Need help with CREDIT CARD FRAUD incident, need help looking someone up.

[SiliconVandal]

We got a call about an hour ago, a supposed "Gerald Robbins" in Tampa Florida is trying to make a 300.00 charge to my dad's credit card. The people at SONY Citibank (VISA) have notified the FBI and a formal investigation is taking place. Are there any places that you can look up people? Please give me info/help ASAP. The charges aren't going to go through (they add up too about $13,000...they just noticed it was unauthorized today). Yes, thats right, $13,000. The lady said that it had to have been done through the net. The only company's we have dealt with lately are PriceWatch companys, mainly Miradex.com (California)and PCBroker.com(NYC). We have also RMA'ed a monitor through NEC. Please help here. Anyone info needed I would be happy to provide. Need info on people lookup services and what to do about credit card fraud. This Gerald Robbins tried to use the card at the doctors office and it was authorized. He also tried to buy gas with it, and that worked fine as well. Today (about 2 hours ago) he tried to wire 300 bucks to "Carlos" in the Phillepines.

TIA!

SV

 

[jaybert]

Wait? Did someone steal the card or what? How is he using the card to pay for gas + doctors bill ? It should be VERY easy to track him down if he used it to pay for a doctor's bill. All the FBI/whoever would need to do is contact the doctor's office and see who used the card. I highly doubt they're gonna be using a fake alias to goto the doctors (well, maybe..but i doubt it) Sorry to hear bout the trouble...good luck

 

[SiliconVandal]

The card is NOT STOLEN. Sorry for the caps. That is why it MUST have been over the net or phone. We used the phone for NEC..thats it. Net for the PriceWatch orders. Yes it is going to easy to track this friggin' fool down, and I hope they throw his a$$ in the pin.

Does anyone know if Net Detective 2001 is a good program?

 

[SiliconVandal]

up

 

[Adul]

it is also possible he got the card number by chance. Such has a Credit card number generator.

 

[SiliconVandal]

Those exist? OMG. If he had, how did he get the exp. # and my dad's name? I think for a company to see "W. A. Walker M.D." is an obvious sign of money, especially the money. And that "bad apple", at the "good company" could easily see that my dads card has a 1 Million dollar credit limit. Now, the question is..why didn't they go for more? Why only $13,000?? I don't understand..you'd goto jail for 13,000 dollars? BTW, we are not rich...we were around 6 years ago when my dad WAS a doctor..he is retired now...and we live off his 401K. He has perfect credit too..hence the 1 million credit.

 

[SiliconVandal]

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[DARRIN]

He would have to be a real idiot to use his real name. It probably is not Gerald Robbins.

On second thought he probably is a real idiot and it is Gerald Robbins.

Has the credit card company put a stop to this yet? Can't they just issue a new credit card number? They won't hold him accounable for those purchases will they?

 

[ddiccico]

As I understand it, you're only responsible for the first $50 of unauthorized purchases if you're card is stolen (for MC & VISA), and most won't even hold you to that as long as you report it as soon as you find out.

Why do you want to track this guy down? let the police do it.

 

[StanFL]

It could just as easily have been a waiter/waitress at a restaurant where the card was presented. Small pen shaped scanners are carried by some of them (unscrupulous ones of course), they innocently swipe across the card while taking it to ring up your meal then offload the data from the scanner later. The number could have then been sold/given out to virtually anyone!

This stuff happens all the time.

Let the credit card company deal with it, that's their job.

 

[SammyBoy]

jesus, 1 million dollar credit line.

I hope you track this guy down, but I bet the authorities will have no problem doing it for you. relax...if you can.

again...1 million bucks? my dad has perfect credit for his whole life and has like a 25,000 credit limit or something like that. Wow, with that credit you could.....do a lot of stuff. good thing the jerk()F who stole your pop's info didnt know he had that much room to work with.

well, good luck, sorry i cant be of any assistance

-Sam

 

[RossMAN]

I understand what you and your father are going through because the same thing happened to me. Fortunately I had a very good bank on my side (CitiBank) which handled the entire investigation with the local authorities.

First off I would say calm down and quit bumpin this thread up every 30 minutes, you do realize that this is the General Hardware forum, right? You may receive a better response if you ask the mod to lock this thread and create a new one in the Off Topic forum. Several people have been really helpful in various Paypal fraud threads.

Let CitiBank and the FBI do their job, they do this thousands of time a day and know the routine. I doubt that Gerald Robbins is the person's real name, if it is they're a total dumb fsck!

I found 8 Gerald Robbins in FL but none live in Tampa.

There are of course other search engines and if you are willing to pay one of those "background checks" web sites some money ($50 - $200) they may be able to find a real Gerald Robbins who lives in Tampa, FL but may be unlisted in the phone book. Heck you might be able to get his real name, maiden name, social security #, address, phone, fax, work, education, you get the idea.

I would concentrate on two aspects:
1) Ask the FBI to find out who used the stolen CC at the doctor. Can they get finger prints, video security, signature, anything?
2) Usually when you send a wire you have to fill out a wire form, find out where they attempted to send the wire from, etc.

If you want to find him badly enough you can but it's going to take patience, patience, patience plus you should be liable for $50 (or nothing) of the charges. I know you want to nail this person but they'll get what's coming to them, hopefully.

 

[Thor_Sevan]

What I propose is to cancel that credit card (mark it stolen) from the credit card company. That way he will not be able to buy anything with it.
I "THINK" that when u go buy and the seller realise the card is stolen, he calls the police right away... that is what we see in movies ! hehe

Thor

 

[mindiris]

I would guess if Citibank and FBI is already on it, there's little else to do but wait, and you aren't liable for more than $50, so not too great a deal, unless there is idenity theft. I've been hearing about some pretty messed up stroies about how much damage that can bring to someone's records. That can create a positively nasty "paper" history to repair.

 

[Innoka]

SiliconVandal, are you quite young?
Nobody with such a credit limit is going to be uninsured.
For small frauds actually the police don't really care if it isn't very easy to trace. For $13000 they'll be a bit more interested. You don't need to get involved in vigilante behaviour. You just get a new number and that's it. Don't be so foolish as to pester real Gerald Robbins

 

[SiliconVandal]

<< Has the credit card company put a stop to this yet? Can't they just issue a new credit card number? They won't hold him accounable for those purchases will they? >>

Yep. New card coming with an &quot;Aphadavit&quot; (can't spell that word). Nope, not accountable.

<< It could just as easily have been a waiter/waitress at a restaurant where the card was presented. Small pen shaped scanners are carried by some of them (unscrupulous ones of course), they innocently swipe across the card while taking it to ring up your meal then offload the data from the scanner later. The number could have then been sold/given out to virtually anyone! >>

No charges at restraunts, so I think we can rule this out. Might have been something similar though.

<< I understand what you and your father are going through because the same thing happened to me. Fortunately I had a very good bank on my side (CitiBank) which handled the entire investigation with the local authorities. >>

Yep, they seem to be pretty sharp at this. Notified FBI immediately.

<< SiliconVandal, are you quite young?
Nobody with such a credit limit is going to be uninsured. >>

It's not my card, so its irrelevant.

We were called on Friday and notified that he was arrested and that he is not Gerald Robbins, it was, simply, and alias. We are going to call back monday and see the development.

I'll update later.

SV

 

[potatoo]

aren't you afraid of stalkers? when I was little, my mom keeps telling me don't tell strangers how much money you have and stuff... and you're telling the world that your pop can spend a mil on his cc? ... mmm, i wouldn't do that if i were you, i would just leave everything to the cops

 

[SiliconVandal]

It's not like you could track me down. 1 Million credit is nothing, anyway. My name on hegre is fake, and so is my location! Hah..