So, you have had your home burgled well this is not just an invasion of your property but also your privacy. Whilst this is no fun at least if someone steals your and uses your credit card you at least get to spy on the thief when the statement arrives and you can see what they have been trying to buy in your name.
However, if someone steals your identity and opens new accounts in your name you need to act quickly reporting this to the police and then jumping through a number of obstacles just to clear your name.
If it is just a stolen credit card or card number you do not have the worry as the consumer liability is limited by law for losses up to $50 with the majority of companies not holding the account holder responsible for any amount, so once you have reported the crime you can sit back and spy on the crook!
The following are some real examples of the weirdest cases of credit card theft:
1. Must Have Been a Really Nice Litter Box
Martin Bowling, a success in the search marketing field, was charged with the theft of a subscriber list from his former employer, the Woodcraft magazine. He went on to use the information to charge more than $4,000 worth of goods, and these charges included a self – cleaning cat litter box. In his defense most cat owners have times when they would do anything to get out of cleaning the cat litter box!
2. Unusual Wallet
Another weird case of credit card theft was undertaken by Ann Hernandez, this time it was not what she brought but where she supposedly stored the stolen credit cards and information. Whilst one cannot reveal the exact whereabouts it would be fair to say that she would have been asked by police officers to squat and cough to reveal the evidence.
3. I Just Wanna Be Me
Another weird case of credit card theft occurred when a Chinese graduate student Li Ming tried to commit fraud by impersonating himself. He ran up debts on his cards and instead of paying these he faked his own death complete with obituary and then at a later date tried to use a copy of his own birth certificate to apply for a new driving license. His though process was that because his surname was one of the most common in China he thought no one would notice. Unfortunately for him they did and he was exposed.
4. Weekend at Eunice’s
An Afghan war widow in England received a bank statement addressed to the former owner of her home. After Mrs Nicola Marlton Thomas looked into the details she found that Eunice Lees, the account holder had been dead for two years and left no other family. Marlton Thomas withdrew all of the money in the women’s accounts and applied for credit in the name however this weird case of credit card theft was unveiled as the purchases were not typical for a 91 year old!
5. The $9.84 Scam
Another weird case of credit card theft occurred earlier this year when a lot of consumers made complaints about a mystery charge of $9.84 on their statements and it was unclear where the charges were coming from or whether the victims had a link. There was just one common denominator and this was that it became clear that most people won’t check their statements carefully enough to report a charge under $10!
6. Straight to the Top
The weird case of credit card theft concerning Abraham Abdallah is bizarre in its brazenness. He picked up the Forbes’ list of the richest Americans and started at the top gathering social security numbers, birthdates, home addresses, and even credit card numbers through a combination of Internet research and social engineering. This thief then tried to use the credit card numbers of the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, and Warren Buffett to purchase expensive goods, and reportedly according to the New York Post also bought two brownstones in Brooklyn!
7. Spielberg Part Deux
Speilberg fell victim to not one but two weird cases of credit card theft when James Rinaldo Jackson tapped into his American Express account whilst he was in prison. Whilst James Rinaldo claimed that he just wanted to snoop on his idol’s purchases. However he stole other people’s credit accounts to pay for goods that he used to pay other inmates with. Allegedly he then sent a letter to Hollywood director and Yahoo! CEO, Terry Semel, which contained the personal information for many Hollywood personalities as part of an unsuccessful movie pitch. When he never got the movie deal he is said to have used the information to buy all manner of things.
8. Beyond the Pale
The final weird case of credit card theft is one of the worst cases of theft that I have heard of for a long time. Apparently the site of the Malaysia Airlines crash has been plundered for credit cards and other personal documents for possible use in identity theft.
As you can see there are many weird cases of credit card theft that are quite unimaginable however it is big business so do not let yourself fall prey to these fraudsters.