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Trio Charged In Central Florida Identity Theft Scam

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ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) - Three people have been charged in Orlando with stealing and selling the credit card information of more than 1,800 customers of a company that offers promotional vacations.

Orlando police said their investigation began when an 85-year-old man reported his card had been used by someone who gave the name Chrystie Hall and used the card to rent a vehicle from Thrifty Car Rental at Orlando International Airport. He said his card had been charged $4,000.

Using OnStar, police tracked the car to downtown Orlando where they found Xavier Stephens, 27, and Bridgett Bennifield, 38, with bags of credit card documents. Stephens and Bennifield reportedly told detectives they purchased bags of documents for $100 a bag from Hall, who worked at Preferred Guests Resorts, and then resold each page of credit card documents for $50 a page.

Preferred Guest Resorts attorney Michael Swann says company officials were shocked by the arrest.

Hall has been charged with trafficking in counterfeit credit cards, unlawful credit card lists, grand theft motor vehicle, conspiracy to grand theft and scheme to defraud.

Bennifield and Stephens have been charged with trafficking in counterfeit credit cards, 50 counts of fraud, unlawful credit card lists, grand theft motor vehicle and scheme to defraud.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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