Nov 25, 2008 5:53 am US/Mountain
Longmont Police: 25 Credit Card Numbers Stolen
Written By Andrea Lopez
LONGMONT, Colo. (CBS4) ―
Police in Longmont are seeing a type of theft they haven't seen before. Credit card numbers being stolen from businesses.
Commander Tim Lewis said they've had at least 30 cases of people using their credit or debit cards at a handful of businesses around town, and then finding fraudulent charges on them later. There has been about $20,000 charged to innocent customers' cards, ranging from $300 to $3,000 on each individual card.
"It's very upsetting to the victims because they don't know how their card numbers are getting stolen," said Lewis. "It's in its infancy and we're going to continue to try to see how these card numbers are being taken."
Lewis said the businesses are not to blame. It may be they're getting stolen by people who remotely handle the transactions for these businesses. But how those numbers are distributed and then used is still a mystery.
Lewis said the card numbers have all been used out of state. For example, one victim had two charges for $1,050.50 from two different casinos in Las Vegas, although Lewis said the cards have been used at restaurants, hotels, and retail stores as well.
"At first you feel scared that you'll get charged with those charges, and that the credit card company won't help you and you'll be responsible," said victim Anita Jantz. "Then you start to feel angry that people would do this. All I did was use my card at a restaurant. This wasn't me being careless."
Lewis said he still plans to use his card as he always would, and suggested that others do the same. However, he suggested that people check their statements carefully, and if they find fraudulent charges, contact their banks and then police.
Lewis wouldn't name the other communities, but said others in Colorado have seen the same problem and that police departments are banding together to try and catch the thieves in action.
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