Arrest made for stolen property and identity fraud
Published on September 26th, 2001
STONEHAM, MA - The Attorney General’s Office wants folks to be wary of offers that seem too good to be true.
David Ardolino of Stoneham was arrested in Dec. of 1999 and pled guilty last week to two counts of receiving stolen property and two counts of identity fraud. He pretended to be AOL, offering discounted Internet access in order to steal credit card information and buy himself hundreds of dollars of golf supplies.
Ardolino had the goods delivered to his rented apartment at 110 Summer St., and the feds caught him signing someone else’s name.
Ardolino was fined $1,000 and sentenced to nine months in prison followed by 21 months of probation. Prosecutor Jim O’Brien from the Attorney General’s Criminal Bureau said Ardolino’s past influenced the sentencing, which was stiff for the charges.
O’Brien said people should not give out their credit card information over the Internet without verifying the contacts.
Ardolino posted a bogus offer of AOL service for $5.95 a month with an online purchase form asking for credit card information. Several out-of-state residents responded. One was named Quinn. Ardolino used Quinn’s information to get a credit card. Then he ordered golf balls and golf clubs from chipshot.com — a legit Internet operation.
Part of the order got delayed, and chipshot.com called Quinn to say that the order might not arrive in time for Christmas. Quinn realized what was going on and called the cops. A federal investigator accompanied a delivery driver to the address listed for the golf delivery, 110 Summer St. Ardolino walked out of the house, took the package, signed Quinn, and was arrested.
O’Brien said the feds found the other golf equipment inside Ardolino’s apartment. Some golf balls were missing; he had given them out as Christmas presents.
So as this holiday season approaches, beware of Internet scams and stolen golf balls.
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