The State - News from July 12, 1987

Three teen-agers who allegedly ordered computer equipment valued at more than $100,000 by using stolen credit card carbons were arrested by Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies. A dumpster outside a Santa Clara County store apparently was a prime source for the used credit card carbons, said Sgt. Don Zies. The teen-agers, he said, ordered the computer parts and had them shipped to vacant or empty homes. Officers suspected a scam when they were tipped off by computer companies checking with card holders to see if they had received the ordered parts. The youths, ages 15, 16 and 19, were described as computer whizzes from middle- and upper-middle-class families.