Consumer Alert: Use caution when joining 'Rewards Programs'
Many restaurants and businesses have rewards programs as incentives for you to patronize their business, but these programs come with a warning.
Alexander Pera is a former restaurant manager who often encouraged patrons to join his restaurant's rewards program.
Pera would offer to "take the check" to help you pay your bill quickly.
"When he brought it back to process it, he would make copies of the application and the credit card," said U.S. Postal Inspector Robert Sizer. "He had all of the personal identifiers as well as the credit card number."
With that information and the rewards program application, he had everything he needed to fraudulently use the credit cards.
And he did.
Postal Inspectors said he stole $50,000 dollars from 50 victims.
Authorities said Pera took extravagant vacations as well as multiple trips to Disney World under different aliases.
"This guy pretty much deceived everyone he worked with and everyone he lived with," said Sizer.
Pera lived with his wife and in-laws who were devastated when they learned about the crimes.
"He was going out of town for work, and he was going out of town for a job application, and these other things, they were all lies, for years," Sizer said. "(His wife) had no idea who this person was and when that all came crashing down, she was kind of lost."
Inspectors say if you join a rewards program, it's fine to give your name, number, and email address, but there's no reason to give your birthdate. If they ask for it, change the year.
"Be very careful with who you give your credit card information to, whether you're doing online, whether you are going to local Walgreens, or even going to a high end steak place," Sizer warned.
Some advice from postal inspectors: check your credit report at least once a year. You're entitled to a free report every year from the credit agencies.
As for Pera, he pled guilty in court to aggravated identity theft and sentenced to six months behind bars, plus two years of probation.
