Store error helps uncover credit-card scam

An honest mistake by Wal-Mart employees over the sale of a computer laptop led to the uncovering of a Valleywide scam that involved stolen credit card information, Chandler police said.

The tip to authorities came about 4 p.m. Sunday when Wal-Mart workers got suspicious about three men who claimed they had purchased a laptop only to get an empty box, according to police spokesman Detective David Ramer.

When police officers arrived at the store on Arizona Avenue near the SanTan Freeway to investigate the suspected fraud, the three men ran and threw a bunch of credit cards to the ground, Ramer said.

The 19 recovered cards, made to look like ones issued by banks in Mexico, turned out to be counterfeit cards that bear valid American account numbers. They were used to buy electronic equipment across the Valley, Ramer said.

Ironically, police said, Wal-Mart employees did inadvertently give the men an empty box for the purchase they had made.

Arrested were Adolfo Paz Gracia, 35, Javier Carreno Cruz, 29, and Jose Diaz Valenzuela, 29. The suspects told police they are Mexican nationals who had entered the country legally to make purchases on the credit cards, Ramer said.

Each was booked on three counts of forgery and one count of fraud schemes.

Arrested were (from left) Adolfo Paz Gracia, 35, Javier Carreno Cruz, 29, and Jose Diaz Valenzuela, 29.