A Schuylkill County woman is charged with identity theft after police say she used a stolen debit card, saved on her jailed son’s phone, to buy gas, books, and something from an adult toy retailer.
Crystal Serfass, 42, of Mahanoy City, faces five counts of identity theft and one count each of access device fraud, receiving stolen property, and theft by unlawful taking.
Police say the card was used for five purchases totaling about $250, including gas at a Schuylkill Haven gas station, purchases from Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million and an order from an online adult toy retailer.
Police say Serfass admitted making the purchases and told an officer she was buying books for her son, who is jailed in Florida on fraud and theft charges.
The investigation began Sept. 14, when the victim came to the police station to report fraud on her M&T Bank debit card, according to police.
The woman told police she last used the card Sept. 10 at a business in Pottsville and Sept. 11 at a Schuylkill Haven pizza shop. On the evening of Sept. 12, M&T Bank’s customer service line called her and asked whether she had made purchases at Barnes & Noble, an online retailer, and Exxon Vista Fuel. She had not, police say.
The bank also told the victim that a $135 charge at JD Sports in the Berkshire Mall and a $50 charge on FanDuel were declined Sept. 11, according to police.
Police determined the charge listed as “Exxon Vista Fuel” came from the Fast Fill in Schuylkill Haven. The store manager found a transaction matching the gas charge at pump 6 shortly before 8 p.m. Sept. 11, and the bank told the victim the payment was made in person by contactless payment, such as Google Pay or Apple Pay, police say.
Surveillance video from the gas station showed a woman putting gas in her vehicle at that pump a few minutes later, according to police.
Police say the vehicle, a 2017 Land Rover in a darker pastel blue-gray color, has distinctive brake lights, and the woman wore her hair in a ponytail offset to one side and appeared to be wearing a Domino’s Pizza uniform. The investigating officer was familiar with an identical Land Rover often parked in front of Domino’s during patrols, and the store manager told police she recognized the hairstyle as one Serfass typically wears.
The officer ran the registration on the Land Rover, which was parked in front of Domino’s, and it came back to Serfass, police say.
When the officer contacted her at Domino’s, Serfass admitted to the Fast Fill transaction and the other charges, according to police. She initially denied using Apple Pay or Google Pay but said she paid using her phone.
Serfass told police her son is jailed in Florida on 99 charges related to fraud, theft, and access device fraud, and that she was buying books for him. She said she kept his cellphone when he went to jail because she owns it and it is on her phone plan.
Police say her son was arrested May 7 by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida on 101 counts.
Asked why she would use payment information saved on her son’s phone knowing he was jailed on fraud and theft charges, Serfass admitted she “should have known better,” police say.
She told police she was unsure whether the payment methods on the phone were valid, so she called her son’s girlfriend, who told her it was fine to use the phone for the purchases.
Serfass said she was aware of her son’s past arrests for theft and fraud and that she would pay the victim back, according to police.
Police say Serfass declined to come to the station to give a written statement and another interview about how her son could have come to possess the victim’s card. She told the officer she was not going to get her son in more trouble if she was getting arrested anyway.
Serfass is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Oct. 27 before Magisterial District Judge Casimir Kosciolek.
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