up, and perhaps the FBI would be interested.

DG

[shell70634]

Notify the credit card company too. They have investigators too. It may be to small, but a slam dunk is good for their stats.

Shelly

[farmbif]

very interesting? very curious, what is it that the crook bought and sent to you? I got ripped off and had all the info of who and where the crook was and a I made full report to postal inspector because transaction went through the post office, its been years and ive yet to hear diddly squat from them. I called police and sheriff in Virginia where the crook was, they wouldn't even take a report, told me to report it to police where I live, the cops at home didn't want to hear about it, its not their jurisdiction they said because the crook was out of state. I was very seriously considering taking law into my own hands but with my luck law would probably not hesitate to lock me up.
plus there is possibility of the name being fake and location is a dead drop or the person and location belong to an unsuspecting dupe of the real crook behind it all.
maybe you will have better luck with law enforcement

[MrWolf]

I had something similar happen with my Discover Card and Walmart years ago. Someone bought iPad and was going to pick them up in a state a bit aways from me. They didn't care and wouldn't report it to police. Dollar amount to small. Discover just issued me a different card. When I was running our County Welfare, there was around a $15,000 limit before Feds or locals would prosecute. Said not worth it to even bother. Yup.

[Newboy]

The three s principle.


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[William Yanda]

We discovered cc fraud when we received a Keurig that we hadn't ordered. In our case the fraudster was located in our state, as I recall, Long Island vs Finger Lakes in NY. We reported to the NYSP and the CC company and heard nothing.

[375RUGER]

Local LE won't be able to help. Internet and mail fraud are FBI. There is a link on FBI website to report the details. Likely you won't get any followup on it.
Keep a close eye on your credit for a bit make sure you weren't compromised past that CC.

Hopefully they bought you something you can use. I got a bottle of very expensive cologne (can't use) and a really nice go pro camera, on 2 different occasions.

[andre3k]

As was said previously make a local report first. A crime occurred and you're reporting it. I work for a large agency and if you have any suspect info like you have we would contact the agency in that area to conduct a follow up investigation and forward them a copy of our original report.

If they can make a case on the suspect then the agency where the suspect lives would be the one to file charges with the DA. The feds normally won't get involved in something like this. This happens thousands of times every day across the country, FBI won't take something this low level. Its something the local LE can certainly handle. Policing is regional, so how they handle these cases in your area might be totally different. YMMV.


I used to run a lot of warrants for credit card/fraud cases that originated in other jurisdictions. The suspects live in my jurisdiction and we normally filed the charges and my squad ran the warrants.

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[Buck Shot]

I would call the police chief in the town where the apparent thief lives and give him the whole story. In fact, that's exactly what I did when some crook tried to have a "replacement credit card" with my name on it sent to his home in a state that I had never even visited.

The police chief said, "Hmmm...I've been to that house before, seems to me there was something about him taking mail out of somebody else's mailbox."

OP, you should also go to the three main credit reporting agencies and put a "freeze" on your credit. In fact, I recommend this for everyone, regardless whether anyone has tried to scam them (yet).

[bedbugbilly]

All in the new country we live in where some states think it is just fine for lowlifes to go into a store, shoplift in plain sight of everyone hundreds of dollars of merchandise, and then just walk out with no repercussions . . . .

The lowlife perp who stole your CC info and used it is just a bit smarter than those who go into a store, steal and then walk out . . . . he figured out a way to do it without leaving home.

Had a similar thing happen a while back . . . . only difference was that the thief tried making charges on the card at a health spa and twice at a tattoo supply company - both places in Kalifornia . . . have no idea how the info was stolen but the CC company contacted me and froze the account and issued me a new card . . . the rep told me that in her experience, the investigation would go nowhere primarily because it happened in that state . . . . and I have never set foot in Kalifornia.

[Ithaca Gunner]

When my card info was stolen some three years ago and multiple purchases were made, (total under $1,500.00) the bank did the usual kill the card and issue a new one, reimbursed my account, printed a log of my card activity going back a month or so upon my request. I ask if I should report this crime, they said not to bother, but I could if I wanted. I wanted and reported it in person to the State Police. They made copies of the statement the bank gave me, but the young Trooper said he had card information stolen on several occasions and not to be hopeful of any justice concerning the crooks. He explained the process the, (most likely teens) use to get your information and usually the only ones that benefit greatly are the ones that get the information and sell it on the ''dark web'' to others to make at best a few minor purchases.

The State Police were nice and helpful, and made me feel as though I did something, but don't expect any prosecution. I was told one of the favorite ways these ''kids'' get your information is through the machines you slide your card into and medical billing companies. My cousin's step son and some of his friends were arrested for hacking and selling information over the ''dark web'' some years ago. It was Homeland security that got them. Why? Their job? Their juristiction? I don't know. All I was told was they were using an abandon house, tapped into internet or what ever and were doing business on the ''dark web'' making some serious money doing it and Homeland security was the agency that arrested them. They all did federal time.

[farmbif]

yeah, ive head it before, its not a big enough case for us to give a hoot,
well if law enforcement isn't going to do anything to help maybe, just maybe its time to watch all those old Charle Bronson movies to get m motivated to set thing s right in the world for the little people like me who dont have millions and a couple hundred dollars is a big deal.

[NEKVT]

When my card info was stolen a few years ago I was contacted by the CC company for potential fraud use. It was used in GA to purchase a couple meals at a restaurant, an Uber ride, a long international phone call, a couple hundred dollars online with Groupon, another online purchase of a couple hundred I couldn't determine what it was, and $800+ at a Home Depot. All but the HD was taken care of immediately bcause the HD fought it. I was sent a package with all info about that purchase and communication between HD and CC company to review and sign a statement that I or no one I knew made the purchase. It was a online purchase that was picked up. HD's contention was the customer got what he ordered. The CC countered with it is the retailer's responsibility to verify the ID of any purchaser where the card isn't swiped. I bet HD would have prosecuted if they could have determined the culprit. The purchase was for assorted bulk cleaning supplies and equipment like someone was outfitting a cleaning company or stocking a hotel maintenance room.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Common sense says to contact your local law enforcement agency to have them create a report, so there is a paper trail. then notify your Bank and/or Credit card company and give them the local law enforcement agency's contact information.

[Handloader109]

There was a recent story about three lowlifes who had scammed several people that had been involved in that apartment building collapsing. Both living and dead folks.
They had stolen about $15,000 work of merchandise through CC and using the folks ID to get NEW credit. That is a felony and made national news. But $500? $1000? waste of time, your time.

[jonp]

Id like to be optimistic but dont hold your breath on anything happening. I had my numbers stolen and the thief printed a new card and a few states away went into a Home Depot and bought a few chainsaws, weedwackers and snowblowers as in 6 snowblowrrs, stuff easy to offload. The clerk even sold them to the guy when his signature didnt match my name on the card. Got a call from the CC and they asked when i was last in PA. As a truck driver i had to think for a second but the answer i gave cleared me and i can provide my logs showing my location. They even had the guy on video. Nothing happened except that i wasnt dinged for the gear. Wouldnt mind those Echo chainsaws.
Good news was the fraud dept was on their gw as the purchases were well outside of my spending pattern. The out of state they are used to.

Couple of months ago my cc was stolen and the thief ran up an $800 bill at a Holiday Inn Express a few miles west. How do you do that?

Couple weeks ago stolen again to buy a walmart gift card. Walmart approved then nixed it and notified me it was suspicious. I even got the guys address and google earthed it looking right at the house in LA. Good thing i dont run Long Beach anymore as there might have been a truck outside their door.
I think i figured out the location syealing my card so cash only there now but i wonder how many fake nails and hair extentions ive paid for. No wonder she smiles at me