Oct. 29--They operate in groups with names like "The Rack Boyz," posting images of themselves on social media flashing wads of cash and glorifying their bank fraud schemes in rap songs, authorities say.
It's called "cracking cards," a scheme that costs banks millions of dollars. Its roots are on Chicago's South Side, and it is spreading to other cities through word of mouth at parties as well as on Facebook and Twitter.
On Wednesday, federal and local authorities announced charges against 29 Illinois and Indiana defendants after a coordinated investigation into cracking cards schemes.
"Our purpose today is to warn bank customers that fast-cash schemes are usually too good to be true and they should always safeguard their account information," U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon said in a statement. "At the same time, we are putting those persons who engage in this type of illegal activity on notice that debit card fraud can result in serious state or federal charges, which carry severe penalties and consequences."
A federal criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday alleges that the defendants used social media to recruit people with bank accounts or who will open bank accounts to use in the cracking cards scheme. They allegedly sent out numerous private messages and posted messages on their Facebook walls inviting people to participate in the scheme, according to the charges.
After obtaining a debit card and personal identification number for a bank customer's account, the defendants manufactured or bought counterfeit checks to deposit into the account, prosecutors say. The bogus checks often contained legitimate bank account and routing numbers that belonged to the accounts of businesses, the charges allege.
The schemers then deposited -- or recruited someone else to deposit -- the counterfeit checks into the third party's bank account, typically via an ATM transaction. After the bank credited the funds, usually within hours of the deposit, the cash was withdrawn at an ATM, a currency exchange or point-of-sale terminal at a retail store, the charges allege.
Four of the defendants -- Kevin Ford, 26, of Chicago; Cortez Stevens, 24, of Griffith, Ind.; Stephen Garner, 23, of Portage, Ind., and Mikcale Smally, 21, of Chicago -- were identified in the complaint as part of a group that called itself the "Rack Boyz."
The Rack Boyz have Facebook and Twitter accounts and post videos on YouTube, including a rap video titled "For the Money," which refers to cracking cards and shows the defendants wearing Rack Boyz shirts and displaying large amounts of cash, according to the charges. Ford is also associated with a different so-called money team, known as BandKlan, which also has rap videos posted on YouTube, the charges allege.
Ford, who raps under the name Bandman Kevo and tours with big acts such as Twista, appeared in a rap video with the Rack Boyz and has posted numerous photos of himself online holding guns, flashing cash and wearing "expensive jewelry, Gucci items, and other brand-name apparel," the charges allege.
Ford, who authorities said lives in a $4,000-a-month high-rise condo in the Loop, sent out numerous Facebook messages seeking to recruit bank account holders into the cracking cards scheme, according to the charges.
In one message, Ford wrote, "You don't know me but we can make some cash together my brother works at citi bank and he puts money on my account so I could do u a favor and have him put money on your account, " the charges allege.
The charges also allege that Ford posted a message last week on the publicly viewable wall of his Facebook page threatening law enforcement.
