And so the credit card data thieves return in full force: a number of employees at Saks Fifth Ave's flagship store have been accused of stealing customers' credit card data to purchase $400,000 worth of luxury items.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan, six employees were arrested on Friday after authorities found they'd been swiping data from the store's computers. They allegedly used the data to purchase shoes, bags and other merchandise from the store—according to the complaint, when cops arrested alleged ringleader Tamara Williams, 36, at her home in Queens on Friday, they found "over one hundred boxes of shoes," along with "as many boxes of handbags and other merchandise, some of which was packaged in containers bearing the logo and/or tags of Saks 5th Avenue."
Prosecutors believe that starting in June, Williams tasked other staff members—specifically Kris Rockson, 45; Jason Chance, 25; Michael Knight-Williams, 44; Michael Bright-Asante, 39, and Alaia Harrison, 20—with making the purchases using the stolen credit card information, then "return the items to her at designated meeting places in Queens County."
The defendants also allegedly used the stolen credit card information to make returns, with the money getting credited back to cards in different names from the victims. Surveillance video from some of the fraudulent transactions showed that "no physical credit card was present and the credit card number was typed in by the Target Sales Associate who processed the transaction. In some of those instances no customer was present at the checkout counter during the purchase," according to the complaint.
The suspects have all been charged with grand larceny and identify theft. A spokesperson from Saks Fifth Avenue provided us with the following statement:
Five Saks Associates were arrested in association with credit card fraud. This investigation is contained to 6 individuals using stolen credit cards. This was an isolated incident, involving several retailers, and there was no compromise to the security or privacy of Saks Fifth Avenue Customers. Saks is currently cooperating fully with authorities handling this matter and we cannot comment any further.
