The  Albert Lea Police Department is advising residents and businesses to use caution to avoid credit card fraud in the wake of two recent incidents involving cloned credit cards.

When police arrested Emilio Suarez, 51, of Miami in Albert Lea earlier this month, they found dozens of cloned credit cards and approximately $5,000 of products purchased with the cards, found in the rental vehicle Suarez was hiding in.

There was everything from an iPhone, a Go-Pro camera, a computer and a drone, expensive bottles of cologne, alcohol and around $2,000 in gift cards.

According to court documents, Suarez attempted to purchase a $400 Home Depot gift card and two bottles of water fraudulently on Feb. 29. After the purchase was declined, Suarez reportedly used a different card to complete the purchase. A lieutenant viewed the video surveillance and identified Suarez.

Albert Lea Lt. Jeff Strom advised residents to install a text alert on accounts to alert you in the event of a purchase over a certain amount of money.

He said Suarez victimized residents of Rochester, Mankato, Fairmont, Apple Valley, Lakeville and other communities, and added he believes Suarez is only part of a larger credit card fraud scheme across the country.

Suarez has been charged with two counts of financial transaction card fraud.

Suarez’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 11.

Albert Lea Police Department Detective Ben Mortensen said criminals travel the country using  fraudulent credit cards to avoid getting caught.

He said the criminals obtain fraudulent credit cards through multiple avenues, such as from skimmers, Internet purchases, stolen wallets and database breaches.

He advised consumers to make sure they keep track of purses and wallets and make sure Internet purchases are conducted on a secure website to prevent fraud.

Strom said identity theft affects individual credit histories and businesses.

People using the cloned cards will make a small purchase, then make purchases of $400 or more on gift cards or multiple gift cards that add up to high dollar amounts. They may attempt to use multiple cards if some of the cards are declined.

Police said the identification of the people who use cloned cards will reportedly match the name on the card but will be out of state. The cloned cards are reportedly unsigned on the back.

Police advised businesses to verify numbers shown on the front of the credit card by visiting www.binlist.net and entering the first six numbers of the credit card number into the search area of the website.

Business owners are advised to get as much information as possible on the suspect if they suspect fraudulent activity, and, if possible, have someone try to get the license plate of the suspect’s vehicle.

Police said in most cases the cardholders will be unaware that their cards have been compromised until their bills are sent out at the end of the month and they notice thousands of dollars have been charged to their account.