Woman Gets Lengthy Prison Sentence For Fraud Scam On Colorado Banks
EAGLE, Colo. (CBS4) - A woman accused in a series of bank thefts using a credit card fraud scam across western Colorado has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.
According to Assistant District Attorney Heidi McCollum with the 5th Judicial District, Cynthia Johnson, 53, stole the identities of two women and used the identities to commit the crimes.
"Johnson, along with accomplices, stole over $37,000 from Alpine Bank in 15 separate heists across western Colorado in September and October of 2015. Seven of those heists successfully yielded cash for Johnson and her accomplices," McCollum said in a statement.
Johnson was arrested under one of the victim's names last October in Frisco "after a failed attempt to take a cash advance of nearly $5,000 from Alpine Bank using a fake credit card under a false name."
According to McCollum, Johnson would attempt to make a cash withdrawal using a fraudulent credit card and identification card.
"When the transaction was declined, Johnson, in combination with an accomplice on the phone posing as a credit card customer service representative, would con the teller by giving a false authorization code to 'force' the transaction, thus completing the cash withdrawal."
Johnson had previously served a prison sentence in California for the same type of scam she used on car dealerships.