By Moses Leos III
A man who stole the credit card information of 19 people in 2013 is one of two cases involving credit and debit card crime in Kyle over the past two years.
“Nowdays, everyone has a credit or debit card, and they used that to pay for everything. It tends to allow for easier access,” Kyle Police Department Detective Adam Watson said. “It comes up in the news as more compromises [affect] the big companies.”
In February, Carmelo Rebollar-Barcenas, 32, of Austin, was indicted by the Hays County District Attorney’s Office on 13 charges of credit card abuse, all third degree felonies. It stemmed from his employment at Casa Garcia’s in Kyle.
Rebollar was booked into the Hays County Jail on Oct.7, 2013 and was released the next day on $39,000 bond.
According to Watson, Rebollar stole “thousands of dollars” from 19 people between May 31 and late July 2013.
Watson said victims’ cards were originally comprised in Kyle, but charges were made in Austin. Watson said the Austin Police Department is also involved in the case.
Kyle Police first became aware of the incident in July 2013. After an investigation, a warrant was issued for Rebollar’s arrest in October of that year.
Robellar’s case is in the pre-trail phase and is still ongoing.
An unrelated cybercrime occurred at Garcia’s Restaurant on FM 150 East in Kyle this past summer.
Watson, who also handled that case, said the businesses’ Point of Sale system had been “compromised in some way.” He said no one at the restaurant was involved with the hacking.
After an initial investigation, Watson said the company that handles the system updated software and closed the access point.
However, Watson said Kyle Police were unable to find a suspect.
Hacking incidents have involved larger retailers such as Target and Home Depot in recent news.
But there are ways consumers can protect themselves during the busy holiday shopping season.
One way is using a prepaid debit card for transactions. While Watson said it’s not “the most user friendly way,” he said it could keep vital bank information out of cybercriminal’s hands.
“[With a prepaid debit card], you load money onto a Visa or Master Card and do your shopping on that,” Watson said. “That way if that card is compromised, you only lose what’s on that card and not access to an entire bank account.”
While it’s not always possible, keeping credit or debit cards in view during payment at a restaurant is another deterrent.
But monitoring bank accounts and charges is the primary way to avoid cybertheft.
According to Watson, many criminals will test a card with small purchases to make sure the card is active. Once they are successful, they often make larger purchases, or sell the card number.
A clue, he said, are transactions that are made outside of the area.
“If you monitor you account, most transactions show up immediately,” Watson said. “If you see something, immediately put a hold on that card. [C]ancelling the card can keep further things to be done.”
