I will give you a +1, subby. for this wonderful pun.

Looks like jail was in the cards

I'll give ya credit where credit is due. +1.

The best headlines are often the simplest. Well done, subby.

We'll be seeing this one again in December.

If you've enjoyed hearing this song and would like to know more about Finland, why not ring Mr. Griffiths of Hemill-Hampstead? He and his charming wife Edna would be glad to answer any of your questions, and - who knows? - may show you some of their unrivaled collection of Scandinavian credit cards.

/not obscure by any means

Can you really blame them? In this economy, people have to do what they need to in order to survive.

If they only had a few odds are they would have gone un-noticed (for a while anyway), but having 50 phony credit cards is just asking for the attention.

How in the hell do people make fake cards? Are there really stores that don't have electronic authorization still?

I guess I need more from the story that isn't there.

that's interesting

Har har!

they were very insecure

Santos L. Halper

They think the whole world revolves around them.

Go World.

lendog:
How in the hell do people make fake cards? Are there really stores that don't have electronic authorization still?

There are machines that can change the magnetic strip codes on credit cards to register some other account. If you only use the cards a couple times before recoding again, you can use them over and over without getting caught. I was a jury foreman on a case involving these. The guy had done this for years, running up hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus charges.

This headline captured my interest.

lendog: How in the hell do people make fake cards? Are there really stores that don't have electronic authorization still?

I guess I need more from the story that isn't there.

I've been in several places lately that either used an off-line terminal (stores the transaction without actually doing a verification) or the old mechanical impression systems. And really, its not hard to make a new card with a stolen number. A lot of the POS terminals these days don't even ask for the last 4 digits on the card to help ensure the number on the card matches what's on the magstripe.

I've also been in a situation where I've ordered a bunch of food and when it was delivered and I had to pay for it, I was told "Sorry, our credit card machine is broken. Do you have cash?" Ummm, no. "Well, here, I'll write down your number and run it later". I could have used a fake/empty/cancelled card and they'd have no recourse but to eat the farkup.

The police have high interest in this case.

Koggie

ahhhhhhhhh shucks!

Where did they swipe the cards? How did the cops pin the crimes on them?

I gotta give this guy credit...

wait, I think he already has plenty of that ;-p

What's in your wallet?

+1 subby, +1

I hope the judge sentences them to 30-days in jail and then 30-percent additional days that keeps getting compounded daily...

sounds like they were delt a bad hand.
yeah they were cards alright, spades!
the anual fees on 50+ cards might be excessive.

lendog: How in the hell do people make fake cards? Are there really stores that don't have electronic authorization still?

I guess I need more from the story that isn't there.

It's getting easier and easier...you can order card skimmers online that capture the card data so a potential thief can then 'write' the info to a blank card. Some of them are designed to fit on ATM or gas pumps and look like part of the machine. Use credit cards (not debit cards) as they're easier to contest and freeze if stolen.

Cards that use RFID chips can be scanned, sometimes from pretty long distances, by someone with a scanner.

/get this out of the way...

Here are your new tires Mrs. Neusbaum.

LULZ!

I peed a little @ "Multiple charges expected"

The ex-con friend of our sitter came to our house to fix the sitter's flat one time, stole two of the wife's credit cards and ran up a $4k bill in gas and clothing purchases (in cahoots with his mom).

Took 2 months for the local police to finally file charges (he had only been out for 2 months on parole doing a 5-10 bit for attempted murder). Cops had his fingerprints on the cards and video of him purchasing gas with them. Pretty open and shut.

Since the local courts was so overcrowded with capital cases, his case was commuted over and over for 18 MONTHS, at which point his parole was extended with the argument that any more felonies would land him back in the pokey. Granted the first charge had it been heard in court would have sent him back immediately, but at that point he was just one of many similar cases in the system.

Regardless, the wife had to do all the legwork gathering documentation to prove she was not the one making the charges. Cops did nothing (going after chainsaw murderers I suspect), credit card companies did nothing but harass her, not to mention it took a year to get her credit report fixed. On top of that, she was living in fear that a vengeful ex-con would exact some sort of revenge on us for turning him in.

This followed on the heels of a 10 year saga I've had with a group of assholes in NYC using my SSN to get cell phone accounts that all pointed back to my credit report which I had to fix each time to the tune of $40 bucks and 70 pages of ID Theft affidavits. They would run the bill up to around $450, dump the cell account and get a new one. Crafty, but all told it was about 12K in cell phone fees.

I would say anyone looking to go into a largely unprosecutable criminal career would be hard pressed to find anything sweeter than cell phone and credit card fraud, assuming you do it in moderate amounts. The greedy asshats in TFA were just dumb.

Meanwhile, the law-abiding customers pay through the nose in higher interest rates and exorbitant fees since the frauded companies (not you--you as a victimized citizen can't do squat about it--the company has to file charges against the suspects) won't pay 20K in court fees if they can write off half that as loss.

/Not a cool story, bro
//If only they hadn't killed the Golden Child of Justice
///Citicorp can kiss our asses in the crack

phlegmmo: lendog:
How in the hell do people make fake cards? Are there really stores that don't have electronic authorization still?

There are machines that can change the magnetic strip codes on credit cards to register some other account. If you only use the cards a couple times before recoding again, you can use them over and over without getting caught. I was a jury foreman on a case involving these. The guy had done this for years, running up hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus charges.


*takes notes*

And where does one find a recoding device?

You know, just outta curiosity...

/kidding

Wait ... the secret service investigates credit cards now?

DarthBart: lendog: How in the hell do people make fake cards? Are there really stores that don't have electronic authorization still?

I guess I need more from the story that isn't there.

I've been in several places lately that either used an off-line terminal (stores the transaction without actually doing a verification) or the old mechanical impression systems. And really, its not hard to make a new card with a stolen number.

The USA doesn't use EMV chips on their cards. That gives security even without on-line verification.

You'll get around to it. Eventually.

th0th: The ex-con friend of our sitter came to our house to fix the sitter's flat one time, stole two of the wife's credit cards and ran up a $4k bill in gas and clothing purchases (in cahoots with his mom).

Took 2 months for the local police to finally file charges (he had only been out for 2 months on parole doing a 5-10 bit for attempted murder). Cops had his fingerprints on the cards and video of him purchasing gas with them. Pretty open and shut.

Since the local courts was so overcrowded with capital cases, his case was commuted over and over for 18 MONTHS, at which point his parole was extended with the argument that any more felonies would land him back in the pokey. Granted the first charge had it been heard in court would have sent him back immediately, but at that point he was just one of many similar cases in the system.

Regardless, the wife had to do all the legwork gathering documentation to prove she was not the one making the charges. Cops did nothing (going after chainsaw murderers I suspect), credit card companies did nothing but harass her, not to mention it took a year to get her credit report fixed. On top of that, she was living in fear that a vengeful ex-con would exact some sort of revenge on us for turning him in.

This followed on the heels of a 10 year saga I've had with a group of assholes in NYC using my SSN to get cell phone accounts that all pointed back to my credit report which I had to fix each time to the tune of $40 bucks and 70 pages of ID Theft affidavits. They would run the bill up to around $450, dump the cell account and get a new one. Crafty, but all told it was about 12K in cell phone fees.

I would say anyone looking to go into a largely unprosecutable criminal career would be hard pressed to find anything sweeter than cell phone and credit card fraud, assuming you do it in moderate amounts. The greedy asshats in TFA were just dumb.

Meanwhile, the law-abiding customers pay through the nose in higher interest rates and exorbitant fees since the frauded companies (not you--you as a victimized citizen can't do squat about it--the company has to file charges against the suspects) won't pay 20K in court fees if they can write off half that as loss.

/Not a cool story, bro
//If only they hadn't killed the Golden Child of Justice
///Citicorp can kiss our asses in the crack

Worked in the financial industry for year. Credit Card and general bank fraud is wide spread and common on all levels. Banks keep these problems quiet because if the average joe knew just how much fraud there was, they'd keep their cash home in jars.

Sim Tree: Wait ... the secret service investigates credit cards now?

When a Mexican dude charges $500 of jeans on an American Express issued to a Barack H. Obama, I guess it's noticed.

DarthBart: lendog: How in the hell do people make fake cards? Are there really stores that don't have electronic authorization still?

I guess I need more from the story that isn't there.

I've been in several places lately that either used an off-line terminal (stores the transaction without actually doing a verification) or the old mechanical impression systems. And really, its not hard to make a new card with a stolen number. A lot of the POS terminals these days don't even ask for the last 4 digits on the card to help ensure the number on the card matches what's on the magstripe.

I've also been in a situation where I've ordered a bunch of food and when it was delivered and I had to pay for it, I was told "Sorry, our credit card machine is broken. Do you have cash?" Ummm, no. "Well, here, I'll write down your number and run it later". I could have used a fake/empty/cancelled card and they'd have no recourse but to eat the farkup.

If you had it delivered, don't they know where you live?

eastiowa: Here are your new tires Mrs. Neusbaum.

Oh, I'm Mr Neusbaum.
I'll vouch for him.
As long as you have a voucher.

Mexican nationals, faking the credit cards Americans won't fake.

th0th:

I would say anyone looking to go into a largely unprosecutable criminal career would be hard pressed to find anything sweeter than cell phone and credit card fraud, assuming you do it in moderate amounts. The greedy asshats in TFA were just dumb.

/Not a cool story, bro




/i keed

So is it true that you can slander anyone you want to and as long as you sprinkle your vile tirades with the word "alleged"?

Drew Curtis is an alleged grandmother-murderer who runs an alleged identity theft ring using an allegedly interesting news-aggregator/message-board called fark.com, allegedly.

I'm guessing their visas are valid either.

Joey Stink Eye Smiles: DarthBart: lendog: How in the hell do people make fake cards? Are there really stores that don't have electronic authorization still?

I guess I need more from the story that isn't there.

I've been in several places lately that either used an off-line terminal (stores the transaction without actually doing a verification) or the old mechanical impression systems. And really, its not hard to make a new card with a stolen number. A lot of the POS terminals these days don't even ask for the last 4 digits on the card to help ensure the number on the card matches what's on the magstripe.

I've also been in a situation where I've ordered a bunch of food and when it was delivered and I had to pay for it, I was told "Sorry, our credit card machine is broken. Do you have cash?" Ummm, no. "Well, here, I'll write down your number and run it later". I could have used a fake/empty/cancelled card and they'd have no recourse but to eat the farkup.

If you had it delivered, don't they know where you live?

Nope. Drive through at Sonic.

Sim Tree: Wait ... the secret service investigates credit cards now?

The Secret Service is part of the Treasury Department.

This story is just more made-up right wing WHAAARGARBL.

First of all, these two people, if they do exist, are Wise Latinos, from a proud and ancient culture that explicitly forbids dishonesty or misbehavior of any kind. It is literally an impossible Fairy Tale for a member of La Raza to go against his noble blood, for they are the pure, righteous chosen ones. This was most likely made up as a false flag operation by Sarah Palin or one of her toothless racist minions.

I am interested how much jail time they'll get in order to pay their debt to society.

ba-dum-tsss. +1

th0th: The ex-con friend of our sitter came to our house to fix the sitter's flat one time, stole two of the wife's credit cards and ran up a $4k bill in gas and clothing purchases (in cahoots with his mom)...

This followed on the heels of a 10 year saga I've had with a group of assholes in NYC using my SSN to get cell phone accounts...

One of my employees had her ID nicked & used to buy $15K worth of electronics over the 'net in one weekend. The thieves were well-known for this sort of activity, and had so little fear of prosecution that they had the merchandise shipped directly to their home. The sellers never prosecuted since none of them lost more than a few grand each, and my employee was cleaning up the credit mess for at least 2 years.

Helena Handbasket: I am interested how much jail time they'll get in order to pay their debt to society.

Sentenced to 5-years in jail, but can serve a minimum of 10-days per month for 30-years.

bighairyguy: I'm guessing their visas are valid either.

applause. And quite probable.