Five sentenced for committing credit card fraud
Five residents of Tampa, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess counterfeit and unauthorized access devices in March 2018. Jose Valdes, Jairo Castro, Yanetsi Sanchez, Arnado Salazar and Dianey Quintero were sentenced Thursday to a range of 37 months to 46 months in federal prison. According to their guilty pleas, they were responsible for mailing a package containing 227 blank credit cards from Tampa, to a Florence, Kentucky, motel. Due to suspicious markings on the package, law enforcement searched the package. Officials tracked the package to the motel, and found the defendants in three vehicles located nearby. Investigators found the suspects also had 2,000 stolen account numbers and skimmers. They were all arrested before they could unlawfully use the credit cards in the package. [Source: Fox19 Now]
Retailer nixes first employee-based delivery pilot, tries another
Walmart is back to the drawing board with its experiment to have store employees deliver packages for customers’ online orders on their way home from work, the retailer confirmed to Retail Dive on Monday. “There are many different ways we can deliver items to our customer’s door. We’re testing different ways we can do that, from expanding delivery to using the third-party providers to potentially using our own associates,” a Walmart spokesperson told Retail Dive in an email. “The first associate delivery pilot ended early this year, and we’ve taken what we learned to develop a very different version of associate delivery that provides an improved experience for our customers and associates. The pilot has been running in one store in Georgia for the last few months and we’re encouraged by what we’re seeing.”
The biggest stumbling block was getting employees to volunteer for the job, despite added incentives, because most were leery of using their own vehicles and personal insurance policies, according to a Reuters report.Walmart is back to the drawing board with its experiment to have store employees deliver packages for customers’ online orders on their way home from work, the retailer confirmed to Retail Dive on Monday.
“There are many different ways we can deliver items to our customer’s door. We’re testing different ways we can do that, from expanding delivery to using the third-party providers to potentially using our own associates,” a Walmart spokesperson told Retail Dive in an email. “The first associate delivery pilot ended early this year, and we’ve taken what we learned to develop a very different version of associate delivery that provides an improved experience for our customers and associates. The pilot has been running in one store in Georgia for the last few months and we’re encouraged by what we’re seeing.” The biggest stumbling block was getting employees to volunteer for the job, despite added incentives, because most were leery of using their own vehicles and personal insurance policies, according to a Reuters report. [Source: RetailDIVE]
Grocery fight ended with arrest of man wanted for burglary, mail theft
Police in Bellingham, Washington, arrested a transient 37-year-old Bellingham man Wednesday after he reportedly assaulted two store loss prevention associates at the Sehome Village Haggen Food in what Lt. Danette Beckley said is a “culmination of a number of cases.” Travis Wayne Strait was booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of third-degree theft, possession of a controlled substance, residential burglary, fourth-degree assault, second-degree criminal trespassing, second-degree robbery, tampering with physical evidence, first-degree trafficking and second-degree theft.
Beckley said Strait already was “a suspect in a daytime burglary, some mail thefts and trafficking stolen property based on investigations.” Once probable cause was developed on those cases, Beckley said, Strait was supposed to turn himself in, but he did not. Wednesday afternoon, he reportedly stole some food from the Haggen Food store. Beckley said he was contacted by loss prevention, but engaged in a fight to avoid being detained. One LP associate suffered cuts to their hands and elbows, while the other was allegedly elbowed in the face by Strait and suffered redness and swelling. Strait managed to get away, Beckley said, but was later located and arrested by the Neighborhood Anti-Crime Team, which found he had what they suspect to be heroin in his possession. [Source: The Bellingham Herald]
Three arrested for skimming fraud scheme
Three men in Austin, Texas, have been arrested on charges they used electronic devices known as skimmers on pumps at an East Texas gas station to obtain customers’ credit card information so they could steal from ATMs and make fraudulent card purchases. The three suspects, 38-year-old Yoerlan Corrales, 33-year-old Felipe Perez and 27-year-old Dairon Roja, are each charged with two counts of unlawful use of electronic communications. Roja also is charged with evading arrest for attempting to flee as Tyler police responded to an alert that men had returned Friday to the gas station to retrieve their skimming devices. The devices had been detected earlier and removed by authorities. Tyler police say all have lengthy criminal histories. Corrales and Perez are jailed on $1.5 million bond. Roja’s bond is $2.5 million. [Source: US News]
Retailer plans ‘express’ shops in over 100 stores
RadioShack on Thursday said that it would roll out its new store-within-a-store concept to more than 100 HobbyTown stores, which are largely in suburban markets. The electronics retailer last week announced a partnership with initial plans to place RadioShack concessions in 60 HobbyTown franchise store locations nationwide, according to a company press release.
In January, RadioShack exited a second bankruptcy in two years, with its brick-and-mortar footprint severely diminished. This new relationship harkens back to a previous RadioShack strength. The retailer was a favorite of hobbyists who built their own computers from scratch, though many of their supplies are now obtained through online companies. Thirty-three-year-old HobbyTown has one of the largest fleets of hobby and toy retail stores in the U.S., with a growing emphasis on specialty toys and STEM products. “We are excited about the HobbyTown partnership, as it will allow us to re-engage and directly serve our core hobby and DIY communities,” Steve Moroneso, CEO of RadioShack owner General Wireless Operations, said in the press release. [Source: RetailDIVE]