iPhone Shipment Clues Milton Man in to Credit Card Fraud

A Glaston Way resident had to cancel all of his credit card accounts and have new cards issued after several cases of identity fraud, according to a Milton police incident report.

First, the man received an email on July 7 from Best Buy, thanking him for his purchase. But he hadn't bought anything. A call to the store revealed his credit limit had been raised on June 21, and four fraudulent purchases had been made on his Best Buy card.

Purchases totaling $3,703 were made in Columbia, Rockville and Wheaton, MD, and at Pentagon City, VA, on July 4 and 5.

On July 9 Milton resident received three iPhones from Verizon delivered to his home that he hadn't ordered. He cancelled the Verizon account and then returned the phones to the wireless company's North Point Parkway store.

Once there, the store manager said the order was made with an American Express card, but the identity fraud victim doesn't even have that type of credit card. A call to American Express revealed that the company doesn't have an account created with his Social Security number, either.

Past Due Texas Utility Account Surprises Milton Resident

Imagine the surprise for a Milton woman when she got a call from a collection agency about a past due utility account in Houston, TX.

The victim said the collection agency told her on July 10 that she owed $758 to Reliant Energy. After that phone conversation, she realized she was the victim of identity fraud. A check of her credit card account showed an inquiry from Reliant in April 2011.

The Milton woman believes she might have left some personal documents behind at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta in April 2011 where she made several visits with her son.

She reported the credit card fraud to Milton police on July 12 to be able to dispute the charges to her account, and put a freeze on her credit with all the credit reporting agencies.

Milton Woman Wasn't Using Dating Service

A Milton woman checking her credit card statement found two fraudulent payments to what she discovered was an online dating service.

Someone who said she was from Alpharetta had used her credit card in March and June to post on the online dating service.

For questions about this blotter, email Bob Pepalis.