Chino Hills Deputies arrest a Fontana man for manufacturing false credit cards

Staff Reports

On Thurs., Mar. 13, Deputies from the Chino Hills Police Station arrested Jamell Roy Howard, 25, of Fontana, on charges stemming from an extensive investigation regarding credit card fraud.  Howard was booked on suspicion of manufacturing false credit cards containing the personal information of more than 30 victims throughout Southern California.

Howard was originally contacted on Feb. 20, after Deputies responded to a report of a subject – later identified as Howard – who had made fraudulent purchases totaling several thousand dollars at the Walgreens at 3320 Chino Hills Parkway. Howard was found to have approximately 60 Visa, American Express, Mastercard and Walmart prepaid gift cards in his possession. Deputies seized the cards for evidence, and released Howard pending the outcome of the investigation.

Deputies discovered the cards had been encoded with the account numbers of the victims. On their face, the cards appeared to be an average gift card; however, the magnetic strip on the back of the card contained the credit card numbers of various victims. Deputies contacted several banking institutions and eventually located more than 30 victims.

After completing the investigation deputies located and arrested Howard near his home in Fontana. He was arrested and booked at West Valley Detention Center.