Debit card identity fraud

String of unauthorized charges reported to Public Safety, Milledgeville Police Department

Students, faculty and staff reported 53 instances of financial transaction card fraud to Public Safety as of Feb. 16.

Detective Michael Baker suspects there are twice as many thefts on campus that remain unreported.

Victims noticed false transactions on their bank accounts, although they still had their own card in their possession.

Baker confirms that four suspects have been identified. Public Safety is working with the Milledgeville Police Department to dismantle the fraud ring that has been uncovered after investigation. The Milledgeville Police Department has at least 10 reported cases as well. At this point, the suspects have no tie to Georgia College students or employees.

The past week of investigation revealed that the perpetrators are using debit cards as credit cards at swipe cashiers. Only two reported incidents of illegal transactions have been made online.

Baker is encouraging all other Georgia College victims of debit card fraud to come forward.

“If there are victims that are students at Georgia College we would just like them to come and talk to us, because the more cases we can investigate the better the likelihood we will make a connection,” Baker said.

Public Safety has been investigating similarities between all victims’ recent transactions, going as far back as November. They hope that as more victims come forward their current leads will become clearer.

“Right now we are trying to find the common link of where all the accounts have been compromised,” Baker said. “At this point it is still hard to pinpoint it.”

Most fraudulent charges have been made in Atlanta, with a few in Alabama and South Carolina. Separate video footage obtained from an Alabama Wal-Mart and a CVS Pharmacy in Atlanta present two different men using victim’s card numbers. Police are still trying to connect all the loose ends of these facts.

Baker also pinpoints that it is suspicious that most of the purchases are cheaper items, such as cigarettes, gas, a cell phone and even clothes from Salvation Army. Only a few reported cases have been more than a total of $500. Some bigger purchases are at restaurants, in one case a dinner at Red Lobster.

Senior nursing major Lauren Windham noticed she had $160 charged to her debit card in Atlanta at the beginning of February. After reporting this to Public Safety and her bank, Windham is now waiting for her new card to arrive in the mail. Until then she has no means of withdrawing cash or paying for anything.

“I have to go through a long process with the bank to get reimbursement for the money that was stolen,” Windham said. “So this makes it very inconvenient for me to do the things that I enjoy around Milledgeville.”

Junior exercise science major Julia Borland was alerted to fraudulent charges on Feb. 7 when her Dad called to tell her that her checking balance was reported low. She thought this was odd because she had just transferred money a few days before.

“We went to my online banking and there were three charges which I hadn’t made—a total of $222.19 spent between an IHOP, Red Lobster, and a Kroger Fuel Center—all in the Atlanta area,” Borland said. “I called Bank of America and they were very helpful to tell me how to go about making a claim for fraud and refunding my money.”

Borland said she knows of about 20 other people who also had this happen to them between Feb. 4 and Feb. 8. She admittedly worries much more now about using her card in public than before the incident.

“I’ve never been a victim of fraud before this instance, and because of it, I will be using my card more sparingly around the city of Milledgeville,” Borland said.

Posted by Chelsea Thomas on Feb 17 2011. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.