Two male suspects were busted by Manhattan Beach police after allegedly conducting at least 40 credit card scams at retail stores throughout Southern California, police said on Tuesday.
During the alleged crimes, Cornell “Corey” Jackson, 29, and Marquet Dorsey, 24, wore makeup and posed as females, police said.
The suspects allegedly used an unfunded prepaid credit card to buy $7,600 worth of sunglasses and other products from different Southern California stores, said Manhattan Beach Detective Jeanette Meers. During the alleged crimes, when the card one suspect was using was declined, the other suspect called the store pretending to represent the credit card company and instructed the store employee on how to override the declined card using a fake authorization code, police said.
In addition, police suspect that on May 11, Dorsey fraudulently purchased a $15,000 Infiniti SUV from a Fontana car dealer. Dorsey allegedly opened a credit card account using a Los Angeles female victim’s driver’s license. Detectives have recovered and returned the car to the dealer.
Jackson was charged with four felony counts of second-degree commercial burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime and grand theft, according to the District Attorney’s office. Dorsey was charged with five counts of identity theft, unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle, grand theft and conspiracy to commit grand theft.
On May 29, Jackson allegedly fraudulently paid a $2,900 hotel room bill at Days Inn in Hawthorne.
Two days later, he allegedly purchased $1,172 worth of sunglasses from Trendy Sunglasses in Manhattan Beach using the prepaid card with a zero balance. The card had been opened on February 2 online using MetaBank, Meers said.
When the card was declined, Jackson allegedly had the second suspect, Dorsey, pose as a bank representative over the phone, tricking the clerk into processing the sale by providing a fake six-digit authorization code.
An employee at Trendy Sunglasses, who declined to be named, said that initially, three individuals came in the store together and one left before the transaction was complete. When the card was denied, the employee handling the case asked the suspect to tell the bank representative to call the store to discuss the transaction. “It’s not uncommon that we’ll talk to the issuing bank,” the employee said. “It’s also not uncommon that the customer will have called the bank on their cell phone. That happens.”
When a business facilitates a forced transaction, the business takes the loss instead of the bank, Meers said.
The Manhattan Beach optometry practice is now out three pairs of sunglasses. “It’s upsetting anytime someone tries to steal from you whether it’s $1,000 or $10. It’s not the side of human nature we like to deal with. We’re a customer service-driven business. It’s upsetting to be manipulated,” the employee said, adding that the store often follows up with thank you cards to customers.
The store will now deal with any credit card issues through a third party credit card processor instead of dealing with the customer’s bank, the employee said.
Because the suspect used his real name at Trendy Sunglasses, the police were able to track him down. “I can laugh at the apparent shortfall in their thinking, but I’m still suffering a loss,” the Trendy Sunglasses employee said.
On June 5, Manhattan Beach detectives arrested Jackson during a probation search of his Lakewood home. Both were recently paroled from prison under the Post Release Community Supervision program, according to police.
After subsequent searches, police believe the pair has been running this credit card scam throughout retail stores in Southern California.
Police recovered four receipts that revealed that the pair would return the property to other retail stores in exchange for cash or store credit. For example, they allegedly returned a pair of sunglasses to Nordstrom for credit or cash back, Meers said.
In 2007, Dorsey was convicted of identity theft, second-degree burglary and petty theft with a prior, according to the felony complaint. Last year, he was charged with second-degree burglary. Since 2009, Jackson has been convicted of grand theft, identity theft and second-degree burglary.
Both are being held at Men’s Central Jail – Dorsey is being held on $90,000 bail and Jackson on $165,000.
If you believe you’ve been a victim of this crime, contact Detective Meers at 310-802-5134.
