Skimmers Found on Area ATMs

Authorities believe the identity-theft devices were identified and removed quickly.

ATM skimmers ― illicit devices that blend into a cash machine's card slot, then record bank card info for later retrieval by a thief ― were found on two bank ATMs in Montgomery County earlier this month. PhillyBurbs.com reports that the devices were found on Jan. 5 and 6 on the ATMs of Wells Fargo branches on Skippack Pike in Whitpain and Whitemarsh townships. Authorities believe that the devices were discovered quickly and that no customer accounts were compromised. Other skimmers have recently been found on ATMs in Bucks County and in Medford, NJ. Security expert Brian Krebs told KYW Newsradio that ATM skimmers are growing increasingly sophisticated and difficult to spot. One way to defend yourself, Krebs said, is to shield your PIN …

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PECO Warns of Debit Card Scam

Customers purchase pre-paid debit cards that are then drained by fraudsters, the company said.

A scam in which PECO customers are misled into purchasing pre-paid debit cards which are then drained of funds is targeting the Philadelphia region, the electric and gas utility said Thursday. In the scam, customers are contacted by persons who claim to work for PECO and informed that they must make an immediate payment in order to avoid their electricity being shut off. The phony employee then instructs the customer to purchase a pre-paid debit card from a convenience store or similar location, then to provide that card's number. The fraud operators then drain the funds on the card. “We want to make our customers aware of this scam so they can protect themselves from becoming victims of this and other fraudulent activities,” said Mark …

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Beware of Water-Damaged Used Cars in Sandy's Wake

If you're in the market for a used car, make sure it's not one of the thousands of vehicles damaged during Superstorm Sandy .

The National Insurance Crime Bureau and Amica Insurance warn against inadvertantly purchasing vehicles that were declared total losses as a result of Superstorm Sandy. Amica Insurance released a press release last week, offering tips to help consumers identify and avoid water-damaged cars, which were declared a loss by insurance, then potentially fraudulently resold to new buyers. "Salvage operators and dealers may try to conceal the fact that a car has been damaged," said Shannon O'Brien, an Amica Insurance assistant vice president, "leaving potential buyers as potential victims of a bad deal." The NCIB offers VINCheck, a free consumer protection service to help potential car buyers identify cars which may have sustained flood or other …

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Third Man Arrested in Target Theft Ring

An Allentown man was added to the list of defendants in 'Operation Hard Target' – a sophisticated theft ring that allegedly defrauded Target stores throughout Pennsylvania of more than $20,000.

Chance Cameron, of Allentown, was the third man arrested for his alleged involvement in a sophisticated theft ring, in which suspects are accused of affixing lower-priced UPC labels to higher-priced products to defraud Target stores and selling the products online for profit, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's office. Cameron's arrest was announced when one of the other defendants in "Operation Hard Target," Eugene Joseph Romano of Center Valley, Pa., appeared in a Montgomery County court room last week.   According to a complaint filed in District Court 38-1-03, Romano 34, and Cameron, 35, have been charged along with Damian Gasdaska of Phillipsburg, NJ, with committing 46 individual retail thefts at Target Stores in …

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[Video Update] 22 Charged in $2.4M Defrauding of Comcast

Montgomery County District Attorney Ferman says ringleaders lived lavish lifestyles.

[This article was updated at 5:05 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 7] Five people have been arrested and warrants issued for 17 others in an elaborate scheme to defraud Comcast of more than $2.4 million between April 2011 and April 2012, the Montgomery County District Attorney's office said Tuesday. The district attorney's office said Alston Buchanan, 28; Leighton Harrell, 26; Kendall Singleton, 26; and Richard Justin Spraggins, 29, all of Philadelphia; and Nicholas Caputo, 31, of Virginia Beach, Va., were "top members of an elaborate criminal organization" that led Comcast customers to make one-time payments to them in exchange for a one-time reduction in their Comcast service bills. "This is a corrupt organization involving a number of individuals …

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PECO Warns of Utility Scam

President Obama is not providing funding to help pay your electric or gas bill.

  A scam intended to deceive people into providing their social security numbers, banking details, and other personal information by misleading them to believe that the government will help pay their utility bills has appeared in the greater Philadelphia region, PECO said last week. The scam, which has been reportedly taking place through social media such as Facebook, text messages, telephone, and U.S. Mail, claims that United States President Barack Obama is providing funding to help customers pay their utility bills. “We want to make our customers aware of this scam and any potential issues so they can protect themselves from becoming victims of identity theft and other fraudulent activities,” said Mark Alden, PECO vice president of …

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Whitpain Police Looking for Man Who Made Fraudulent Purchases

If anyone knows the identity of the man in these images, please contact Whitpain Township Police.

From Whitpain Township Police Department: On May 15, 2012 the and unknown male made fraudulent credit card transactions at the CVS store 929 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell and the Wawa, 1015 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell totaling over $900.  The victim lives in New Jersey and it is unclear how her information got out. If anyone knows the identity of this subject please contact the Whitpain Township Police at 610-279-9033, refer to case number 20120520035.

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Employee at Fort Washington's AmeriHealth Charged in $190,000 Counterfeit-Check Ring

Kenneth C. Osborne Jr., a customer service representative, has been charged with bank fraud, identity theft, and other charges.

A man working as a customer service representative at AmeriHealth Administrators Inc. in Fort Washington has been arrested and charged for his involvement in a counterfeit-check ring, the CourierPostOnline reports. According to the article, federal authorities reported that they uncovered a counterfeit check ring in the Philadelphia region that stole nearly $190,000 from TD Bank customer accounts. Kenneth C. Osborne Jr., who works at AmeriHealth but lives in Philadelphia, apparently stole personal information from his customers. "He allegedly passed the data to [Sheldon Hylton, 22], who obtained counterfeit checks printed with the names, addresses, and account numbers of TD Bank customers," the article states. The article says that Osborne…

FBI Warns of Latest Internet Scams

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center has issued a report detailing the latest scams circulating on the internet.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has released a report on the latest scams and frauds circulating on the internet. The report is based on information from law enforcement and complaints submitted to the IC3 and details recent cyber crime trends and new twists to previously-existing cyber scams. Users are cautioned to be wary of anyone contacting them under these or similar circumstances. According to the IC3, distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) attacks in general are on the rise. One reason may be due to the availability of software tools like LOIC, Slow Loris and BE botnet, which allow anybody to participate in a distributed attack. Gaming sites in particular have come under attack by …

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