A Minneapolis woman was charged this month by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, with using credit cards stolen from four colleges including St. Thomas.

Latoya Denise Reese, 27, was charged with two counts of identity theft for using the stolen credit and debit cards and illegally charging more than $6,300 since January.

According to a complaint by the Hennepin County District Court, credit cards were stolen from St. Thomas, Bethel University, St. Catherine University and St. Olaf College.

Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman said he did not know details about how the cards were stolen but explained how many credit card thieves are caught on camera.

“One of the really great things about all the surveillance video is that you can show it to the jury, and we’ve got you,” he said. “The defense attorneys know that, so we anticipate that this woman will end up pleading guilty.”

St. Thomas junior Paige Snow said her family experienced credit card theft a few years ago.

“It was my mom’s credit card, and one day the credit card company called and asked her if she was in Chicago making a $500 purchase at some business for prepaid phone cards,” Snow said.

Snow’s mom was not in Chicago, and when the company saw unusually large charges being made, they knew something was wrong. She did not suffer from physical credit card theft but from theft of her credit card number.

“They think that the person that took her card number hacked into some online service where she had purchased something online with her credit card number, and that’s where they got it from,” Snow said.

Sophomore Kristen Farris owns a debit card and has misplaced it before. She said she is lucky that no one was able to use her card, and she has become more aware after the incident.

“I always make sure I know where it is, just so I can cancel it right away if it’s missing. I always check to make sure it’s in my wallet,” she said.

Freeman advised students to act quickly after realizing a credit card is missing or lost.

“When your credit card is stolen or your identity is stolen, you’ve got a mess. So what we do is encourage people to report immediately to your credit card company,” he said. “Then even if there are charges on your account, it’s better to pay for it if you possibly can than to have interest run and your credit ruined.”

Snow said she is also careful with her credit and debit cards after the incident with her mom.

Aside from physical theft, Snow advised others to be cautious online as well.

“Make sure that you’re going to a secure site that has security precautions on their site so that people can’t get into it,” she said.

Freeman said that the court issued a public complaint and a news release to send important information to students and others.

Sophomore Paige Johnson said she is sad to hear that theft occurred on campus.

Johnson owns a credit card that has been misplaced. She said that now she uses her eXpress and flex accounts when making purchases on campus.

“I lost it and then I was like, ‘I should probably stop carrying it with me,’” she said. “Especially since we have our student IDs that can be charged for a lot of things.”

Snow said that now she makes sure not to carry her credit card with her on campus and keeps track of her accounts.

“I usually check my credit card or debit card statements at least once a week online just to make sure there is nothing going on with them,” she said.

Freeman continued to stress the importance that students keep their credit cards and identities safe.

“It was that easy for her to steal credit cards on campus, so people have to watch their credit cards,” he said.

Madeline Carlson can be reached at carl8801@stthomas.edu.