Police: Women used fake credit cards to steal $70K

Durham, N.C. — Durham police were searching Friday for two women they said used counterfeit credit cards to make cash withdrawals from banks.

The women go to banks and attempt to make cash withdrawals of $5,000 or $8,000 from a credit card. When the credit card is declined, the women tell the teller to call the customer service number on the back of the card, police said.

The person who answers the phone tells the teller how to override the transaction and then authorizes the cash withdrawal. Investigators said they believe the customer service number actually is answered by an accomplice in the fraud.

The women have defrauded banks in Durham, Raleigh, Wilmington and New Bern in the past six months, police said. Investigators  said losses total about $70,000.

One woman uses a California identification with the name Natalie Monique Robinson, police said. The second uses the name Jelyenne Gomez.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call Investigator A.H. Holland Jr. of the Durham Police Department at 919-560-4440, extension 254, or Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200.