CVS and Rite Aid shut down two fences in Atlantic City, NJ Six people were arrested after an investigation found stolen items were being sold in two stores, police said. CVS and Rite-Aid representatives alerted the police when they saw what they believed were their stolen items on the stores' shelves, Sgt. James Sarkos said. After a five-month investigation, the found that Asia Bazaar on South Kentucky Avenue and Kings Food & Gifts at 1638 Atlantic Ave. were buying stolen items from people who came in off the street - then re-selling them. More than $500 in items were seized from the stores, along with a total of $21,000 believed to be the proceeds of illegal activity, Sarkos said. Most of the items were stolen from the CVS and Rite-Aid. The stores' mercantile licenses have been suspended. In addition to the goods allegedly being "fenced," police also found Asia Bazaar had six cable boxes reported taken from a Comcast truck in the city on Nov. 26. The store also had 498 Viagra pills, 132 doses of emergency contraceptive pills, 96 bags of synthetic marijuana, a stun gun and numerous novelty lighters. King's also was allegedly selling synthetic marijuana along with 15 bags of imitation cocaine known as "bath salts," 15 counterfeit handbags and 32 pirated CDs.

Arrested at the Asia Bazaar were Tariq Mehmood, 44, and Tariq Naeem, 23, both of Egg Harbor Township. Both were charged receiving stolen property and conspiracy to receive stolen property. Mehmood was also charged with trafficking stolen property and various crimes, including possession of a stun gun and possession of prescription legend drugs with intent to distribute. Arrested from King's were Mohammed A. Shardar, 50, of Egg Harbor Township, and Shamsol A. Khan, 67, of Galloway Township, along with Atlantic City residents Mohammed S. Rahman, 37, and Suraj Bairagee, 52. All were charged with receiving stolen property and conspiracy. Shardar and Khan were additionally charged for trafficking, as well as selling counterfeit items and pirated music, and possession of the "bath salts," including within 500 feet of a park and within a school zone. (source pressofatlanticcity.com)

Identity thieves hit Lucky Supermarkets and skim the VeriFone card readers in Northern California Scores of employees and customers of a supermarket chain have had their account information compromised after thieves tampered with debit and credit card readers in self-checkout lines in Northern California. Lucky Supermarkets, which disclosed the breach Monday, said some 300 customers were affected at 23 of its San Francisco Bay Area stores, and some had money stolen from their accounts. Lucky Supermarkets is part of Modesto-based Save Mart Supermarkets, which operates more than 233 stores in Northern California and Northern Nevada. Police in Petaluma said at least 57 people reported money being stolen from their bank accounts after using a self-checkout line and using VeriFone card readers. The average loss appeared to be about $500, and the money was withdrawn throughout California, including in the San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Northridge areas, and Reno, Nev., police said. Alicia Rockwell, a spokeswoman for Lucky Supermarkets, said 1,500 inquiries had come into the company's call center as of Tuesday. She said of those, about 300 customers were claiming that they either had some unauthorized activity on their credit or debit cards, or some attempt of unauthorized activity. Stephen Ackerman, chief financial officer of Save Mart, said the U.S. Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force is investigating the clandestine data "sniffers" attached to the card readers. "All the devices are now down in Tulsa, Okla., at the Secret Service lab, (where they're) trying to read the data on the chips," Ackerman said. "The VeriFone people said it was the most sophisticated device they've ever seen so far as a sniffer." (Source Associated Press)

Identity theft ring busted in Paramus N.J. at Fashion Center after one arrested suspect gets a text that says "DIP" - meaning get out of there. Police busted Omar Hemmings using a fake drivers license to secure credit cards and buying over $2,246.94 worth of merchandise. While he was being detained the suspect received a text that said "DIP" meaning "make a quick exit" so police in the parking lot noticed an SUV driving suspiciously and found two more suspects in the vehicle with 13 fraudulent driver's licenses from Kentucky, New Jersey, and Virginia, 14 stolen credit cards, and credit reports of 12 victims of identity theft. They're being held in Bergen County jail in lieu of bail presently. (Source northjersey.com)