Duo busted at MSP Airport after cloned credit cards spending spree

27-year-old Kedonna Livingston and 26-year-old Shawinsha Ball allegedly flew in from California last week and went on a spending spree in the Twin Cities at places like the Mall of America. The problem is authorities say they did all of it with cloned credit cards, made on a machine using stolen bank account numbers and other people’s identities.

Apparently their plan started to unravel because of a fake Pennsylvania driver’s license Ball used while trying to board a flight back home to California.

According to the criminal complaint, an alert TSA agent at the checkpoint noticed something was off, and then contacted airport police.  Ball eventually admitted she was in the Twin Cities running a hustle. Later, police found Livingston at a nearby gate getting ready to board a flight. Both women were arrested.

“You don’t have to rob a bank to get paid if you’re a criminal,” security expert Mark Lanterman said.

Lanterman says this type of credit card scheme is becoming more common and harder to catch.

“And a lot of departments don’t have the resources to go after these crimes,” he said.

In total, police say, Ball and Livingston were in possession of 37 cloned credit cards, dozens of gift cards, and hundreds of dollars worth of brand new clothing with the tags still attached.  

For experts like Lanterman, they doubt these crimes are going away any time soon.

“This is the crime of the future,” Lanterman said.