Fox2 a local TV media channel (in Saint Louis area) has the story:
http://fox2now.com/2015/01/12/police-bust-credit-card-thieves-from-detroit/
Why do I bring this up in a cyber security blog?
Due to this little info blurb:
“Maryland Heights police searched the vehicle, and found fake Michigan drivers’ licenses, dozens of pre-paid MasterCard gift cards, and pricey electronics.”
and
“Fedak explains, “They were using stolen credit card information to re-code the gift cards to function as actual credit cards. So instead of working as a prepaid debit card for say, $25, they were able to use it as a regular credit card with whatever credit limit that card had.”
Credit card companies were none the wiser, when stolen cards belonging to St. Louis-ans were used at local Best Buys.”
Also it looks like there is some kind of connection to the Ukraine with these 3, either the credit cards were bought from the Ukraine or the 3 thieves were actually doing work for them.
So if one puts some clues together this small ring of thieves may have a connection to the Home Depot or Target credit card fraud operation.
they were trying to stay under the radar by going to the area of the stolen card numbers (since banks have checked for out of area purchases in the past)