by A Missouri Sam’s Club cashier was arrested after allegedly stealing hundreds of dollars from customers on at least three separate occasions.
Stealing their Sam’s Club cards, which also act as MasterCards, video footage caught Jalissa Brandon in the act a number of times, KTVI reports.
One one occasion, Brandon took a customer’s card and handed them back a fraudulent one.
Other times she simply chose not to give the customers, who are normally preoccupied with other things in the checkout line, their cards back. Footage captured the woman slipping one person’s card into her shoe.
Brandon would then purchase items with the cards from Sam’s Club and from a Walmart next door. Victims often later complained of fraudulent transactions from these places.
Many were livid upon hearing the news.
“Her selfish crime is indicative of her entitlement and feeling she doesn’t need to work for anything she wants when she can just take it from others who have earned it,” said one commentator. “She’s just starting out in the working world, and despite what she probably thought, there are real consequences to her poor choices that nobody else should have to pay for but her.”
“She was taught to be a thief somewhere along the lines in her life,” a user said on Facebook. “I hope she never works or gets welfare for the rest of her days on earth! A crook.”
The incident is just one of many cases involving credit card fraud.
According to Aite Group, 46 percent of Americans have been victimized by credit card fraud in roughly the past five years, CBS News reports.
Experts partly blame careless consumers for that high number.
“Risky behaviors are rising dramatically,” said Andreas Suma, vice president and global product leader for fraud data at ACI.
Such behavior includes leaving one’s smartphone unlocked, online shopping or banking on a public computer, failing to tear up paper credit card statements, and more.
In addition to avoiding risky behaviors, experts also advise carrying a limited number of cards at all times.
“It’s fine to use one card and have one on hand as backup, but to walk around with a wallet full of plastic magnifies the number of times you could be victimized from one lost wallet,” explains author and financial journalist Kathy Kristof in her CBS piece. “[When traveling], carry just one card and leave the other in the hotel safe.”
Additionally, they recommend using credit cards over debit, as these provide stronger protection against fraud.
