JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Friday night three North Carolina men are in jail after getting busted for stealing the identity and credit card information of at least one Jacksonville man.
The arrests were made today at the Aloft hotel on the Northside. Jacksonville police and Secret Service agents were following up on a lead about an identity theft case.
Police said they caught the men red handed in their hotel room with computers and credit card skimming equipment.
The men, who are all in their 20s, are all from Charlotte, North Carolina, and were staying at the hotel.
According to an officer at the scene, one of the men bought tires at a nearby Goodyear, using a stolen credit card. The cardholder saw the charge on his statement and called Goodyear to ask about it.
"Goodyear was like $356. Then Winn-Dixie was around $290, and then another Winn-Dixie was around $200. And then Publix was around $246," the victim, who wanted to remain anonymous, said.
Nearly $1,100 was taken while the victim was working from home on Thursday afternoon.
"VyStar called me Thursday about 5 p.m. and said someone was going on a spending spree on my credit card," the victim said.
The victim didn't know it yet but his desire to catch the thieves would lead investigators to an even larger identity theft ring.
The victim then called the Goodyear where his card was used and was told that the men who used his card information would be back in the morning.
The Goodyear worker who spoke to the ID theft victim said he was very happy he could help the police catch the thieves.
"I got up at 5:45 a.m. with a friend of mine to go there and try to catch these people," the victim said.
The thieves didn't show up but the manager recalled that they were staying at the Aloft hotel nearby.
"They said they were checked into room 308 so we went up there and surprise knocked on the door and two of them open the door and let him in," the victim said. "[They had stuff everywhere]. The laptop with the skimmer attached to it, stacks of credit cards, gift cards and duffel bags with clothing just all over them."
For the next few hours investigators pulled out bags of evidence and arrested the three men involved.
"I'm just glad we got all three of them," the victim said. "I'm just happy we got them off the street."
News4Jax Crime and safety analyst Gil Smith has some tips on how to avoid getting in a similar situation.
Be sure to shake the cred card machine before your swipe. (If it's a skimmer it will shake and be easily removed), and check your bank account statement online every two weeks checking for specific items, not just the total balance.