Woman's arrest leads to 61 credit card numbers
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BY LORI PILGER / Lincoln Journal Star
Police made an interesting and potentially frightening discovery this week when they arrested a 20-year-old woman accused of forging checks and using other people’s credit card information.
Theresa Coleman had two pages of printed out credit card information from people who used them at a Kwik Shop in Lincoln, according to Investigator Nate Flood.
The list had 61 credit card numbers, the names of the account holders and expiration dates — all the information people need to use them illegally.
This week, police waited outside a house where Coleman was staying at 307 E St. and watched as she allegedly paid for pizza delivery with one of the credit card numbers from the list belonging to a Lincoln woman.
Flood said they found Coleman, hiding in a basement bedroom. According to court records, police allegedly found blank personal checks in her purse that weren’t hers.
Prosecutors charged her Tuesday with unauthorized use of a financial transaction device (at a value of $1,500 or more).
On Wednesday, they added a charge of criminal possession of a financial transaction device. Both are felonies.
Officer Katherine Finnell said they believe the list originated at a Lincoln Kwik Shop and contained a listing of credit card transactions at the store. Coleman allegedly got them from a friend of a friend, who works there, Finnell said.
Coleman is accused of using those names and account numbers four times, for things like Internet purchases and hotel rooms.
Kwik Shop declined to comment about the procedures the convenience stores take in handling credit card information.
But Jim Otto, president of the Nebraska Retail Federation in Lincoln, said it’s a surprise to him why any business would print out that information. Most don’t, he said.
Otto said it’s more likely someone figured out how to do it.
“That’s my inclination,” he said.
When people pay by credit card, whether at a convenience store or many other retailers, the merchant keeps the information electronically until the end of the day when it’s processed, Otto said.
The magnetic strip on a credit card contains all the information needed to use it, including its expiration date, he said.
Otto said that’s not to say you’re safer writing a check, which has personal and account information right on it. If there are dishonest people out there, they’ll find a way to get it, he said.
Flood, who is investigating the case, said he continues to look into where the list came from and if there are more like it, which they believe there may be.
He said police are also looking into why the list was generated in the first place, whether as a part of the business’ usual practice or not.
“We’re still looking at that,” Flood said.
He said Kwik Shop has cooperated with the investigation, but referred questions about the store’s business practices to them.
A call to the Lincoln Kwik Shop management office led to the Omaha office and then the corporate office in Hutchinson, Kan.
Pat Edwards an administrative assistant for Kwik Shop Inc., said she couldn’t answer questions about the chain’s protocol for handing credit card information.
“I can make no comment,” she said.
In the meantime, Flood advised credit card users to keep an eye on check credit card statements and bank accounts for unauthorized transactions and to run a free credit report periodically to make sure no one is opening up a credit card in their name.
Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.
What to do
Lincoln police advised credit card users to take a couple basic steps to guard against becoming a victim. Watch credit card statements and bank accounts for any unauthorized transactions and periodically run a free credit report to make sure no one is opening a new line of credit in their name.
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