Man discovers weeks of fraudulent charges to credit card, tracks down purchases and gets thieves arrested at nearby hotel: 'You did a public service shutting those guys down'

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Aug 19, 2024 7:00 AM EDT

If you've ever had your personal information stolen, you know it can be really frightening. Not to mention inconvenient. There are so many calls you have to make - filing a report, straightening out which payments are fraudulent, getting a new credit card, etcetera. Not to mention, it can be an extremely lengthy process, too. So that's why if you were ever a fraud victim, you know this man is a true hero. One day, the Original Poster (OP) got a notification that his card had been declined at a medspa. Fearing the worst, he checked his credit card statement only to find weeks' worth of fraudulent charges. He immediately called his credit card company and got everything sorted out, but he didn't stop there. No, the OP could also see the locations where all of the charges had been made, so he decided to do some investigative work of his own. You won't believe how the rest of this story played out. 

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  • 01
    r/pettyrevenge • 9 hr. ago methodrn00 I hunted down my credit card thieves
    via u/methodrn00
  • 02
    Yesterday morning I received an email notification from my credit card company stating a transaction for $1500 at a medspa was declined, and another stating it was approved. I immediately called said CC company to report the fraudulent charge. Turns out, my card has had
    via u/methodrn00
  • 03
    fraudulent charges over the past 3 weeks with purchases including various hotels in my area, eBay, gas station, self storage, and moving truck rental. I rarely use this card, the last time I used it in person was in February and last online purchase in 2023. Fortunately, my CC company
    via u/methodrn00
  • 04
    flagged all recent charges and closed my card. This morning, my significant other had a Dr appointment in the same city as a hotel purchase made yesterday. After the DR, BF asked me what I thought we should do
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  • 05
    today. I said, "well you wanted to shop for some new shoes... or we can swing by this hotel up the street and see if the credit card thiefs are still there?" The amount seemed like it would cover 2 or 3 days. So BF and I go to the hotel to see if the people were still checked in and to let
    via u/methodrn00
  • 06
    them know the card was stolen and the charges would be reversed. Front desk I. She was able to find the lady was reservation by card number and noted that the person had "kept changing cards" to pay for the room. Of course they didn't
    via u/methodrn00
  • 07
    tell me the room number, much to my bfs dismay (BF was hoping to get a room key to take their stuff..lol, right). I called CC company and they asked me to call the police. I called the sheriff department and they arrived within 20 minutes! I was surprised they even came. I
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  • 08
    gave them my report, id, and credit card. The deputy asked if I wanted to prosecute- I said Yes! (But can I prosecute if my CC company is going to refund all the money anyway?) Then they went inside and spoke to the front desk who provided them the invoice. BF and I waited.
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  • 09
    outside in front of the lobby. Then, through the automatic sliding doors I hear the front desk lady yell, "that's him, he's trying to leave!" Light Hispanic dude with a bull terrier and several bags gets placed in cuffs. He gets brought outside, searched and doggo
    via u/methodrn00
  • 10
    gets cuffed to a trashcan. Then another little Asian guy gets brought out in cuffs. A third deputy arrives and brings out a fancy asian lady with a face full of fillers, two suitcases and a coach backpack. Four officers start going through the backpacks on the hood of their car. We
    via u/methodrn00
  • 11
    see passports, ID's, credit cards. They pull out a big credit card printing machine and a laptop. Then they pull out a big Ziploc filled with crystal meth and the cop exclaims, "here we go!," and turns towards us to flash a smile. Two of them go back
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  • 12
    to search the hotel room and bring down two bags with more drugs, a scale, four car keys and a big I of cash. Unfortunately none of the cars were in the parking lot and the perps said they had been traveling by Uber. The cops contacted one of the thief's friends to pick
    via u/methodrn00
  • 13
    up the dog, who arrived pretty quickly. It was an older Asian dude with tattoos, flashy jewelry in an old luxury suv. Don't worry, we got his pics and license plates. All these guys seemed like characters out of The Brothers Sun.
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  • 14
    The deputies then gave me all the paperwork and told me that one of the guys said they stole my card off of the Internet. I would have guessed that they used a scanner while I was at the fair a few weeks ago. I find that so weird bc I haven't used my card online in almost a year.
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  • 15
    Apparently they made a physical card that had a different name on it. Anywho, I walk inside to give the front desk a copy of the incident number and then I remembered something else. I remember seeing another transaction for a storage unit that was made yesterday
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  • 16
    and two charges at a rental truck company. I go back outside and talk to the sheriff and asked him if he wanted me to try to figure out where that was. I was able to track down the storage location to a city about 15 minutes away, but no can do on the trucks. I called the storage place
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  • 17
    and they confirmed that a payment was made with my card but would not give me the unit number. From there. The sheriff said that it was out of their jurisdiction and they would try to get a search warrant but that might take a while. However, it might be helpful if I made a police report with the other City. So with nothing better
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  • 18
    to do, I drove my over there and made another police report regarding the storage unit. That's it for now, will update if anything else happens. In the meantime I will call up the credit bureau to freeze my social
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  • 19
    security (?) tell my dog to be on alert and load magazines. Any other suggestions? Also, Copper asked if I wanted to prosecute... But that was before the drug bust... So do I need a lawyer? Thanks in advance.
    via u/methodrn00
  • 20
    JadedPacifist . 10h ago Good on you to follow up wherever they charged your card at. It's worth it to make these police reports because even if your case is pretty much solved, it might lead to those establishments discovering other fraudulent charges by the same people with the other cards. they had.
    via u/JadedPacifist
  • 21
    haemaker . 10h ago (But can I prosecute if my CC company is going to refund all the money anyway?) Yes. These are criminal charges, grand theft. When they say "Do you want to procecute?" They really mean, "Will you cooperate with the DA when they file charges. Will you testify against them or at least help with the investigation? With the meth, the grand theft is probably small beans, so they may not even ask.
    via u/haemaker
  • 22
    I would have guessed that they used a scanner while I was at the fair a few weeks ago. Someone may have used a scanner then sold the number on the internet. Always beep your card, never swipe.
    via u/haemaker
  • 23
    Cfwydirk • 10h ago You need a lawyer? No. For criminal charges, the city or county prosecuting attorney does that on the taxpayers money.
    via u/Cfwydirk
  • 24
    Lay-ZFair 10h ago With luck like that you might want to try Vegas or some other gambling venue. Also you did a public service shutting those guys down.
    via u/Lay-ZFair
  • 25
    POLICE WHEELING WEST VIRGINIA
    via Rosemary Ketchum

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scammer justice satisfying credit card revenge petty revenge petty arrested fraud justice served reddit thread Reddit payback karma police internet slueth investigate
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