Central Oregon residents become credit card scam victims

A rash of identity verification fraud crimes involving stolen credit card numbers has affected Central Oregon residents since late June, KTVZ-TV reports. The number of credit card identity theft cases reported to police rose to 85 on Tuesday - nearly triple the 31 cases that were reported on Monday. "It seems to be a real random, across-the-board thing," Bend police sergeant Tom Pine told the news source. "That kind of leads us to not just one local person or business, but an organized kind of thing." Pine adds that law enforcement is currently "overwhelmed" with calls, and is still working with limited data. However, police have reason to believe that the scam is being run by multiple people, as charges have been reported everywhere from a Wal-Mart in Texas to locations in Italy and Mexico, sergeant Dan Ritchie explained to OPB News. "This is obviously a huge number, something we haven't seen in a year or two years, as far as this great a number and short period of time," Bend police sergeant Chris Carney noted to KTVZ.