14 DAY TRIAL // Employees at the Saks Fifth Avenue department store in Manhattan used personal information of customers to purchase luxury items that were later on re-sold on the black market.
The financial loss is estimated at more than $400,000 / €317,000 since many of the products were worth thousands of dollars themselves and the thieves are blamed for 91 fraudulent transactions.
The threat inside
Four sales associates at the store were involved in the scheme, which was orchestrated by a fifth individual, whose identity remains undisclosed.
It appears that the employees have received personal details and social security numbers from more than 20 Saks customers, their presence not being necessary at the counter. The information was then used for purchasing shoes and handbags.
Make no mistake, the store sells only designer products, so a price tag of $2,000 / €1,580 for a pair of shoes or $10,000 / €7,920 for a handbag is not uncommon.
Some of the products would be returned for store credit, such as gift cards, and would then be sold, the proceedings being used for paying the store employees.
There is no clear indication about how law enforcement learned about the scheme, but details probably came from the clients reporting fraudulent activity on their cards.
Hundreds of pairs of shoes were stolen
Commercial retail fraud and theft has increased over the past year, with big names suffering significant damage as a result of cybercriminal activity.
However, in most cases, the incident was a result of hackers breaking into the systems of the retailer and stealing financial information.
With Saks Fifth Avenue, employees were in on the scheme, which puts customers in greater danger, since processing the payment information could be delayed or additional items could be slipped into the same purchase and retained by the crooks.
“This identity theft ring was allegedly able to walk away with hundreds of pairs of shoes and bags due to the help of store employees, who are charged with making the fraudulent sales possible,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance in a statement.
Crooks charged in a 66-count indictment
The four Saks employees and their ring leader have been arrested and charged with grand larceny, attempted grand larceny, scheme to defraud, identity theft, attempted identity theft, criminal possession of stolen property, and unlawful possession of personal identification information.
In total, there are 66 counts for the entire activity that lasted between April and August of this year.
The products were pre-selected by the alleged ring leader, 36-year-old Tamara Williams. The brands included Chanel, Valentino, Christian Louboutin, Ferragamo, Balmain, YSL, Gucci, Giuseppe Zanotti, Kate Spade, Louis Vuitton, and Givenchy.