Two News Reports!

On the News Again Tonight!

Sam was on the News again at 11pm tonight on WAVE3! They did a follow up story to their original story that had alerted Sam to the fact that he was not the only one whose credit card had been hit. WAVE3 aired their original story last Thursday. Here are both stories from their websites. Click on the Headline to go to the websites.

Here is the WHAS11 Story from yesterday at 5:30pm:

Watch it Now, Click Here!

Consumer Watch: Scammers using credit card numbers without stealing cards
11:49 PM EDT on Wednesday, October 22, 2008

"Our consumer watch this week is a wake up call for anyone who thinks their credit card account is safe just because their card wasn't stolen. Using the “numbers only”, thieves have found a way to clean out your account in a hurry.

A victim of this kind of crime called WHAS11's Andy Treinen and after Andy answered they may have tracked down the bad guys.

The owner of the Kentucky Martial Arts Academy, John Liddell, in just a couple of days earlier this month, nearly 2000 dollars was charged to this company credit card at a Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Lowes in Lilburn, Georgia. But John's card was still in his pocket. And while his credit card company quickly reimbursed the losses the former marine wanted justice.

It was through that pursuit of justice that Liddell learned how a credit card number alone could be used in a store to steal. He also learned about another martial artist who experienced the same exact thing.

That is Sam Conver of Louisville’s Christian Martial Arts Academy. His bank spotted some unusual charges including one for $804 dollars at the same Lowes in Lilburn, Georgia.

After a series of conversations the two men discovered that they have a common supplier. A company that supplies martial arts uniforms actually has both of their credit cards on file. The question now is will police do anything about it?

"The police locally are doing all they can but yes when I talked to police in Georgia they're not going to come to Kentucky and police in Kentucky are not going to go to Georgia. The bad guys have to know all this. The bad guys know that probably nobody is coming after them," said Conver. (Actual Quote by Liddell- MJ)

Because the victims are reimbursed by their credit card company and the crimes cross so many different police jurisdictions, prosecution isn't easy.

But after WHAS11 promoted this story, a third martial arts instructor called to say he too was stolen from, and he too had a credit card on file with the same Dade County, Florida uniform company.

So how do the bad guys use the numbers?. The surveillance at Lowes shows the guy order two gift cards for $400 dollars each in the check out line. He then swipes a fake card. When the teller says it didn't take the guy says I’ll just type it in and he proceeds to type in the stolen numbers. The teller never asked for the card or an i.d.

There have been no criminal charges yet, so WHAS11 is not naming the uniform company. But it's a nationwide supplier and the only reason our three victims found each other is because of the coverage on television."

Here is the WAVE3 Story from tonight at 11:00pm (Top Story!):

WAVE 3 story leads to possible common link in ID theft cases
Posted: Oct 23, 2008 11:07 PM EDT

JEFFERSONTOWN, KY (WAVE) - Often with identity theft cases the crooks hit more than just one victim. In this case, the multiple victims have something in common and it is a little too strange to be coincidence.

On October 15th, WAVE 3 brought you the story of John Liddell. Liddell, a martial arts instructor from Jeffersontown, found his business account had been wiped out by identity thieves.

"We had charges out of Georgia. Home Depot, Lowe's," said Liddell. "I'm not going to look a six-year-old in the eye and tell them that Sensei doesn't have a uniform for them, because somebody got into the account and took the money."

After that story aired, Sam Conver got a call from his mother. His business account was overdrawn after an $800 transaction from a Lowe's in Georgia.

"She said, ‘You need to turn on the news. Check this out,'" said Conver. "'The same thing that happened to you happened to another martial arts instructor.'"

Turns out both men, both martial arts instructors in Jeffersontown, had a few other things in common.
"I didn't know Mr. Liddell personally," said Conver. "So I figured that the contact had to come through a vendor that we both use."

Jeffersontown Police are investigating the case and tell us they have subpoenaed video from the Lowe's in Georgia where the alleged criminal used both men's cards. Both Liddell and Conver now want to find out who is responsible and hopefully protect others.

"I have faith that this will all work out in such a way that justice is served," said Conver.

Investigators tell WAVE 3 there could still be more victims out there. Police say you should check your bank account closely for any unauthorized transactions. If you see similar charges, call the Jeffersontown Police Department at (502) 267-0503."

I made a link out of both headlines above so you could go straight to the stories if you are interested! On the WHAS11 Site you can actually watch the interview online.

*Notice in the WAVE3 write up of the story they have given Sam credit for John's quote. I made a note of it in the story, but did not correct it for accuracy sake.*

We still haven't received credit for the disputed charges, but we'll wait and see!

MJ