When an STCU member discovered his Visa credit card had been stolen and used to buy hundreds of dollars in merchandise, he called the credit union to report the fraud.
That action is the first--and most important--step in reporting a crime and securing your accounts at the credit union. In this case, however, the member wanted to do more to help STCU and police catch the thief.
The member knew that the law prohibits citizens from interfering in police investigations. If he was going to get involved, he would have to be careful. Here's what happened next:
First, STCU advised the member to file a police report in Tacoma, where the fraud had occurred. He filed the report immediately.Second, understanding that detectives receive hundreds of reports each week, the member asked that his case be assigned to a detective instead of just filed away. The member relayed the detective's name, phone, and e-mail address to STCU.
Third, the member visited every place his credit card had been used illegally to see if store owners might have video of the thief using his card. He suspected that the thief was someone he knew, who might have stolen his credit card and personal identification number (PIN) when he wasn't watching.
Some stores had video of the crime, but explained that it could only be released to police or to the financial institution that had issued the credit card. The member called STCU to report what he had learned and asked that STCU contact merchants who said they had video.
STCU obtained the merchants' video and turned it over to the Tacoma police detective who had been assigned the case.
Finally, the member returned to the police department where the detective showed him the video in hopes of identifying the thief. The member instantly recognized the suspect as a former roommate.
The detective quickly arrested the suspect and charged her with a felony. More than half of the stolen money was recovered!
Not every investigation ends this well. Many claims never get thoroughly investigated and you and STCU end up losing money to ID thieves.
When members begin to work together with STCU and the police, we can maintain a strong prevention program that saves everyone money and reduces fraud. Here are four simple things you can do to help:
Together, we can provide a united front in the fight against fraud!
