Credit Card Scammer left his name/address

[Cycledude]

I got two emails late Monday night that should have concerned me after all the posts on here about credit card fraud but, duh, I read that a suspicious purchase had been made on the Walmart website and cancelled by Walmart. Since it was cancelled I just read the emails and went to bed. Woke up Tuesday morning and the first thing on my mind was that Walmart had cancelled a suspicious purchase. Holy Crap, how stupid, I read that and went to bed without checking anything else! So I fixed a cup of coffee and spent the next four hours on the phone. Somebody had purchased two barstools to be shipped to an address in Eastern Kentucky. I live in Western Kentucky. Walmart had cancelled the purchases for some reason. They were charged to the Discover Card linked to my online Walmart account.

Here is the funny part. Hold on, this is good!

The scammer had put his name and address on my account so the barstools could be shipped to him!

Read that last line again. His name and address were on my account.

Froze the Discover Card account. Then went back and forth with Discover Card and Walmart for several hours Tuesday and finally got everything straightened out. I will get a new card in a few days with a completely different number (had that number for thirty+ years, when teenagers my daughters had it memorized). Walmart password changed and something else done to my account to keep him from getting back on. Both places were very helpful and gave what I think is good advice.

Then I called the local Sheriff's office. Told the lady my problem, had a deputy call me back in a few minutes and give me some more advice. So I made a call to the sheriff's office in the county the fraudster lives in. Not much they could do since the purchase was stopped but they are going to make a visit to the address and let them know they have brought themselves to law enforcement's attention. According to Google the address is a three bedroom, one bath house with seven people living in it.

All that happened in the morning. I was give out from dialing my phone so many times and doing all that talking. Wife said it would have been a lot quicker if I hadn't talked so much to everybody and just stuck to business.

Are you sure you had the same credit card number for 30 years ?

 

[IndyJay]

I'd be sending them some nice gifts.

 

[RSKY]

That might have been a fake name and an address where they know they can go pick up the merch. Like someone who won't be home during delivery hours or is on vacation. Or it could be a random valid address and the crook is just testing that the card is valid and does not card what happens to the merch. The usual way to test is a small $1 or $5 purchase of some online thing like credits for a game but that probably trips the algorithms now.

Also bar stools seem like a funny choice. They're bulky and not as readily salable as other items. But they're also not scrutinized as much as electronics which are the usual choice of merch for card fraud, so maybe that's why.

How do you know the scammer didn’t have it shipped to another address, to keep his name/address secure… and didn’t plan a porch pick up?

I’d be real careful accusing what could be an innocent citizen. You have no idea.ing to be sarcastic or anything but I guess he could have accidentally logged on to the wrong account and accidentally charged the products to my credit card instead of his. And he could have accidentally changed the address to ship the products to from mine to his.

The sheriff or deputy looked up the address and it was the correct name of the tax rolls.

This could possibly be true. I mean, and I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything, but he could have accidentally logged on to my account. Accidentally changed the address from mine to his. Then accidentally charged the products to my attached credit card. It is not beyond the realm of the Twilight Zone for all three of those things to happen accidentally.

Naww, the guy somehow got into MY account, picked out something that HE wanted, charged it to MY card, and changed the account from MY name and address to HIS name and address so it would be shipped to his house.

As busy as we have been the last month or so if he had changed the address back after getting the product I might not have noticed the theft. If Walmart hadn't caught it I would have probably paid for more stuff for him before it was caught.

RSKY

 

[RSKY]

Are you sure you had the same credit card number for 30 years ?

At least since the oldest started driving in 1998. We gave her a Discover Card to pay for gas. We just added her to the account we already had. The security number on the back has changed a couple or three times. And of course the expiration date has changed over the years. So I believe it is the same numbers. But I could be wrong. My wife says I am quite a bit these days.

RSKY

 

[jyoutz]

I'd be sending them some nice gifts.

A big box of dog poop would be appropriate.

 

[Cycledude]

At least since the oldest started driving in 1998. We gave her a Discover Card to pay for gas. We just added her to the account we already had. The security number on the back has changed a couple or three times. And of course the expiration date has changed over the years. So I believe it is the same numbers. But I could be wrong. My wife says I am quite a bit these days.

RSKY

suspect you are wrong, I have been using discover card since the 80’s and about every 3 years they send a new card and I believe it has a different number every time it’s a security thing , but I could also be wrong.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

The sheriff or deputy looked up the address and it was the correct name of the tax rolls.

This could possibly be true. I mean, and I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything, but he could have accidentally logged on to my account. Accidentally changed the address from mine to his. Then accidentally charged the products to my attached credit card. It is not beyond the realm of the Twilight Zone for all three of those things to happen accidentally.

Naww, the guy somehow got into MY account, picked out something that HE wanted, charged it to MY card, and changed the account from MY name and address to HIS name and address so it would be shipped to his house.

As busy as we have been the last month or so if he had changed the address back after getting the product I might not have noticed the theft. If Walmart hadn't caught it I would have probably paid for more stuff for him before it was caught.

RSKY

I can look up anyones name and address and use it…. I don’t get your point. It doesn’t mean that the home I had it delivered to, is the home that stole the account.

 

[RSKY]

suspect you are wrong, I have been using discover card since the 80’s and about every 3 years they send a new card and I believe it has a different number every time it’s a security thing , but I could also be wrong.

It has been a while, maybe a year, but one of the girls was gonna charge something for me and had the card number memorized. I just had to tell her the three digit code and expiration date.

Edited: It was to pay for the VRBO vacation last year. (Dad always pays even though he is on a fixed income). But then again I may be wrong. I get new cards about every three or four years but they have the same number.

RSKY

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

This scam is not uncommon. The crook isn’t stupid, he used your payment method, another innocent persons address, and he is free and clear. He is a genius, because now you and the police are looking at the wrong person.

 

[NorTracNY]

Please know that it is not likely that you have the name of the crook or their address. Watch Mark Roper's glitter bomb 4.0? on Youtube. It did a good job of showing how some of these crime rings will work. Mark ended up sending a glitter bomb to an innocent homeowner.