CREDIT CARD THIEF CAUGHT!

The next time you pay by credit card make sure you keep an eye on it.

It quite easy for a cashier to take down the details and use it on an internet shopping spree on your account. As this story in Singapore shows.

The straits times:

ONE of the toughest jobs for a white-collar crime-buster is cutting through paper trails to figure out who broke the law.

Armed with a love for numbers, Inspector Andy Foo did just that in cracking a case involving the theft of credit card information.

Last year, the details of more than 20 victims were stolen to purchase $5,000 worth of air tickets.

When the case landed on his desk, Insp Foo, 31, had to find out who did it.

The hardest part is finding the common thread running through the records,' the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) officer said.

In this case, all the victims had visited the same supermarket to buy groceries.

His team then scrutinised the cashiers' roster to pin down the rogue employee who was on duty when the victims shopped at the supermarket.

As it turned out, she took down the names, numbers and security codes on the credit cards of her customers and fed them to an overseas accomplice.

The accomplice then booked tickets for flights around the world.

Of his work, Insp Foo said simply: 'You've to see beyond the numbers to find the solution to the puzzle