Sheriff's office warns about increase in card cracking cases

Law enforcement agencies across the country, including Richmond County, are seeing an increase in cases involving crimes called card or check cracking.

Richmond County Investigator Kevin Link said the cases usually involve online ads that promise easy and fast money, but have seen cases of people being approached in person. The scammer requests account information from the targets in exchange for some kind of monetary amount.

Once the account information is obtained, the scammer deposits counterfeit or stolen checks into people’s account, then remove the funds before the bank is able to discover the check is counterfeit or stolen, which overdraws the targets account. The transactions are usually done on the same day the account information was obtained.

“The targets on these cases are usually young people, single parents," Link said. "They generally see these ads out through social media. It’s something that has been going on over the years, but we have started seeing a recent increase here in the Augusta area.”

Financial Crimes Sgt. Steve Fanning, who has been in the sheriff’s office for over two years, said when he first started, there were three to four cases a week, but now has grown to around 10 cases a week and 30 to 40 a month.

Since January 2016, there has been $6 million in actual monetary loss and over 26,000 card cracking cases nationwide, Link said. The majority of the ads are on social media sites and target young people and single-parents.

“In some of the cases I’ve had, I’ve talked to some of these targets and they say that when they call the number, the person on the other end just makes it sound like it’s legit,” Link said. “Usually by the time they see the money in their account, it is too late because they’ve already withdrawn the funds.”

The sheriff’s office encourages people to report these ads to social media sites. People shouldn't share their account information or pin number or file false claims with their bank, which targets are usually instructed to do by scammers once they've obtained the account information.

“Do not file a false claim with your bank because these banks are becoming more acclimated to this type of cases and they do investigate them,” Link said. “If they see this is a card cracking case, then they don’t reimburse the money, usually. They usually hold the target accountable for the overdrawn.”

Fanning said the cases tend to involve several offenders. He also said they have seen more people breaking into cars attempting to steal account information. Fanning said those who have been targets need to be honest with law enforcement.

“ We can’t help you if you are not being honest with us," he said. "That is the main thing. Number two, they got to be honest with their banks.”

Fanning said targets can sometimes become offenders because they know something illegal is going on, especially if they are willingly giving out their account information.

“ These people that are willingly given their account information to other people for the purpose of them depositing money into their account, at the minimum, are risking being liable for the full reimbursement of that money, if not, risking jail time,” Fanning said. “This is something they need to be cautious about. They need to be educated about it because it’s happening and it is going to continue to happen.”

• Don't give out your account information to anyone
• Monitor your children's account
• Report ads online to social media sites
• If it's too good to be true, it's probably not legal

Tips to avoid getting scammed