There are currently 483 bankcard fraud cases in Pullman, but police are no closer to finding an answer.
“Unfortunately this is one of those cases where the effort being put in is not reflective of the results,” said Cmdr. Chris Tennant of the Pullman Police Department.
A woman suspected of using a stolen card was arrested in October, but was not related to this string of frauds.
The stolen card numbers are being used to make online purchases as well as on-site purchases out of state.
“The first report started around Sept. 21,” Tennant said. “For a couple of weeks we were at 30 cases a day, now down to eight a day.”
The number of reports has decreased, but fraudulent activity is still occurring.
“Unfortunately, we are able to confirm that some people who are victims and had bankcards canceled, were victimized again,” Tennant said. “That confirms that the compromise of card numbers is still going on.”
The Pullman Police Department is working with the U.S. Secret Service to investigate the charges, but as of Thursday was unable to report any progress.
Sgt. Dan Bruce of the Moscow Police Department said there have been many fraud cases in Moscow as well, but additional information is not available at this time with respect to the number of reports and the investigation.
Tennant said residents could take two steps to make sure they are not victims of fraud as well.
“If you are making a local purchase, only use cash,” Tennant said. “And second, people should be monitoring their accounts online so if there is a compromise we can nip it in the bud.”