According to Indian River Sherrif's department on Aug 13 an employee at Vero Beach Footlocker was involved in the purchase of 331.70 in shoes at the Vero Beach Footlocker using a debit card bearing my wife's debit number. I have been told by Indian River County Sherrif's department that the individual involved has turned over the stolen items and is "cooperative" with the ongoing statewide investigation, involving debit card id theft.
It was only due to an anonymous tip in Brevard County, and my prodding that got the investigation rolling which, I have been assured, is now in the hands of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The card number was, I have been told, swiped at a local Wendy's srive through here in South Brevard. Perps working in a wide network involving five to seven people, dummied the cards in Orlando, made a couple of small purchases before moving down to Vero Beach to deliver the coup de grace on my wife's and my joint checking account. I am only one victim of which there are many.
Footlocker Vero Beach's manager had me removed from the store using mall security and called me an "asshole" as I attempted to get to the bottom of the nepharious purchases. He would not give me the name of the district manager which I managed to get from another outlet closer to my home in Melbourne/Palm Bay.
FOOTLOCKER, in my opinion made every effort to stall me, downplay the incident, and refused to notify police of a crime, until police came to them, as part of their "corporate policy" which I take great issue with.
We still do not know which Wendy's location here in the Melbourne, Palm Bay, Indialantic area, was involved in the initial card skimming. Apparently, the employees use a cheap card reader they keep in their pockets then give these numbers to those who have recruited them.
The ruination of my bank account could not have come at a worse moment. We watched in horror as hurricane Fey, downgraded to a tropical storm approached our shores. We could neither board up, nor evacuate if we had wanted to.
The disruption of my homelife through this was immense; my mental state ruined. While I am gratified that law enforcement is on the case and rolling up the ringleaders of this merry band of scumbags, I cannot help noticing how many of these cases are on the web involving both Wendy's and Footlocker. The crooks know just where to go to recruit accomplices, and management time and again does nothing.
Through my struggles to bring some resolution to this, I keep running into one constant attitude. "shhhh... Not so loudly sir, you'll disturb the other customers"
The district manager of Footlocker, while nice enough, wasn't getting it on the second day of my furious email barrages. He kept the manager in place who ejected me and called me an asshole, because "it's our busiest day" This before getting to the Vero Beach store to look into the matter himself.
See? They already destroyed my bank account. Mission accomplised I suppose; their chief concern wasn't that more crime might be taking place, or even alert police that a crime had occured at all; their concern was, the almighty dollar sign.
Sometimes the good guys win. This time, we got our teeth into someone responsible. It's not someone hacking bank software from Nigeria, no, this is right here at home, easy enough.
The problem is "corporate" and their soft, gibberish excuses, still aren't getting it (what? Huh?) they let it happen again, and again, and again. They don't train their employees, they don't watch who they hire, and innocent families out here in sap land, end up getting screwed over and over and over.
If a woman can spill coffee on her own lap and successfully sue McDonalds, then by God there should be some pain and suffering relief for those of us out here who had no clue what was coming.
KNOW THIS; I DON'T EVEN GO INTO THE FOOTLOCKER. Won't have anything to do with that place. Apparently, even avoiding it isn't good enough for their employees who will just go ahead and reach into our bank account anyway.
This missive is just the start. I need to warn people in my area about the abuse of the Wendy's drive through window and the "oh well" attitude I have run into with Footlocker Corporate. As with the earlier fellow, no apology forthcoming from Footlocker. No aknowlegement after their dealing with law enforcement that I instigated.
Wendys? If you can't control your employees, don't offer the service. Footlocker? A corporation is a ficticious human being for legal purposes, that doesn't mean you don't have to act like a real one: report crime immediately! Don't give scumbags the time they need to escape or make up an alibi! And hey, manage your damned stores with some oversight!
Does someone have to take these people to court to get them to listen? So be it.
David
Palm Bay, Florida
U.S.A.
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