Philadelphia men charged in connection with credit card fraud at Abington Post Office
Two U.S. Postal Service employees surrendered to police Sept. 5 after using a smartphone to steal credit card numbers at the Abington Post Office, according to the Abington Police Department.
Rashaad Schell, 23, and Daryl Matthews, 24, both from Philadelphia, were charged with identity theft, theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, forgery and related charges after making fraudulent charges with stolen credit card numbers retrieved from customers through a smartphone, police said.
According to investigators, Schell and Matthews would leave a phone on the counter while they serviced customers. When a customer handed their card over to be swiped, the men would quickly hold the card over the phone and record the numbers. Various accounts were accessed in this fashion and used to purchase American Express gift cards, tickets to Great Adventure, Adventure Aquarium and various other items, police said.
Police became aware of the fraud after receiving reports from residents claiming their credit cards had unauthorized charges on them shortly after they used it at the Abington Post Office, located at 1925 Keith Road, police said.
Ted Taylor, of Glenside, one of the victims, said he went to Abington police when he observed a suspicious $420 charge on his Chase Bank statement to Schell’s Foursquare account Aug. 16. The charge was next to a $12 charge he made at the post office to ship a package. Taylor said he called the bank, and they informed him the charges occurred simultaneously.
After identifying Schell through Facebook, Taylor said he reported the incident to the Abington postmaster and to police the following day.
“I can’t believe this happened at the post office of all places,” he said.
There was another resident, whose report was similar to Taylor’s, who told police there were unauthorized charges on the victim’s credit card.
Prior to these incidents, police investigated three cases in June in which American Express gift cards were purchased for between $1,000 and $2,000 on residents’ cards without their knowledge, police said. The cards were delivered to the people’s homes by UPS, police said.
During two of these UPS deliveries, a man police believe was either Schell or Matthews, appeared outside of the residence claiming he was the homeowner attempting to retrieve the package, but was unsuccessful, police said. In another case, Schell or Matthews appeared outside a residence and told the homeowner he worked for UPS and was there to pick up a package delivered by mistake. Suspicious, the homeowner did not relinquish the package, police said. Investigators determined the common denominator between the credit card accounts was the residents had previously used their credit cards at the Abington Post Office, police said.
According to Montgomery County Court records, Matthews did not post bail, which was set at 10 percent of $75,000. He is being held at the county correctional facility. Schell’s bail was set at $75,000 unsecured.
A preliminary hearing for Schell and Matthews is scheduled before District Judge John Kessler Sept. 13 at 9:45 a.m.
Authorities believe that additional suspects may be involved in the crime and may be charged as the investigation continues. However, there is no indication that other postal service employees are responsible, police said.
The Abington police have worked closely with postal authorities, in addition to detectives from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
So far, police have identified at least 20 additional victims who had their credit card accounts accessed and suspect that there may be others. Anyone who suspects their credit card account was accessed at the Abington Post Office and has not yet been contacted by police is asked to contact Detective Shawn Nisbet at 267-536-1101, snisbet@abington.org , or Detective Sgt. Steve Fink at 267-536-1111, sfink@abington.org .
Follow Jarreau Freeman on Twitter @JarreauFreeman.
Rashaad Schell, 23, and Daryl Matthews, 24, both from Philadelphia, were charged with identity theft, theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, forgery and related charges after making fraudulent charges with stolen credit card numbers retrieved from customers through a smartphone, police said.
According to investigators, Schell and Matthews would leave a phone on the counter while they serviced customers. When a customer handed their card over to be swiped, the men would quickly hold the card over the phone and record the numbers. Various accounts were accessed in this fashion and used to purchase American Express gift cards, tickets to Great Adventure, Adventure Aquarium and various other items, police said.
Police became aware of the fraud after receiving reports from residents claiming their credit cards had unauthorized charges on them shortly after they used it at the Abington Post Office, located at 1925 Keith Road, police said.
Ted Taylor, of Glenside, one of the victims, said he went to Abington police when he observed a suspicious $420 charge on his Chase Bank statement to Schell’s Foursquare account Aug. 16. The charge was next to a $12 charge he made at the post office to ship a package. Taylor said he called the bank, and they informed him the charges occurred simultaneously.
After identifying Schell through Facebook, Taylor said he reported the incident to the Abington postmaster and to police the following day.
“I can’t believe this happened at the post office of all places,” he said.
There was another resident, whose report was similar to Taylor’s, who told police there were unauthorized charges on the victim’s credit card.
Prior to these incidents, police investigated three cases in June in which American Express gift cards were purchased for between $1,000 and $2,000 on residents’ cards without their knowledge, police said. The cards were delivered to the people’s homes by UPS, police said.
During two of these UPS deliveries, a man police believe was either Schell or Matthews, appeared outside of the residence claiming he was the homeowner attempting to retrieve the package, but was unsuccessful, police said. In another case, Schell or Matthews appeared outside a residence and told the homeowner he worked for UPS and was there to pick up a package delivered by mistake. Suspicious, the homeowner did not relinquish the package, police said. Investigators determined the common denominator between the credit card accounts was the residents had previously used their credit cards at the Abington Post Office, police said.
According to Montgomery County Court records, Matthews did not post bail, which was set at 10 percent of $75,000. He is being held at the county correctional facility. Schell’s bail was set at $75,000 unsecured.
A preliminary hearing for Schell and Matthews is scheduled before District Judge John Kessler Sept. 13 at 9:45 a.m.
Authorities believe that additional suspects may be involved in the crime and may be charged as the investigation continues. However, there is no indication that other postal service employees are responsible, police said.
The Abington police have worked closely with postal authorities, in addition to detectives from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
So far, police have identified at least 20 additional victims who had their credit card accounts accessed and suspect that there may be others. Anyone who suspects their credit card account was accessed at the Abington Post Office and has not yet been contacted by police is asked to contact Detective Shawn Nisbet at 267-536-1101, snisbet@abington.org , or Detective Sgt. Steve Fink at 267-536-1111, sfink@abington.org .
Follow Jarreau Freeman on Twitter @JarreauFreeman.
