Nationwide fraud ring busted in Kearney, NE
Two men believed to have made fraudulent credit card purchases in Kearney are in custody. Monday, the Kearney Police Department sent an alert to all Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce members alerting them of the fraud in which suspects were obtaining stolen credit card numbers and a Grand Island man was making fake credit cards. The suspects then made large purchases until the credit card company either caught the fraud or the suspects created a new card. The purchases have been made from Kearney to Miami. It’s a pretty intricate ring of criminals, and they’re doing it all across the United States,” said KPD Investigator Brian Thome. Felix Carlos Diaz-Brito, 33, of Miami and William Cabrera-Moreira, 30, of Grand Island have been arrested in connection to the fraud and are being held at the Madison County Jail in Norfolk. The Grand Island man believed to be manufacturing the credit cards still is wanted. (Source kearneyhub.com)

ORC group of three busted stealing merchandise, receiving gift cards and selling them for cash in Louisville, Ky.  38-year-old Carl Griffin Jr., 27-year-old Dustin Johnson and 41-year-old Kimberly Jo Sweazy took merchandise from Home Depot, Kohl's, Lowes and JC Penney without paying and later returned it and received gift cards since they didn’t have receipts. Police say Griffin, Johnson and Sweazy then sold the gift cards to various pawn shops and second-hand dealers for cash. (Source wlky.com)

Lone Tree, Colorado getting hit by ORC weekly 
The 21st-century shoplifter isn't a teenage girl slipping earrings into her purse, but often a sophisticated network of computer-savvy, highly organized professionals who make retail theft their full-time job, Lone Tree police say. “It's huge and it costs us a lot of money,” said Acting Lone Tree Police Chief Ron Pinson. “We've had groups come in that have stolen up to $10,000 worth of merchandise. These are people that are often doing this for their living.” Professional thieves often travel from mall to mall, and city to city, stealing everything from jeans to laptops. The stolen merchandise is then sold. Such high-dollar thefts occur about once a week, Pinson said, and those who engineer them are endlessly innovative. They do come up with new schemes,” he said. “Sometimes the law is a little bit behind them.” They range from the bold — those who use metal-lined shopping bags that pass undetected through security systems — to the subtle. Recently, thieves used credit card numbers obtained from banks that had not yet assigned the numbers to individual cardholders. (Source ourcoloradonews.com)

Check Fraud Scheme with ties to Scotts Valley, CA., Suspects on the Run  The Scotts Valley Police Department has arrested a woman from Oakland, in connection with a fraudulent check ring. Police say Alexis Slaten was found to be conspiring with several others to manufacture and use fraudulent checks in this area. The investigation is ongoing and two additional suspects were identified, Lawrence Stone of Oakland and Retascha Harrison also of Oakland. Anyone with information can call Lt. John Wilson of the SVPD at 831-440-5670. (Source kionrightnow.com)

Police seek help in ID'ing identity thief who's hit Ace Hardware, Home Depot and Zip trip stores in Spokane, WA.  The man purchased merchandise worth thousands of dollars from two Ace Hardware stores using checks stolen from vehicles, according to Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Craig Chamberlin. Other stolen checks were cashed at several Zip Trip stores and Home Depot. Crime Stoppers of the Inland Northwest is offering a reward for information leading to his identification. (Source spokesman.com)