NCJ Number
188059
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 68 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2001 Pages: 71-73
Editor(s)
Charles E. Higginbotham
Date Published
March 2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article provides a brief description and overview of the Metropolitan Detroit Mall Fraud Task Force and the investigation and resolution of the credit fraud industry.
Abstract
Retailers and credit card companies incur tens of millions of dollars in losses each year due to credit fraud (often referred to as a victimless crime). The Metropolitan Detroit Mall Fraud Task Force was formed in 1998 in response to the Troy Michigan Police Department’s (an upper-middleclass suburb of Detroit) increased dilemma with retail and credit fraud. With credit fraud losses high, consumers ultimately pay the price. The department conducted a crime trend analysis and found significant links between various crimes and criminals. The department also realized the magnitude of the problem and their lack of resources to tackle the problem. The FBI Detroit office, U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Postal Service joined the Metropolitan Detroit Mall Fraud Task Force, along with investigators from private industry. Private industry provided corporate based resources, information, and expertise that law enforcement lacked. The department knew that in order to have an effective task force there must be a genuine shared commitment to solving the problem. The task force began by putting together a game plan to delineate roles, establish proper lines of communication, and set up an appropriate strategy for getting the process underway. Eighteen months after the task force investigation began arrests were made on a multimillion dollar fraud network. The department reported that the incidence of counterfeit credit cards has basically gone down to zero, millions of dollars have been saved in fraud losses to industry, and countless victims have been saved from having their credit card history attacked.