Their Credit Card, Your Account

Credit card scams aren't new, but this one has an interesting twist. On May 22, 2007, 11 people were arrested by the Mesa, AZ police. Dariusz "Derek" Mitrega was the ring leader.

What is interesting is that these felons stole personal information and encoded that information onto their own credit cards. The signature on the back of the card was the thief's, the name on the card was theirs and they could have produced additional identification proving the card was theirs. But if the clerk were to compare the receipt against the credit card, they'd see the account number being charged was different than that on the card.

There were reportedly at least 100 purchases made exceeding $500,000. Purchases were made at Safeway, Fry's, Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and more. They purchased big ticket electronics and Visa gift cards. The latter were preferred because of their versatility. Some of the items purchased were sold on eBay while others were traded for methamphetamines.

The group will be facing charges of conspiracy, forgery, money laundering, identity theft and possession of dangerous drugs, officials said.

If your teller does a cash advance, do they compare the last four digits of the card to the receipt?