HARRISBURG – Two men are charged with stealing nearly $100,000 from Lowe’s stores across eastern Pennsylvania stores through a customer account takeover scheme, according to the Pa. Attorney General’s office.
Jose Gomez and Ysaias Arajuo were charged Thursday with felony counts of corrupt organizations, organized retail theft, theft by unlawful taking, along with other related offenses, according to officials. Gomez is in custody; a warrant was issued for Arajuo’s arrest.
The Attorney General’s office says that the men were involved in at least 56 retail thefts at 18 Lowe’s stores in Bucks, Lehigh, Luzerne, Northampton, Monroe, Montgomery, Philadelphia and Pike counties. They used self checkout kiosks to pay for purchases — using information stolen from Lowe’s customer accounts.
“These defendants orchestrated a sophisticated scheme that targeted unsuspecting customers as well as Lowe’s businesses across numerous counties,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Organized retail theft impacts consumers who will be forced to pay higher prices for goods as businesses raise prices to recover losses. I applaud the dedicated efforts of our Organized Crime Section for ensuring this pair is brought to justice.”
Investigators discovered Gomez and Araujo utilized the self-check kiosk to make purchases using their cell phones, which were linked to stolen customer accounts, according to the press release.
When customers whose accounts were stolen received bills with fraudulent charges, they disputed the purchases with the bank that issued their Lowe’s card. The bank declined payment to Lowe’s, leaving the company to absorb the cost of the theft, according to officials.
The total amount of the loss to Lowe’s is $99,689, the Attorney General’s office reports.
Warrington Township Police Department assisted with the investigation.