Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/336863
The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has arrested two Lee County men whom watchful Walmart Loss Prevention employees caught allegedly committing credit card fraud, the office has announced. Walmart personnel noticed that as the two suspects bought gift cards, they cycled through multiple credit cards, using a differ- ent one each time a transaction was declined, a news release explains. Walmart personnel contacted the Sheriff's Office Tactical Unit, which responded along with Patrol deputies. The officers found both suspects at a rental vehicle, the release continues. Deputies dis- covered numerous gift cards, 33 fraudulent credit cards, unopened merchandise and approximately $3,700 in cash, the release adds. Responding detectives then "found receipts that show the suspects used cloned credit cards at Walmart and Home Depot on Cattlemen Road [on June 23] and at other retailers this month" between Sarasota and the rest of Southwest Florida, the release says. Demarcus Smith, 26, of Fort Myers, and George Joyner, 34, of Lehigh Acres, are both charged with two counts of Trafficking in Counterfeit Credit Cards. Smith is also charged with Violation of Probation because he is under state supervision after being A four-digit number on the back of a credit card indicates the number of times the account information on the magnetic strip of a cloned card has been changed, Sheriff's Office detectives say. Contributed photo LEE COUNTY MEN ARRESTED ON CREDIT CARD FRAUD CHARGES CRIME BLOTTER