Morgan Tanabe reports:
Glendale police arrested a credit card company worker and her boyfriend suspected of identity theft and the use of a stolen credit card, according to a court document.
Las Vegas resident Amanda Shepherd, who works as a customer service representative at Citi Cards, was arrested Tuesday. George Nelson was arrested on Sept. 2.
The court filing said Nelson used a stolen credit card to purchase $14,725 in merchandise from multiple stores in Glendale and around the Valley over a two-day period in August and September. Some of the items included an Apple iPad 2 from a Walmart and a $6,820 diamond ring from Zales at Paradise Valley Mall, the filing said.
The first time the credit card was denied, at a store in Metrocenter Mall, Nelson called Shepherd at work where she unblocked the account and Nelson was again able to use the credit card, the filing said.
[…]
They also found a notebook with a list of people’s personal information, the document said.
At Nelson’s apartment, police found another notebook of people’s names, date of birth, social security numbers and other personal information, the filing said.
Read more on AZcentral.com.
But where did all that stolen information come from? How much of the data were acquired from Citi Cards customers, and what other sources were there? And if the data were stolen from Citi, did Citi detect the improper access or did they only find out because of the arrest?
It would be nice to have a clear statement about this and some statement as to how many customers’ data were actually stolen. Jailbase.com indicates that Shepherd was charged with drug offenses; there is no mention of any identity theft charges in her case, although Nelson was charged with fraud-related charges.
Several requests to the Glendale Police Department for additional clarification have not been answered. I will update this entry if they provide the requested information.