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A California woman was arrested in Canton for allegedly using stolen credit cards to buy gift cards at stores across Metro Detroit. Police say her scheme may total millions nationwide. #RetailCrime #IdentityTheft #Fraud #CreditCardScam #OnlineShopping
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0:00
All right, new at six. A serial fraud
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suspect arrested in connection with an
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elaborate scheme involving stolen credit
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cards. Police alleged she hit nearly a
0:09
dozen stores across Metro Detroit and
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her fraudulent purchases nationwide may
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reach into the millions.
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Her arrest in Canton caught on camera.
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It was part of an organized retail crime
0:21
blitz with the help of Michigan State
0:23
Police and the Attorney General's
0:25
office. 7 News Detroit reporter Randy
0:27
Wimbley is speaking with investigators
0:29
about how they caught on to this case.
0:33
Put your hands up.
0:34
Baju Hayes alleged retail crime road
0:36
trip across the country came to a
0:38
screeching halt in Metro Detroit.
0:40
What's your name?
0:41
Bash.
0:42
Canton police arrested the California
0:43
woman last Wednesday, alleging she hit
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nearly a dozen stores buying upwards of
0:48
$10,000 worth of gift cards with stolen
0:52
credit card information. In this case
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particularly, we know that there was a
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fraudulent lookalike website for a
0:59
brandame designer that our victim went
1:01
to to purchase uh some jewelry for his
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his girlfriend. That website was not
1:06
legitimate and that's how his card was
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stolen.
1:09
Lieutenant Michael Andy says Baju
1:10
purchased dozens of gift cards at selfch
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checkckout kiosks from stores like
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Sephora, Target, and Lowe's. He says the
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cards would be resold or used to buy
1:19
high-end electronics to sell overseas or
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right here in the states. Kenton PD
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believes Baju drove here from California
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and is part of a larger organized retail
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crime outfit. Authorities caught up with
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her at this Home Depot and detectives
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say they trailed her to stores in Van
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Beerren Township, Ipsilani and Arbor and
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Pittsfield and Scio Townships where she
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allegedly used stolen credit card
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information to buy those gift cards. We
1:45
believe she does this every day and it's
1:46
just her full-time job. So, we're
1:48
looking at probably in the millions
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throughout uh the nation.
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Oakland University business professor
1:53
Michael Grryer says these sorts of
1:55
crimes cost businesses and credit card
1:57
companies billions of dollars and
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consumers pay for it too with higher
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prices for products and higher interest
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rates.
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There are these chargebacks.
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Essentially, retailers come to them and
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say, "Look, you know, we had this uh
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credit card charge come to us and it
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turns out that it's fraudulent, so you
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need to give us the money back." And so,
2:15
the credit card companies have to do
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that. And that gets baked into again the
2:19
interest rates that all of us are
2:20
paying.
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So, how can you protect your wallet?
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Yeah. The biggest thing is when you're
2:23
doing online shopping is to check at the
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URL to make sure that it's at like a.com
2:28
address and that the brand name is
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spelled correctly.
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If I have any like big purchases on my
2:33
credit cards, it'll actually notify me.
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So, I kind of use that and uh I just
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keep an eye on my accounts.
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On top of that, Bart Devos avoids
2:42
clicking on ads offering deep discounts
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that seem too good to be true. Baja is
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facing 17 counts of identity theft.
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She's being held in the Wayne County
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jail on a $50,000 cash bond. Randy
2:54
Wimbley, 7 News Detroit.
2:55
All right, thank you so much, Randy.
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Now, the Canton Police Department wants
2:59
everyone to stay safe when shopping
3:01
online, especially as we head into the
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holidays. So, make sure again you verify
3:05
web addresses before you make that
3:07
purchase. Do not click on links from
3:10
unsolicited text messages or emails. And
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never provide your personal information
3:15
to unverified sources. bike. Good.
#Crime & Justice
#Law Enforcement
#Local News