NORTH BRUNSWICK – A man and woman from North Brunswick have been charged with allegedly participating in a credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft conspiracy.
Henry Abdul, 30, and Alexus Omowole, 22, are each charged by complaint with one count of bank fraud conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to information provided by U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito.
According to the complaint, between October 2015 and the present, Abdul and Omowole allegedly participated in a conspiracy to obtain control of and use credit card accounts of others through a fraudulent scheme commonly referred to as a “credit card takeover” scheme.
A person who is not the account owner or authorized user of a credit card account contacts the financial institution and poses as the account owner in order to change the personal information associated with the account to information familiar to the criminal. The information changed may include the residence, email address, or telephone number associated with the account. These changes to the account are designed to give the criminal control of the account without the actual account owners’ knowledge or authorization, and may permit the criminal to receive new credit cards associated with the compromised accounts. Once in control of the account, the criminals profit by using the compromised accounts to make purchases, transfer funds to other accounts under the criminal’s control, or sell the account information to third parties, according to the statement.
In this case, Abdul’s residential address was reportedly used as part of the takeover conspiracy, and both Abdul and Omowole allegedly profited from the conspiracy by using several compromised credit cards at various retail locations in New Jersey and elsewhere, according to the statement.
The bank fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, which must run consecutive to any other term of imprisonment imposed by the court.
