Contact 6: Con artists finding new ways to make a fortune
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- FOX6's Contact 6 has an alert for anyone with a credit card: con artists are finding new ways to make a fortune.
A credit card and gift card scam racked up more than $100,000 in losses in one case alone!
Inspectors say the nationwide scam is simple and starts with stolen credit card numbers.
"We believe it was through either an online chat room where they purchased these credit card numbers or an employee at a local merchant.," U.S. Postal Inspector David Gealey said.
Con men go to a store that sells gift cards. There, they come up with a phony reason why their credit card cannot be swiped.
"They tell the clerk something must have happened to my card. It`s damaged. My dog chewed on it whatever it may be. They would get the clerk to manually put the card number into the system. Once they did that, the transaction was completed," Gealey said.
With the gift cards in hand, the con men would make a phone call transferring the money on those cards to a prepaid debit card.
"Once they transfer those funds, they are as good as cash to them they can go to any merchant or a bank and obtain cash," Gealey said.
Once they discovered the scheme, inspectors were able to cross-check the time of the transactions with cell phone records and credit card statements to nab the con men.
Postal inspectors say it is important to closely monitor credit card statements and activity. Inspectors say very few of the victims in this case even knew their credit card numbers had been compromised.