Sony Vaio Credit Card Fraud

Milt is bruised but not battered. I enter the Tulip & Tiara last night and Raul is telling the tale of how $10,000 US worth of computer equipment has been delivered to his house. Terrific except that Raul hasn't ordered any 17" Sony Vaio laptops. Someone else has, using details from one of Raul's credit cards. He also tells us that he received approximately nine number withheld phone calls in a half hour period on Friday morning. We happily discuss how his house is probably being broken into right as we stand at the bar. We leave at closing time and the next thing I know is that my home phone is ringing. You guessed. It is Raul ringing to say that his front door lock has been drilled out.

I go round there and the door lock has been neatly drilled out. The police take for ever to arrive. Merl and his partner Anne Yip Fon arrive. Merl stays at the front in case the police arrive. I go round the back with Anne Yip and Raul, climb the back fence, fall off the top, hence the bruising, open the back gates and we go in through the back door.

The boxes with the computer gear are still in the hallway. When the local policeman arrives he tells a story of how they received a call on Friday afternoon from a locksmith who was called to the property by a guy who said he couldn't get in. Locksmith drills half way through the lock before he reports the incident to the police. At around the same time Raul gets back home and goes in through the back door. He notices a locksmith's van parked on the pavement outside but thinks nothing of it. There's no sign of damage inside the hallway because the guy only drilled half way through the lock. At around the same time the locksmith reports that the guy who called him to the property suddenly ran off.

Don't know about you but it sounds to me like the major suspect is not Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the Library but the locksmith with the drill bit in the Hallway with the boxes full of 17" Sony Vaios.

Raul had already contacted the credit card company and the computer suppliers and frozen payment on the order. Meanwhile the poor guy is left on his own at home with $10,000 US of computer equipment that he didn't order and a front door lock that is part way drilled through.

When I left, Merl and Anne Yip were still there. I await further details but I assure you that if credit card fraud can happen to Raul who is a technology wizard, credit card fraud can happen to anyone.