Computer Scheme : 2 Charged in Credit Card Fraud Case

Two juveniles have been arrested in connection with a sophisticated computer and credit card scheme that Irvine police said stretched from the trash bins of Fashion Island shopping center to various East Coast distributing companies and back to Orange County.

A 17-year-old Irvine youth and a 15-year-old from Tustin were arrested Thursday and charged with grand theft and fraud, according to Sgt. Tom Hume. Both of the youths, who were not identified because of their ages, were released to their parents. A hearing on the charges is not expected before next month.

Based on information the teen-agers allegedly obtained through what computer users call an electronic bulletin board, the two, during the past eight weeks, went through trash bins behind Fashion Island in Newport Beach and elsewhere in the area in search of credit card carbons, Hume said. Then, using computers to match card numbers with the names and addresses of about 24 cardholders, they were able to place orders for merchandise, he said.

Hume said the boys ordered $3,000 worth of goods through toll-free telephone numbers--which are not recorded on telephone bills--and had the merchandise sent to vacant houses in Irvine and Tustin.

Most of the goods, which included Sony Walkmans and Watchmans, Panasonic telephones and various computer and stereo accessories, came from catalogue houses on the East Coast, police said, but companies such as the Computer Bank of Huntington Beach and Pacific Bell were also targets of the scheme. Once, the two youths stopped by a Best Co. to pick up a catalogue from which to order, Hume said.

Because of similar schemes around the country, some credit card companies now produce forms in which the carbon is manufactured as backing to front sheets, so that separate carbons are unnecessary. Other companies and retail outlets urge shoppers to destroy carbon copies when they are used.

In addition, if an order for merchandise is to be sent to an address other than that listed with the card, a company may call back for verification.

“If they’re smart, they should,” Hume said.

Irvine police became involved in the case when a woman complained that she had received a verification letter for a $1,000 order she did not place. Hume said an informant later notified him that several students at University High School, Irvine, were making illegal telephone calls. With the assistance of several of the computer clearinghouses involved in the theft, including “The Source” and “Compu-Card,” as well as the Anaheim office of United Parcel Service, police were able to track down and stop shipment of most of the merchandise.

Hume said the youths and their families waived their rights to counsel and explained in detail how the operation worked and supplied investigators a log of their activities. None of the items had been resold. The boys also boasted of having tangled directory assistance in New York City with a complex “teleconference” call, and of breaking into the Olympic Village telephone system last summer to speak with U.S. gymnast Mary Lou Retton, Hume said.

“I think this whole thing was a game to them,” Hume said. “They’re highly intelligent kids. If they ever channel all this super knowledge in the right direction, they’ll go a long way.”