Suspect Duplicates Victim's Credit Card, Goes On Spending Spree

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Police are hoping some new surveillance video will lead to an arrest in a credit card scam.

A guy has been going around using a card with stolen information, and so far, he's been able to get away with it.

Police are hoping the public can help identify the suspect who was caught on tape.

It isn't a stolen credit card he's using at a Rite Aid in Elizabeth. Police say somehow he was able to make a duplicate of someone else's card, swiping it at the checkout in at least six stores. But the victim says the card was never physically stolen.

"That's what's baffling us right now, is the fact that the card was never given, nor lost or stolen by the victim at all," Elizabeth Borough Police Officer Bill Sombo said.

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Elizabeth Borough Police say they were notified by the victim in Delmont earlier this month. He said on Dec. 10, he was notified of a $3 charge at a Rite Aid in Pittsburgh on his PayPal business credit card. That started a 2-hour spree, racking up almost $600 in gift card purchases.

"He thought his wife was making a transaction at Rite Aid," Elizabeth Borough Police Officer Bill Sombo said. "And by the end of the day, when he finally gets communications with her, it's not her."

Surveillance video from a Giant Eagle shows the alleged suspect as a last fraudulent transaction is attempted and denied. Like in the Rite Aid video, he was wearing a black-hooded sweatshirt with the numbers 99 on the back. And police say in that shot, you can see he's accompanied by two others.

"Whenever he does not get the transaction he wants there, he just arbitrarily walks away and hooks up with the two individuals and they walk out the store together," Elizabeth Borough Police Officer Bill Sombo said.

As of Monday evening, police don't know how he got away. They do know that he used the same card at six stores all within two hours. Police are hoping someone recognizes him and will come forward.