Notices |
Hello!
Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.
Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....
Please note that the information requested during registration will be used to determine your legitimacy as a participant of this site. As such, any information you provide that is determined to be false, inaccurate, misleading, or highly suspicious will result in your registration being rejected. This is designed to try to discourage as much as possible those spammers and scammers that tend to plague sites of this nature, to the detriment of all the legitimate members trying to enjoy the features this site provides for them.
Of particular importance is the REQUIREMENT that you provide your REAL full name upon registering. Sorry, but this is not like other sites where anonymity is more the rule.
Also your TRUE location is important. If the location you enter in your profile field does not match the location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected. As such, I strongly urge registrants to avoid using a VPN service to register, as they are often used by spammers and scammers, and as such will be blocked when discovered when auditing new registrations.
Sorry about all these hoops to jump through, but I am quite serious about blocking spammers and scammers at the gate on this site and am doing the very best that I can to that effect. Trust me, I would rather be doing more interesting things with my time, and wouldn't be making this effort if I didn't think it was worthwhile.
|
Police Blotter General notifications about thefts, breakins or and cases where animals or materials are stolen. Photos of the merchandise taken can be posted to help with recovery. |
10-01-2009, 02:39 AM
|
#1
|
|
ID Thief Spends Hundreds On Snakes - WREG
|
|
|
10-01-2009, 03:27 AM
|
#2
|
|
Quote:
FAST FACTS:
Mid South man victim of nationwide credit card fraud ring say police
Thief stole account information and bought snakes totaling hundreds of dollars
Buyer's e-mail included the name "Prohacks"
http://www.idtheftcenter.org/
Scott.Noll@wreg.com
(Horn Lake, MS 9/30/2009) Tonight, the search is on for the "snake" who's using stolen identities to buy hundreds of dollars of reptiles.
It's part of what investigators believe is a sophisticated, credit card fraud ring, with a least one victim here in the Mid South.
The thieves are targeting debit and credit cards, and, it appears, they know a lot more about you, than what's on your card.
For Donald South, the bad news started when he called his bank, to check his account balance last week.
"It was kind of, you know, what?" South said, recalling the disbelief he felt after learning someone had fraudulently charged $149.94 to his account.
"I said I haven't made no debit for this," South said.
The kicker came when he found out his money went to buy a florescent orange corn snake.
South learned it was ordered on-line, and sent to a home in Philadelphia.
"I've never been to Philadelphia," said South. "I don't even know what the place looks like."
Horn Lake police say South is the latest victim of one of the fastest-growing crimes.
"We're starting to see identity theft on almost a daily basis," explained Lt. Scott Evans with the Horn Lake Police Department.
What's not clear is where someone got South's personal information, but the owner of the Brooklyn, New York-based website where the thief placed the order, says South isn't alone.
Last week, the same guy in Philadelphia placed three orders, using three different credit or debit card accounts from victims across the U.S.
In each case, the thief ordered snakes and had them sent to the same Philadelphia address.
|
The said on the video that the guy's name (or at least the name used) is Mike Williams...
|
|
|
10-01-2009, 06:51 PM
|
#3
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by hhmoore
The said on the video that the guy's name (or at least the name used) is Mike Williams...
|
You only posted part of the article. You forgot to post page 2. :-)
Quote:
In all, the orders totaled nearly $600.
Robert Crespo, owner of the website, Reptiles-N-Critters.com says the amount of information the buyer had, makes Crespo believe the thief, who used the name Mike Williams, is a pro.
"Mr. Williams obviously had very detailed credit card records including all billing address information, plus complete credit card details," said Crespo. "He obviously must have gotten this information, either purchased it or obtained it in some illicit way."
Crespo, says it's common for his customers to buy snakes as gifts, so he wasn't suspicious about the different names, until he began getting calls from victims like South.
When Crespo pulled the sales records, he learned the customer used two different e-mails accounts, including one with the name, "Prohacks."
Hacking is what police believe likely happened to South's account.
"I would venture to say someone hacked into a major company and was able to retrieve that kind of data," said Lt. Evans.
South says fears of getting ripped-off kept him from using his debit card on-line.
He says whenever possible, he only uses cash.
The disabled grandfather, who is on a fixed income, thought he'd be the last target for hackers.
Now, South is working with his bank to get the charge credited back to him, and waiting for a new debit card to arrive.
"I'll make sure this time the card stays in my wallet," said South. "If I have to cover it up with my hand when i'm using it, put a lock and key on it somehow."
As for the thief that ripped him off, South has one wish for the snake, and his new collection of pets.
"I said I hope it bites him," said South.
Horn Lake Police say financial crimes, like this, have become such an issue, the department now has detectives who do nothing but follow the trail of these crooks.
WREG News Channel 3 Investigators checked records and didn't find anyone named Mike Williams living at the Philadelphia address where the snakes were shipped.
We tried contacting Williams at the two e-mail addresses he used to buy the snakes, but, not surprisingly, no one responded.
|
|
|
|
10-03-2009, 12:03 AM
|
#4
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wraith
You only posted part of the article. You forgot to post page 2. :-)
|
oops
Thanks for catching that, and posting the rest.
|
|
|
Join
now to reply to this thread or open new ones
for your questions & comments! FaunaClassifieds.com
is the largest online community about Reptile
& Amphibians, Snakes, Lizards and number one
classifieds service with thousands of ads to look
for. Registration is open to everyone and FREE.
Click Here to Register!
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:16 PM.
|
|