Cops: Atlantans arrested using info stolen in major corporate security breach | Crime
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Cops: Atlantans arrested using info stolen in major corporate security breach
(ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE) -- Twelve metro Atlanta residents were arrested in Boise, Idaho, after attempting to buy high-dollar gift cards with “credit card numbers stolen in one of the major corporate security breaches,” according to police.
Detectives believe the suspects traveled to Boise from Georgia to commit the crime, then planned to sell the gift cards and pocket the cash.
Arrested are:
Jonathan Kennard Penn, 20, Suwanee
Charles Ontavious Moore, 25, Stone Mountain
Dwight Keith Richardson, 27, Lawrenceville
Brian Patrick Treadwell, 25, Buford
Rakeen Robert Anderson, 31, Atlanta
Terrance Barimah, 26, Lawrenceville
Rashine Ronald Kale, 38, Lawrenceville
Ryan Ramone Smith, 23, Lawrenceville
Mikki Ashley Williams, 24, Atlanta
Jean Sebastian Estinville, 26, Lawrenceville
Steven Matthew Medy, 24, Lawrenceville
Elijah Jamal Lambert, 24, Buford
All are charged with burglary, according to a press release issued by the Boise Police Department.
Police said they were alerted Sunday to suspicious activity at several Boise-area retail stores. Store employees called police after a group of people came into the stores and tried using a number of different credit cards to purchase high value gift cards.
According to police:
Witnesses gave officers descriptions of two vehicles the gift card purchasers were driving. Officers found they were rental cars and soon located the vehicles at local motels. On Monday, several of the suspects went to another local retailer and attempted more fraudulent gift card purchases. Officers were able to track the group’s activities and soon arrived at the store to take the suspects into custody. Officers found another group of the suspects as they arrived at the Boise Airport trying to fly out of town. Other suspects were taken into custody at or near the motels.
Some of the credit accounts failed to go through, but the group was able to obtain more than $15,000 in gift cards before officers located and arrested them.
During their investigation, officers found evidence the accounts being used by the suspects are tied to one or more of the security breaches recently reported by several large corporations. Exactly how the suspects obtained the stolen account information is still under investigation.
