The San Bernardino
County -Big Bear Sheriff as recent as Tuesday March 21, 2017, has received numerous
calls for service, reporting unauthorized and fraudulent use of credit /debit cards. Local Sheriff Deputies are working diligently
with the Big Bear Detective Bureau in an ongoing investigation to identify the
source of the fraud. It is believed a
skimming device is being used to capture credit and debit card information from
unsuspecting victims. The unidentified
suspects are then using victim information to fraudulently withdraw money from
bank accounts and to make online charges.
Skimmers are malicious card readers that record data from
the magnetic strip on a credit or bank card.
They can be attached to legitimate payment terminals or used wirelessly
to gather data from credit card swipes.
Criminals then use the stolen data to make fraudulent charges either
online or with a counterfeit credit card.
Victims of card skimming are often unaware of the theft
until they receive a billing statement or overdraft notice from the bank. It is important for consumers to monitor
checking and credit card accounts online at least weekly and to immediately
notify the bank or credit card issuer of suspicious activity.
Fraud alerts can be
placed on individual credit reports by contacting TransUnion, Experian, or
Equifax. According to the Federal Trade
Commission, a consumer can request any one of these three national credit
reporting companies to put a fraud alert on their credit report and they must
notify the other two companies.
An initial fraud alert
lasts 90 days
and can be renewed at its expiration.
Contact information for credit reporting companies is listed below:
TransUnion
– (800) 680-7289
Experian –
(888) 397-3742
Equifax –
(888) 766-0008
REPORT: Credit/Debit Card Victims are also urged to
report skimming incidents to their local law enforcement agency. To report Fraud Incidents contact the San Bernardino County -Big Bear Sheriff at
(909) 866-0100.