Organized Credit Card Fraud Groups and Gasoline Pump Skimmers in WV
The Charleston, WV Secret Service is currently investigating up to 3 organized groups that have traveled to West Virginia in the past several weeks from other states for the sole purpose of using fraudulent credit cards to make purchases at various retailers. The perpetrators begin by purchasing information from a source that has access to "hacked" or stolen data. This information is then used to produce "cloned" or fraudulent credit cards by re-encoding the account numbers on various forms access device cards. The "perps" then travel to the states where the victims reside to use the fraudulent credit cards because there is less attention paid to purchases within the state where the victim lives and the credit card purchases are not questioned. Several arrests have been made in the Kanawha Valley area and investigations are continuing with some in other areas of the state. The Charleston Secret Service is also investigating several gasoline pump skimmer incidents where devices are being placed on gas pumps in order to capture credit card information. Several businesses in the Kanawha Valley area have been victimized. William H. Smarr, Resident Agent in Charge- US Secret Service: Charleston (WV) Resident Office (304) 347-5188

Boise Police Organized Retail Crime Unit arrest Grand Theft and Fraud suspect
Boise Police arrested a San Leandro, Calif., man Monday morning on felony charges of grand theft and misappropriation of personal identification. Christopher S. Miller, 40, was taken into custody after officers were alerted by employees of the Downtown Wells Fargo Bank this morning to a possible fraud in progress. Miller was taken into custody for questioning and later jailed on the felony charges after an investigation involving officers with the BPD Organized Retail Crime Unit and Neighborhood Contact Officers. idahostatesman.com

Publix pharmacy tech sold stolen pills to kids for gas money
A former Publix pharmacy technician confessed to police that she'd been stealing Vicodin pills from her Leesburg workplace for about a year and selling them to neighborhood children to drum up gas money, according to an arrest affidavit. A former Publix pharmacy technician this week confessed that she'd been stealing Vicodin pills from her Leesburg workplace for about a year and selling them to neighborhood children to drum up gas money, according to an arrest affidavit. Kathy Rene Dullum made the admission on Monday after Loss Prevention officers at the grocery store on U.S. Highway 27 confronted her with video evidence that she'd been stealing the painkillers and cash. Dullum, 55, of Leesburg said she'd been pilfering four tablets per week for about a year and had pocketed more than $1,150 from the cash registers to make her car payments. After the theft came to light, Publix managers fired Dullum, who had been working as a store pharmacy technician since 2011. Dullum told police she sold the Vicodin to "children in her neighborhood in order to pay for gas to drive to and from work". orlandosentinel.com

4 accused of running a retail theft ring in Cumberland County, PA   Police are looking for three men and a woman accused of running a retail theft ring in Cumberland County. The latest theft happened at the CVS at 6706 Carlisle Pike in Silver Spring Township around 4:50 p.m. on June 25. According to police reports, two of the men distracted store employees while a man and woman stole personal hygiene products from the shelves. Police believe same people were also responsible for stealing items from the CVS on High Street in Carlisle earlier that day. fox43.com

Pittsburgh woman accused of shoplifting at Mills mall
A 46-year-old Pittsburgh woman accused of shoplifting for the 12th time is accused of trying to hide under a blanket inside a SUV to elude police, Frazer police allege. Devaron L. Hunter is accused of taking more than $1,100 worth of goods at the Pittsburgh Mills mall earlier this month. Hunter is accused of fleeing Wal-Mart loss prevention employees just after 1 p.m. on June 17. Police said Hunter was found with about $550 worth of items from Michaels Crafts, $450 worth of items from Wal-Mart, almost $100 from Bath & Body Works, about $36 from the Five Below store, and an unknown amount from Old Navy. triblive.com

Brazen shoplifter caught with $1,500 in merchandise at Three Rivers Mall, Kelso, WA  A brazen daylight shoplifter was caught early Friday evening after walking out of the JC Penney department store at Kelso's Three Rivers Mall with a $1,200 in clothes, according to police. Nicole Sharreen Taylor, 35, of Kelso was arrested on suspicion of second-degree theft, third-degree theft and third-degree driving with a suspended license. Along with the more than $1,200 worth of clothing, police found food and other items taken from a nearby Safeway grocery store worth approximately $340. tdn.com



Butte, MT Police search for 4 suspects in Walmart theft  Officials said three males and one female stole $585.30 worth of merchandise from the Wal-Mart store at 3901 Harrison Ave. in Butte around 10:45 p.m. Friday. The males left the store through the main entrance and the female left through an emergency exit in the garden area. nbcmontana.com



Deputies searching for woman caught trying to shoplift from Lowe's in Palm Coast  The Lowe's loss prevention manager says he saw a woman take items from the flooring department and put them in her black and white striped purse. The woman tried to leave the store without paying and was confronted by the loss prevention manager. She dropped the purse and ran away and got into a gold Toyota Camry with New Jersey license plates. actionnewsjax.com