Feds: Philly Woman Central To Major NJ Credit Card Scam

A Philadelphia woman has been busted in the middle of a massive credit card scam.

FBI agents and local police surrounded one of three jewelry stores in Jersey City that investigators say were involved in an international crime ring.

All three stores have since been shut down by federal agents, with the inventory inside confiscated as evidence.

Investigators say they've filed criminal charges against 18 people for their leadership in one of the largest credit card frauds ever uncovered by the Department of Justice.

The U.S. Attorney in Newark, New Jersey says the defendants used fake identities and fake addresses for utility bills to get credit cards. The defendants would then allegedly pay off the cards to boost credit limits, according to investigators.

Agents say the defendants would take out a loan or max out the credit card and then not repay the debt.

The feds say they also crated 80 sham businesses to accept fraudulent credit card payments.

The defendants allegedly obtained more than 25,000 credit cards by fraudulent means and used more than 7,000 false identities. Investigators say the losses caused are at least $2 million, an amount that is considered to be a conservative estimate.