The credit Card

The credit Card

Time has been lean, the local police have asked the residents to contact them if they see any signs of cannabis crops. The drug lords moved their activities to another remote area. Cop and drug lords were playing a cat and mouse game.

Jeff Tomlinson was just a small fry in a complex net work. His job was a petty grower whose job was to clear small parcels of bush and grew the herb. Detective Peter Jackson said that although the rate of cannabis-related convictions had dropped, police were still keen to put drug growers behind bars.

Jeff had just managed to escape by the skin of his teeth when his best friend, Poppy growled when they were sleeping in the lean-to as they guarded their crop of gold. Poppy’s growling warned him that someone was coming in this deserted bush, and man and dog took off as fast as they could before.

His boss told him to lie low, someone had dobbed on them, and the last crop was found by the police and removed and burnt. Shit! The cannabis, all twenty thousand dollars of cannabis went up in smoke. Yes, it was all up in smoke.

The bigwigs did not want him hanging around them, and rented an old cottage for him to chill out until they found another patch of bush for him to grow the precious crop. Jeff was bored, he did not know anyone in the town.

Then Santa claus came early. Courier service came and gave him a small envelope. Jeff thought that his boss had been generous and gave him a present even though he had not been working for months. He signed for the parcel and quickly ripped opened the package.

To his surprise, it was a Mastercard credit card. It wasn’t his, it had the name Gary Hudson on it. But no body would know. He promptly went on a shopping spree. He had been bored stiff hiding in the cottage, and headed straight to the electronic store and bought a PlayStation Portable video game player.

Jeff was a bit nervous during the transaction, when the clerk took his credit card.

“I am just excited about getting home and play the PlayStation,” Jeff told the clerk.

“I understand, everyone, man and child, is thrilled to bits to get a PlayStation.”

Jeff called on the girl working at the local bar, and flashed his plastic card, “Come, Sharon, I will buy you a steak dinner and then we head back to my place to play Playstation.”

Sharon called to the landlord, “Pete, my mum’s sick, she wants me home.”

Before Pete could say anything, Sharon had taken off her apron and was out of the door. They headed straight to the licensed restaurant. Jeff ordered oysters on the rocks as starters, and a T bone steak. Sharon had shrimp cocktail and a filet mignon. To wash down the food, they had a Sauvignon Blanc.

Jeff couldn’t wait to play his PlayStation. He didn’t want his dessert.

“Come on! Sharon eat up.”

“What’s the hurry? Cops coming?”

“Sharon, I told you before, never ever mention the word cops!!!!!”

Jeff was nervous again when he handed the credit card to the waiter.

Sharon jokingly mentioned, “He is like a little boy who can’t wait to play his

PlayStation.”

The waiter replied, “He is not alone, I play it all the time when I am not working.”

Jeff took Sharon to the little cottage.

“Ewwwwww! You bring me to a pig sty, no way am I going to stay here for one minute.”

“Okay! Okay! Let’s check in at the local motel then,” Jeff was really ashamed of the

cottage that which he had never bothered to clean.

They checked into the Rainbow Motel, and Jeff wanted to play his PlayStation straight away.

“Jeff, you stink, how long have you no have a bath, huh?” Sharon asked and coaxed him to have a long bath.

“You are worst than my mum, always nagging about me.”

Eventually, after a romp in bed, Jeff got to play his PlayStation.






The man suspected of using the credit card.

A man who received a credit card sent to the wrong address promptly went on a $1200 spending spree, buying a PlayStation Portable, pizza and a night in a motor inn with his girlfriend.

Police are hunting for the Auckland man, and the bank has apologised for its blunder.

The man accepted a courier parcel containing a Visa credit card meant for another bank customer.

Westpac bank, which had apparently listed the card owner's address incorrectly, said yesterday that it would cover the costs incurred.

The owner of the card, who did not want to be named, said his bank statement showed the man went straight to an electronics store, where he bought a Playstation Portable video game player.

He later ordered two Hell pizzas - a "Pandemonium" and a "Lust" - and other snacks totalling $51.50, before visiting a video store and going to a Penrose motor inn, where he spent the night with his girlfriend. He also topped up his mobile phone account using the credit card, giving himself a $100 credit.

The victim said he called several of the places the man visited when he checked his bank balance and realised he had about $800 less than he should have had.

He called the bank to ask what was going on and was baffled when staff told him someone was using his card as he still had it in his wallet.

Westpac said yesterday that the man ordered the new card, but he insisted he had not.

But Westpac spokesman Craig Dowling admitted the bank had made a mistake with the man's address because it usually sent correspondence to his post office box - which courier parcels such as the credit card cannot be sent to.

Due to the fact it was Christmas, the bank aimed to courier the card to the customer as quickly as possible to avoid any inconvenience caused by lack of funds.

The bank would cover the cost.

Police fraud staff and the bank urged customers to inform their bank when they moved house, so they always had the most up-to-date address.

Auckland City police fraud collater and analyst Roy Parker said "interceptions" - where people took credit cards intended for other people - were "not unusual".

Police said they were following strong leads but were keen to hear from anyone who knew the whereabouts of the man pictured, who is suspected of using the card during the spree between January 4 and 6.