ABOUT $16,000 worth of goods were bought using a stolen credit card during a recent spate of thefts in Casey.
The rise in credit card thefts from vehicles has prompted detectives to issue a warning to residents to hide their valuables and lock their cars.
Detective Acting Sergeant Kieran Rodgers, who runs TOMCAT, the Theft of Motor Car Action Team, at the Casey Crime Investigation Unit said with the advent of Tap and Go or Wave and Go technology, stolen credits can be used easily and frequently before the card is reported stolen.
“For any transaction under $100, the person only has to tap the card on the machine and there is no requirement for a PIN or signature allowing these offenders to spend a large amount in a relatively short space of time,” Sen Sgt Rodgers said.
“Because the vast majority of these offences happen at night, quite often the cards are not discovered missing until the morning and it has already been used a number of times before the victim can cancel the card.”
TOMCAT officers were recently involved in four investigations where credit cards were stolen from vehicles and used before the victim realised they were missing.
Sen Sgt Rodgers said that in the most recent investigation, a 25-year-old woman, 21-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man from Cranbourne were all charged by police in relation to the theft of a credit card from an unlocked vehicle in Cranbourne.
The credit card was used to purchase about $16,000 worth of goods before the card was discovered missing.
Sen Sgt Rodgers said TOMCAT was also investigating the theft of several credit cards in the Cranbourne area which were then used at retail outlets from Cranbourne through to Noble Park.
Police have released CCTV footage of a group of young men they wish to speak to about these thefts.
Sen Sgt Rodgers urged retailers to be vigilant and consider the person and the age of the person presenting the card.
“A concern is the age of some of the offenders committing these types of crimes.”
In another investigation CCTV images have captured a group of three males aged 15 using a stolen credit card at a number of retail outlets in the City of Casey,” he said.
“We are asking the people who are working at these retail outlets to be vigilant and to consider carefully the person presenting the card.
“For example, it would be uncommon for a 15-year-old to have access to a credit card.
“Further to that, if, for example, a female produces a credit card in the name of a male, alarm bells should be ringing straight away.
“If retail assistants have any concerns they should call triple zero straight away.”
