Postal inspectors warning of continuing identity theft scams

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- How closely do you look at your credit card statement? FOX6's Contact 6 says some scammers are using your card, and you might not realize it before it's too late!

Bank surveillance photos show a crime in process. The women in the photos are walking into banks to get cash advances on stolen credit card accounts.

The ringleader of the ID theft ring, Willy Harris, recruited them.

Harris obtained the account numbers by simply calling the cardholders.

"They will make phone calls to individuals and they will act like they are a credit card company and ask for the information," U.S. Postal Inspector Cecil Frank said.

Once he got the information, Harris would call the credit card company and add himself as a user on the account.

"Just normal people all across America who didn`t realize their credit cards were being compromised," Frank said.

Harris would recruit accomplices and offer them a cut.

"Mr. Harris would recruit young women to go in and get cash advances from the banks and he would let them keep like $1,500 of it," Frank said.

Then, he would spend, as surveillance photos from Best Buy and the Apple store show.

"In the pple store, the suspect was buying two laptops and at Gucci he was buying a pair of $550 shoes," Frank said.

Harris spent thousands of dollars on jewelry. In fact, he liked to design his own custom jewelry -- and postal inspectors say he was brazen.

"He has no regard for anybody else, or how they feel. And they are working hard every day to pay their credit cards bills and you go spend $550 on shoes," Frank said.

Contact 6 says consumers need to remember to protect themselves.

"Never give out your information unless you make the call and give out your day of birth, things like that," Frank said.

Contact 6 says you should never give out any personal information unless you have initiated the call. If someone calls claiming they are working for your credit card company, ask them for a phone number to call back. If the number isn't your credit card company's number, don't dial it. Instead, call your credit card company.