21 People Arrested In car2go Fraud Incident That Caused App To Temporarily Suspend Its Service In Chicago
Chicago (CBS) --Chicago police said 21 people have been arrested and charged, including one who has been charged with identity theft, in relation to a fraud issue reported by the short-term car rental company car2go earlier this week.
RELATED car2go Temporarily Suspends Service In Chicago Due To Fraud Issue
Angelo Patterson, 19, of Chicago, was charged with felony counts of counterfeiting and altering a credit or debit card as well as aggravated identity theft of a victim older than 60 years old.
He was also charged with misdemeanor counts of driving on a suspended license, resisting or obstruction of a police officer, and criminal trespass to vehicles.
Patterson was the only offender charged with felony counts, police said. The other 20 offenders were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass to vehicles and other Illinois vehicle code charges.
CBS 2's Brad Edwards tweeted Wednesday afternoon that the car2go app had been hacked and that as many as 100 Mercedes or high-end cars were either missing or stolen.
Breaking: "Car 2 Go" app "hacked" in Chicago. As many as 100 Mercedes / high-end cars missing / stolen. Many being used to commit crimes. > 12 people in custody so far. Per sources. Developing. @cbschicago
— Brad Edwards (@tvbrad) April 17, 2019
car2go temporarily paused its service in Chicago Wednesday. As of Friday morning, it had not returned.
However, car2go insisted they were not hacked and that no member's personal or confidential information was compromised.
Clarification: We were not hacked. This is an instance of fraud, isolated to Chicago, and we are currently working with law enforcement. None of our member's personal or confidential information has been compromised. No other SHARE NOW North American market has been affected.
— car2go joins SHARE NOW (@car2go) April 17, 2019
A spokesperson for car2go said, "Out of an abundance of caution and safety for our members we are temporarily pausing our Chicago service."
Chicago police said all car2go vehicles have been recovered.