it makes you think about job security. no one is ready to say it will get better. experts say the tipping point is $5 a gallon. people will drive and support the cost until it reaches that threshold. with the national average $3.57 per gallon of regular, chicago at $3.60. miami $3.74. new york city near $4 a gallon and the west coast crossed the $4 mark. the biggest cities, l.a., new york city, chicago, all may see stations selling over $5 a gallon. they don t like to say it but small businesses need to keep layoffs as an option in the face of crippling transportation costs. we consider all possibilities. as a family-owned company we don t want to ever impact our workforce or anything else but we try to be creative with how to solve the problem. the experts say $5 a gallon is off in the future but the
reporter: we ll show you exactly how the crooks swipe your identity, and once they have it how fast and how much they can steal, as we try to catch a new kind of internet predator, the identity thieves. okay. we have a hit on ernesto for $723.74. reporter: one minute, three seconds. do we know what they bought? the pet shops, food and supplies. reporter: that s a well-fed dog in chile. at usaa, we believe honor is not exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one s military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation s military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. there s another way to minimize
we have a hit for $723.74. reporter: to find them, we set up our own delivery service, open hoping that by following stolen merchandise, we d fine some of the thieves. how are you doing today? reporter: but so far the trail has led to middlemen like jeff ball in penn yan, new york who themselves may be pawns. i ve been scammed. you ve been scammed. reporter: with romantic e-mails and eye-catching photos a woman he met on the internet has convinced him to go into business with her, accept packages apparently ordered with stolen credit cards, then forward them on to europe and africa. wendy kenson even convinced him to pay for the shipping. not only has jeff ball helped the thieves in their rip-off, apparently he s been ripped off himself. i got caught up by listening to her. listening to her. did you ever suspect you re part of an identity theft ring or credit card fraud ring?
fraud investigator from the credit card company let us know as soon as the crooks took the bait and started using our cards. they re hitting it. the results, astonishing. cards maxed out in minutes. one of our bait credit cards carried the fake name oscar ernesto. we have a hit on ernesto for $723.74. wow. one minute three seconds. the fraudulent charges were coming from almost everywhere. we had purchases in 16 different countries. every continent except for antarctica, basically. identity theft hitting americans from foreign soil is big business. big business that costs consumers billions and businesses tens of billions worldwide. just ask rodrigo boustos in chile. his store was hit by crooks using one of our bait cards. we covered that charge, but he says his bank has made him absorb thousands in losses to identity thieves.
her name is wendy. she s the face of one of the fastest-growing crimes in the world. and you are her number one target. identity theft hitting americans from foreign soil is big business. reporter: every four seconds an i.d. thief uses a stolen credit card. yours may be next. we have a hit for $723.74. wow. reporter: our year-long investigation reveals the secrets of the trade, how thieves buy, steal, and sell your identity. somebody could get this information, log on to somebody s account, and drain their account. tonight we go looking for wendy herself. ready? ready. as chris hansen launches an international manhunt. i ll call you as soon as i get to zurich. can we crack a crime that costs americans billions? so you did actually receive the home theater system? and can the man wendy duped