Interesting subject.
I am currently finishing reading a book on 80/90's Colombo associate Carmine Imbriale who was heavily involved in the credit card rackets. He explains in details how the whole thing worked and how he operated his racket. He also said that pretty much every mob guy in Brooklyn had access to these cards.
A few stories regarding the use of fake cards :
- Henry Hill said that Paulie Vario would take his wife to dinner and use a fake card to pay even though he had millions. That's just how these mobsters are, they love the hustle and get a thrill out of it. It's not about getting a free meal, it's about hustling your way out of everything.
- Greg Scarpa was arrested with around 90 fake cards and wasn't prosecuted while Carmine Imbriale, an associate of Cramine Sessa, got caught with 3 cards and got a jailed sentence. This largely contributed to raise the rumours about Scarpa being informant.
Yes indeed. At one time, back in the 1960s through 1990s era, counterfeit and/or stolen credit cards were one of the NY mob's easiest rackets. I won't say everybody dabbled in them, but tons of guys did.
Some got rich through it, some just made extra cash or got perks like you mentioned. But it was a very very lively racket for lots of guys. (I'm sure in many other mob-controlled cities as well)
It was considered easy money.
