A Mississippi highway patrolman happened to be in the right place at just the right time on Thursday, June 4, 2015. That place was Lowe’s in New Albany. Around 1:00 p.m. a group of four men and two women of Asian descent were attempting to check out, making gift card purchases with what was apparently stolen credit cards.
While trying to make the purchases, the cashier noted the alert on the computer system that the cards being used were stolen, saw a uniformed patrolman coming through the front entrance and alerted him. Suspects then tried to leave the premises and the patrolman immediately reached local police while trailing the vehicle. It didn’t take long for the officers to arrive and make arrests. They found about 50 different credit cards with various names. Some of the cards actually show the assailants correct identity, but when scanned reveal the real owner’s names.
The six suspects’ identity show them hailing from New York, Virginia and Illinois. After some investigating, New Albany Chief of Police Chris Robertson stated that it appears it is a fairly large ring of credit card fraud.
Turns out, this wasn’t their only activity in northeast Mississippi. It seems the perpetrators had some success in Lee county as well, hitting the Lowe’s store there for about $4000. The New Albany store lost about $2600. Robertson says they suspect the ring is much larger than what they have uncovered and that secret service is now involved.
The chief also would like to encourage all citizens to be diligent in tracking their credit card transactions along with any other electronic spending but says that in order to stay alert, diligence is a must. Regularly checking for any odd or unauthorized transactions is the best way to protect oneself.
All the suspects are being charged with felony false pretense and are being held with a $10,000 bond. Two are currently in federal custody.
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