Mason, MI – A fraud suspect in Michigan attempted to use a stolen credit card to pay for his police fingerprints, according to Ingham County authorities.
Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth is calling him one of the world’s dumbest criminals , a 28-year-old who tried to use a stolen credit card to cover his court-ordered $16 fingerprinting fees, reports MSN .
The unidentified man arrived at the Sheriff’s Office Central Records Unit Thursday to submit to Ingham County District Court-ordered fingerprinting , which stemmed from an existing fraud charge. Typically, people have 10 days to get this done following court, and there is a fee imposed.
The fraud-suspect handed over a credit card to cover the required $16 processing fee. A swipe of the card returned as stolen.
Seasoned law enforcement officers state incidences like this are extremely rare, as it is more common for someone to write a bad check over submitting a stolen credit card to cover court-ordered fees.
On top of the preexisting fraud charges, the unnamed suspect may face additional burdens related to credit card fraud .
Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft and fraud committed using stolen credit card information or any similar payment mechanism as a fraudulent source of funds. The purpose may be to obtain goods without paying, or to obtain unauthorized funds from an account.
Credit card fraud is also an adjunct to identity theft.
In the event you believe you credit card has been stolen or lost, call the card issuer as soon as possible. Many companies have toll-free numbers and 24-hour service to deal with this. Once you report the loss or theft, the law says you have no additional responsibility for charges you didn’t make; in any case, your liability for each card lost or stolen is $50. If you suspect that the card was used fraudulently, you may have to sign a statement under oath that you didn’t make the purchases in question
The suspect has since been released, pending an investigation into the stolen credit card , reports Michigan Live .
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