Posted by Staff
newsweb@everythinglubbock.com
MIDLAND, TX — Movie rentals are becoming more expensive, after a recent scam hits Midland County.
“It’s here, and they’re stealing money and it’s big money,” said Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter.
The Sheriff’s Office has been receiving a growing number of cases involving unauthorized charges to individual bank accounts.
Sheriff Painter says they appear tied to using Redbox to rent movies and video games.
“I don’t know if that is the answer to the solution, all of them have been (tied) to Redbox but they had different banking institutions,” he said.
A great convenience for movie-lovers, but also a great convenience for credit card scammers.
Deputies say cameras or credit card skimming devices on the kiosks may have been used in unsuspecting victims.
“They are taking the card numbers and getting their information, making another purchase through Redbox which is a small purchase. And they find out how much is in the account or what the account will hold or take. And they go out and make a huge purchase. As much as 1100 dollars in one case,” Sheriff Painter said.
Authorities advise to be aware of your surroundings as much as possible, noticing any loose equipment or an extra camera lens on the machine. They also advise using prepaid gift cards to make purchases. Any act of vigilance to spare you the time and effort it takes to restore your account.
“Those are things that hit home and you don’t get that money back,” said Sheriff Painter.
The Midland County Sheriff’s Office also says Houston is no stranger to this scam, with reports of similar cases surfacing in the Space City.
Kate Brennan, Redbox Director of Communications released the following statement to YourBasin.com:
“Redbox has not been contacted by the local sheriff’s department to notify us of an issue in Midland, TX. We have no reason to believe Redbox has any connection to the credit cards that have been illegally tested at local kiosks.
What has likely happened is that Redbox kiosks are being used to test credit cards stolen, or created with stolen information, from some other source. They may have been checking whether a credit card number secured from some other source was still active, presumably so they could use it to make unauthorized purchases.
Redbox constantly monitors our systems and we have never had a confirmed data breach at our kiosks. We take data security very
seriously, and we place a high priority on keeping the personal information of our customers confidential and secure. If customers have any questions we encourage them to contact us at 1-866-REDBOX-3.
Consumers can continue to feel confident renting the latest movies and games from Redbox.”
(Information from YourBasin.com)