A hotel receptionist in Manchester was apprehended by police after he tried to eat the evidence of his crimes. Alain Tchokote, a front desk worker at the Ibis Hotel on Manchester’s Princess Street, had been writing down customers’ bank details and sending them to a collaborator in France.
The credit card information was used to make fraudulent purchases. Police believe that over £1,700 worth of products were purchased using credit cards stolen from more than half-a-dozen guests. The credit card information was sold to a French fraudster who used it to defraud innocent victims that stayed at the hotel.
Interestingly, Tchokote’s scheme wasn’t exposed by police or investigators as part of a deliberate investigation. After a domestic incident, the 28-year-old was held at Central Park police station. Police officers noticed him chewing something and, in order to prevent destruction of evidence, recovered a document containing bank and credit card information on hotel guests.
The officer that noticed the bizarre evidence eating initially thought Tchokote was trying to dispose of illegal drugs. The front desk worker later admitted that he had sold more than 15 ‘lots’ of credit card data to the French fraudster he collaborated with during his scam.
Tchokote’s audacious scam has cost him his job, a career in hospitality, and a lot of his time. The credit card fraudster received a 12-month suspended sentence and a 150-hour community service requirement.
The credit card scam is one of several to have occurred recently. In the US, retail chain Target was recently affected by a major computer security failure that left millions of its customers exposed to credit card fraudsters. American retail chain Neiman Marcus was also targeted by hackers in an attempt to access millions of credit card account details.
