Target Credit Card Thieves Arrested Crossing The Border

Two people who have admitted to being involved in the Target credit card breach were arrested on January 19 while crossing the Texas-Mexico border, and authorities say the couple had over 100 stolen c...
Target Credit Card Thieves Arrested Crossing The Border
Written by Amanda Crum

Two people who have admitted to being involved in the Target credit card breach were arrested on January 19 while crossing the Texas-Mexico border, and authorities say the couple had over 100 stolen credit cards in their possession.

Officials got a break in the case–which stems from the massive info theft Target suffered during the week between Thanksgiving and Christmas–when several retailers such as Walmart and Toys ‘R’ Us reported fraudulent activity that reached tens of thousands of dollars. Police in McAllen, Texas were able to match two people seen in those stores to a car which was tracked crossing the border soon after, and made a prompt arrest.

Mary Carmen Garcia Vaquera and Daniel Guardiola Dominguez of Monterrey, Mexico allegedly had 112 stolen credit cards on them when the arrest was made. Authorities believe the duo was selling information by region and targeting stores on Sundays with the cards they had stolen in the hopes that the banks wouldn’t catch on to the fraud right away. They are currently being held on state fraud charges.

Despite the arrest, federal officials aren’t sure that Vaquera and Dominguez had anything to do with the Target breach and aren’t officially connecting them to that case just yet. An investigation is pending.

Target made headlines last year when it was announced that hackers had stolen personal info from more than 70 million customers starting on the day before Black Friday and extending through the middle of December. The news caused panic in the consumer world during the busiest shopping time of the year.

Image via Thinkstock

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