Florida Couple Defrauded 14 South Jerseyans In Multi-State Credit Card Scheme: Police

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Florida couple defrauded more than a dozen South Jersey residents through a multi-state credit card scheme, authorities said Monday.

Franklin Township police in Gloucester County say they received multiple reports of credit card fraud targeting customers of a local bank. Through further investigation, they identified Olivia Jean Baptiste and Michael Rampal as the suspects.

To date, 14 victims in South Jersey have been identified, and that number is expected to rise, police said. The suspects fraudulently acquired more than $22,000, according to law enforcement.

Baptiste, 24, of West Park, Florida, and Rampal, 29, of Fort Lauderdale, were arrested Thursday in Pennsylvania on an unrelated drug charge, police said.

The suspects impersonated bank security team members during phone calls to victims and claimed their accounts had been compromised, police said. During the calls, they requested personal information from the victims, saying it was for verification purposes, according to law enforcement.

They used an app to spoof phone numbers and make it appear the bank was calling, police said.

Once they obtained enough personal information, the suspects accessed victims' bank accounts and transferred money onto gift cards, authorities said. They also spent the funds on high-end items at Best Buy in Vineland, police said.

Baptiste and Rampal rented vehicles in Florida and traveled to New Jersey to execute the scheme, police said.

Authorities believe the suspects are linked to similar fraud incidents on the East Coast, and Franklin Township police have been in touch with investigators spanning as far as Massachusetts.

On Thursday, investigators learned that the suspects rented another vehicle and were in Pennsylvania. Their vehicle was stopped in Lower Paxton Township, just outside of Harrisburg.

They were arrested on an unrelated drug charge, police said. But Lower Paxton police executed a search warrant and found a large sum of money and 68 gift cards believed to have been purchased with stolen credit card information, authorities said.

Investigators also found 11 cell phones and a laptop, which were turned over to Franklin Township police.

Baptiste and Rampal were charged with credit card fraud, theft and conspiracy. They are being held in Pennsylvania's Dauphin County Jail, pending extradition to New Jersey.

Attorney information for Baptiste and Rampal wasn't immediately available in online court records.