Amador County – Local authorities are investigating as many as 40 credit card/debit card fraud cases with links to businesses in Amador County, reported in the last five weeks.
Undersheriff Jim Wegner on Thursday released details of an investigation by the Amador County Sheriff’s Office, which around March 4, “received a report of fraudulent use of two debit/credit cards. The victim reported the cards had been used at Safeway Fuel Station in Martell, and within two days of using the cards, the accounts were fraudulently accessed.”
The release said: “One account was accessed in Ceres, California and one was accessed in Georgia. The victim reported being aware of six other local victims, however none of those victims reported cases to the Amador County Sheriff’s Office.” Sheriff’s Detectives checked with Jackson Police Department and learned that numerous reports had been made to JPD.
“Since the initial report,” the Sheriff’s Office said it “has taken or connected six additional reports with similar circumstances. Several of the victims speculated that there may be credit card skimmers within the Safeway gas pumps.”
“On March 24, Sheriff’s Detectives and Safeway Corporate personnel checked the gasoline pumps at Safeway in Martell. Upon checking each pump, no skimmer devices or micro-cameras were located. Additionally, their anti-tamper measures within the card reader system had not been compromised.”
“Although there was no evidence to support the fact that the credit/debit card system had been compromised, since March 24, Safeway reported that they have conducted two additional checks of their systems and have added additional counter-measures.”
The Sheriff’s Office said that during the first week of April, the department “was contacted by a local bank/financial institution,” which “advised that they had 18 victims of fraudulent access of credit/debit cards, which had not been reported to law enforcement.”
“A review of the information provided by that bank did identify some commonalities between venders where account debit/credit cards had been used. Additionally, links between the 18 victims identified by the local bank, the 7 cases reported to the Amador County Sheriff’s Office and the 15 cases reported to the Jackson Police Department have also been identified.” The Sheriff’s Office and JPD “are working collaboratively and sharing information on these cases.”
“Sheriff’s Detectives are conducting additional investigation into local venders/businesses which have a nexus to the accounts which have been compromised. The identity of the businesses will not be released to protect the integrity of the investigation as well as to protect those venders from unsubstantiated allegations which would negatively impact their business.”
“The majority of fraudulent charges to the compromised accounts have occurred in England, Canada, Georgia and Colorado. Accounts that have been compromised have been from four local banks or financial institutions. All four of the banks/financial institutions have been cooperative with the investigation and are working with both law enforcement agencies.”
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