(Christian Science Monitor) - Christian Science Monitor reporter Warren Richey, who visited Jordan following the Sept. 11 terror attacks, paid for his breakfast by credit card at a hotel in Amman. Having furnished his name, card number, and expiration date, Richey found that on the same day he returned to the U.S., someone had used his card to place a $3,100 order for two Russian-made night-vision rifle scopes and a more high-tech miniature night-vision scope. While the order was initially refused because it exceeded the single-purchase limit on the card, a scaled-down version of the same order was submitted a month later and was accepted. Then Richey's colleague, Monitor Jerusalem correspondent Nicole Gaouette, who had visited Amman a few weeks later, had eaten at the same hotel restaurant and paid by credit card, discovered a charge in her name for a $1,800 US-made night-vision scope with infrared capability that was sent to an address in the United Arab Emirates.
2002-06-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive