A night out at a Northwest D.C. bar turned into a bizarre case of credit card theft for one woman, and she says she may not be alone. WUSA9 has reported similar incidents in years past.
Emily, who asked that her last name not be used, says someone stole her credit card from her wallet while she was at a bar with friends about two weeks ago. The theft went unnoticed until hours later, when she received a fraud alert from Capital One.
“I wasn’t like flinging it around,” Emily said. “It was in my purse on my shoulder that night.”
Emily said she was at the bar from about 11 p.m. until 1:45 a.m. and later stayed at a friend’s house. While driving home the next morning, she received alerts for multiple charges.
“Nothing was out of the ordinary,” she said. “And as I was driving home from her house, I got a charge alert from Capital One.”
The charges included nearly $1,600 at an Apple Store in Delaware and another purchase at a Sephora in the same mall. Emily says her friend’s credit card was also stolen that night and hit with fraudulent charges, though both were quickly flagged by their banks.
But the situation became even stranger when Emily tried to verify her own card.
“When I pulled my Capital One card out of my wallet, it wasn’t my card,” she said. “It had someone else’s name on it.”
Emily tracked down the name on the card through social media and reached out. The woman told her the card had been stolen a year earlier at another D.C. bar just blocks away.
Emily believes the thefts may be more organized than they appear, involving quick swaps and what she described as “dummy” cards.
“Some sort of backstock supply of debit cards or credit cards,” she said. “They do an inventory of very common cards and swap yours out with a dummy card.”
She suspects whoever is responsible is skilled, fast, and possibly working as part of a group.
After posting about her experience on TikTok, Emily says her inbox was filled with messages from dozens of people claiming they experienced similar thefts at bars across the District.
“I don’t think it’s fair that when you are going out and trying to have fun, you are getting stuff taken from you,” she said.
The Metropolitan Police Department told WUSA9 they have not seen an uptick in reported credit card thefts. However, police urge anyone who believes they may be a victim to file a police report, as Emily did.
Emily hopes sharing her story will raise awareness and help others protect themselves.