The recent film Ocean’s 8 is the story of a group of thieves that steal a priceless necklace from a famous movie actress, in plain sight. A series of cons are pulled off that enable the heist to occur without the actress knowing. By the time she realizes the necklace is gone, it’s too late. The film was slick, fun and captured moviegoers’ attention.
In an example of life imitating art, actress Demi Moore was the recent victim of credit card theft of more than $169,000. As in the movie, the heist involved a series of cons, including the thief reporting Moore had lost her American Express credit card, intercepting the new card before it was delivered and engaging in lavish shopping sprees at luxury stores, presumably to resell the illegally obtained goods.
While the thief was apprehended, and Moore’s finances were protected, the fact is that her experience is all-too uncommon. Credit card fraud is now the most prevalent identity theft facing all Americans. The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) found that in 2017, credit card fraud increased by 23% over the prior year , with $16 billion unrecovered.