Cape detective seeing more financial crimes

Cape Girardeau Police Department detective Hank Voelker is opening new cases as fast as he's closing them.

As a detective who investigates only financial crimes, Voelker said he investigates more than 300 cases per year.

And since he joined the police department four years ago, he said, the problem is getting worse and criminals are finding new ways to steal people's identities.

"I could have anywhere between 15 and 40 cases at one time. If I clear one, I'll get two. If I clear three, I'll get five," Voelker said.

Within the last month, a number of local residents and companies, including a construction firm, were victim to an intricate credit card scam instigated in Ste. Genevieve, Mo. Hundreds of customer credit card numbers were retrieved by criminals from a faulty card-processing machine in a Ste. Genevieve restaurant.

The machine was vulnerable to hacking at its manufacturer's headquarters, Voelker said.

"The victim here in Cape Girardeau was out $3,500. The victim and all of his employees happened to be doing construction there during that time and used their cards for lunch," Voelker said.

Montgomery Bank's chief administrative officer, David Jones, said three of the bank's customers were also victim to the same credit card scam. The three customers each received a charge on their debit card. Jones said Montgomery Bank acted immediately by requiring PIN numbers in transactions from the states the charges originated in.

"We set it up so signature-based transactions would not be allowed," Jones said.

No additional Montgomery Bank customers have reported fraudulent charges to their debit cards as a result of that incident.

One of the most elaborate credit card scams Voelker said he has encountered involved a group of West Coast gang members who acquired $35,000 from three area banks through a cash advance scheme that involved tricking tellers into pushing the preauthorized cash advance button on the keypad before swiping a credit card. Pressing the button kept the cards from being flagged as stolen during the transaction.

"They basically just robbed the bank electronically," Voelker said.

Once the scam was discovered and the federal government began investigating the case, two people were arrested in Akron, Ohio, for the crime. The perpetrators had allegedly targeted numerous Midwest communities.

When a phone scam in February affected Montgomery Bank customers, the institution launched an awareness campaign notifying all its branches of the problem, hoping to keep consumer losses down.

The phone scam involved a caller identifying themselves as a Montgomery Bank employee and requesting the bank customer produce information about their account due to a problem with their debit card.

Although bank personnel responded right away to warn customers of the scam, around $8,000 of fraudulent charges were made to consumer credit cards.

"The crooks are getting smarter. Their reaction time is quicker; they can do some damage before the fraudulent activity is actually discovered," Jones said.

Although credit card fraud has become more sophisticated, Voelker said, the most common type comes from cards being physically stolen. Typically, the person who stole the card uses it immediately, Voelker said.

"That's the main crime we can do something about," he said. "I'm starting to see an increase in the criminals really not caring if they get caught" because it's a nonviolent crime.

An investigation begins with the victim receiving a packet of paperwork that Voelker created a few years ago when the number of cases coming in was overwhelming. The packet contains information and worksheets to help the victims file a proper complaint, fully describe the fraudulent charges made to their credit card and tells them what to do after filing a police report.

"A lot of the information we needed we weren't getting from the victims because the officers didn't really know what questions to ask," Voelker said.

Once he's received the information on the crime, Voelker contacts the stores or website where the fraudulent charges were made. He often needs to collect IP addresses or security videos from businesses where purchases were made in order to identify the perpetrator.

According to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a not-for-profit consumer organization, recommends never releasing Social Security, credit or debit card numbers over the phone, by mail or the Internet unless the consumer has a previous business relationship with the company and initiated the call. The group also recommends that people order their credit reports once per year. The report would contain any signs of identity or credit card fraud.

ehevern@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent addresses:

40 N. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, MO

2027 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO