Alleged leader of Target REDcard fraud scheme pleads guilty to conspiracy

A man accused of operating a credit card-making “lab” out of his Sacramento garage has admitted to a fraud conspiracy involving unauthorized use of Target REDcard account numbers.

Frank Her, 38, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to conspiracy to commit access-device fraud, possession of device-making equipment and possession of stolen mail, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.

Her was identified in court documents as the leader of an organization of up to 50 people who created fraudulent credit cards, and stole mail and the victim’s identities. He was specifically accused of conspiring to traffic in and use unauthorized Target REDcard account numbers to purchase expensive items, including electronics, at Target locations throughout the Sacramento area.

Activities conducted at Her’s garage “lab” included operating device-making equipment to create fake credit, debit, gift and other banking cards, as well as falsifying government identification documents and washing checks, the news release said. Her created fraudulent Target REDcards in his garage and gave them to co-conspirators to use to make purchases.

Her learned an algorithm that revealed how to create working Target REDcard account numbers and encoded those account numbers onto blank cards without authorization from Target or the account holders, the news release said. To avoid detection, he often sent co-conspirators to Target. If Her went himself, he wore disguises.

Her was the last of seven defendants to plead guilty in the fraud scheme. He is to be sentenced Oct. 5 by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley.

The case resulted from an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Alleged leader of Target REDcard fraud scheme pleads guilty to conspiracy."