Identity theft and credit card scams are at an all time high. Keep track of all checks, credit cards and ATM cards all the time. Thieves like to target business travelers and tourists because they are an easy target and they likely will be gone before anyone is arrested. So there won’t be anyone to pick out the thief from a line up or to testify in court. These thieves often will use the credit cards and personal information gathered in a mugging, purse snatching or breaking into your hotel or rental car for identity theft scams. In this case a scammer used stolen credit cards to rack up $60,000 worth of travel and other charges.
$60,000 worth of air travel booked on stolen credit cards
22 April 2004
A fraudster used stolen credit cards to rack up about $60,000 on international flights booked through Christchurch travel agents.
The man – who had not been caught by police – was generous with his victims' money, as he seemingly gave the flights to other people to use.
Police could not confirm where the passengers travelled to.
Two travel agents complained to police about the scam when the real owners of the credit cards discovered the fares on their statements.
The fraudster had struck twice in the past few months, booking flights worth up to $30,000 in both cases.
Christchurch fraud squad head Detective Sergeant David Harvey said the man went to travel agents and booked the flights by credit card number. The tickets were later confirmed and used, but the credit was discovered to be false.