Crook swallows stolen credit cards

This, too, shall pass

AGI.it, an Italian news site, reported on Oct. 27 that in Turin, a man had tried to pay for purchases in a leather store with stolen credit cards. When the police arrived, the suspect, John Larry Jay, 32, was in the midst of swallowing the credit cards and his identification card in order to evade arrest.

It didn't work. He was arrested.

No word on his fate yet, but I suspect that within roughly 24 hours of the crime, or sooner if certain products were administered, the police were able to get their evidence and charge Jay.

This BK fan won't be the next spokesman

At least one credit card thief out there must really like Burger King. According to the Sun-Sentinel on Oct. 21, authorities in Boca Raton, Fla., are currently searching for a thief who allegedly charged approximately 14 bucks at Burger King - every day for over 50 days.

That translated into $717, which is a lot of Whoppers and Cokes.

According to the report, the owner of the credit card noticed the charges, but she thought that they were from her son. But eventually it came out that her son hadn't been anywhere near this particular Burger King, and when she went looking for her Discover credit card, she couldn't find it.

Seems you can't find good help any more

Sadly, this type of story seems to make the news every several weeks or so. Someone is in hospice, and the person charged with caring for them and making their life a little more comfortable is instead robbing them blind. I'm sure the rationale is that the dying person isn't going to be spending any more money and won't be needing their credit card any longer, but still it's hard to imagine how these folks sleep at night.

In any case, San Antonio's KENS-5 TV station reported Oct. 24 that Bethany Czachor, 47, stole and used her patient's credit card a few days before and after Bonnie Duncan, just 66 years old, died of emphysema. Czachor had been Duncan's hospice caregiver for approximately two months and apparently decided she deserved a little bonus for her work.

It took a little while for the charges to be noticed, according to another local station KSAT 12. In fact, somebody at Discover spotted them, found them curious and called Ms. Duncan's daughter, Tara Gonzales. Once Gonzales saw the expenses listed on the statement, she knew her mother couldn't have possibly been using her credit card, especially since some of those purchases had been made after she had died, and before you know it, the police were called in and arrested Czachor.

Over all, Czachor allegedly stole around $600 worth of items.

What's the charge for stealing a U.S. senator's credit card?

Apparently nobody, no matter how powerful and connected, is safe from credit card thieves. Just the other day it was rapper P. Diddy. Now comes news that earlier this year, Hawaii's senator Daniel Inouye's credit card information was stolen.

The senator was told about the theft in February, but it was not until October that one of the two people accused of stealing it, Trianna Chenee Moss, 20, appeared in a Georgia court. She is accused of helping two others purchase $12,000 worth of Walmart gift cards and other items using fake credit cards with real account numbers. Sen. Inouye's account number was among them.

Moss's role, it turns out, was to be at the cash register at the Walmart where she worked, and at least one other person, who is still on the run, would always come to her register.

Would not want to be in her shoes right now.

What were they thinking?

A lot of credit card thieves don't seem to be the brightest bulbs in the pack, but generally thieves, at least those who aren't rabid Burger King fans, seem to know that once you use a credit card, you leave the premises - as fast as possible. Police have a tendency to show up once someone has learned what you've been to.

That apparently didn't occur to this dimwitted duo.

According to an Oct. 27 report in the Seattle Times, a Seattle man received a phone call from his credit card company and was informed of a purchase he hadn't made.

The concerned consumer called the police, and the police dutifully took down the information and quickly found the hideout of the two crooks, who had with them not only cell phones, laptops and papers with credit card numbers but also methamphetamine and unidentified pills.

So how were these guys found so easily? They paid for their hideout with the stolen credit card.

Yes, that's right - they booked a hotel room.

The original article can be found at CardRatings.com:Crook swallows stolen credit cards