Stolen TJ Maxx Identities Used at Florida WalMarts
Although clearly only part of the story, USA Today reports on a modern day money laundering scheme following some of the data stolen from TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx and other discount clothing stores. The newspaper’s story follows Irving Escobar crisscrossing Florida using counterfeit credit cards to buy stacks of $400 Wal-Mart gift cards, then using them to purchase televisions, computers, and jewelry from Wal-Mart and Sam’s Clubs stores.
Like many corporations that maintain customer’s records, TJX was the victim of identity theft, losing credit card data for over 45 million customers since 2005. Customer data was then used to counterfeit credit cards using a false name on the front, while the data strip on the back contained all the data needed to charge the cards.
Escobar hired several “employees” to use the bogus cards to buy gift cards and use the cards at different stores around Florida. On one day, three members of the group went to two Wal-Marts in Gainesville. They went to more than 30 checkout counters and purchased $42,000 in gift cards. A week later, Bank of America informed Marsha Carney that her Visa card number was used to buy the gift cards in 60 different transactions.
According to USA Today, for the most part, consumers have not been liable for the bogus TJX charges.