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Man memorizes 1,300 credit card numbers to steal money

DUBAI: In what seemed like something from “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” a man has been arrested after police established he stole 1,300 credit cards and used them to live the life.

No, he did not physically take the plastics nor did he use intricate electronic skimmers nor scripted an online scam.

What 34-year-old part-time mall cashier Yusuke Taniguchi did was befuddling – in fact, even extra-terrestrial, if you will, as it puts renowned American check forger- turned-FBI lecturer, Frank William Abagnale Jr., the focus of Steven Spielberg’s “Catch Me if You Can,” to shame.

Taniguchi memorized the credit cards’ numbers. Yes, all 16 numbers of each one of the 1,300 plastics, plus other details like security codes and expiration dates, according to New York City-based media group Gizmodo, citing a report from Tokyo’s SoraNews24.

There’s an ongoing debate whether Tanaguchi who works in Kōtō, in Tokyo, Japan, has a photographic memory, or one that simply allows him to accurately remember details as police found a notebook with all the numbers in it.

Regardless, what was certain was that Tanaguchi was able to memorize the customers’ names and all other pertinent details.

Police said Taniguchi admitted using the credit card information to buy goods that he would later sell at a pawn shop for his living expenses.

How he was arrested was a story that totally runs counter to his being Abagnale’s nemesis. In fact, it was so stupid it could make a good episode in America’s Dumbest Criminals reality TV show.

Tanaguchi had his purchased goods shipped directly to his apartment, enabling police to follow a trail that led to his door.

Staff Report

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