Fitty (real name: Curtis Jackson), may not have Jay-Z’s 99 problems, but he’s got recurring trouble over illicit use of his American Express number.
The 35-year-old Jamaica, Queens, native now lives in Farmington, Conn. — where “he’s the biggest star we have,” as one source close to the situation puts it. His prominence in the tiny Nutmeg State may make Jackson a target when it comes to credit-card fraud.
Our source says thieves have tried to use Amex numbers belonging to Jackson to make unauthorized purchases in at least five cities since 2007, including Farmington and Hartford in Connecticut, as well as in New York. The root of Fitty’s problem may be someone who has access to his personal information, adds the source.
Late last year, a man called a West Hartford electronics boutique to order two Sony flat-screen televisions worth approximately $1,000 each, our source says.
When the caller said he was out of state and asked to have the TVs delivered to a Hartford address, store managers became suspicious, the source says, and reported the credit-card number to Amex.
The number belonged to Jackson, and while the card had not been reported stolen, the store’s wary management decided not to deliver the TVs.
Their instincts proved to be on the money. According to the source, Amex eventually got back to the electronics boutique to warn that the digits were indeed pilfered.
When the caller wanted to know why his flat-screens hadn’t been delivered, he was told he could come get them himself.
Two young men arrived in a rented car to pick up the TVs — and cops were waiting to arrest them. The source says they are not believed to be the masterminds behind the attempted crime.
American Express contacted 50 Cent to tell him what happened, and our source says the rapper “left it up to the court” to decide how the two men should be charged.
Frank Canace, a defense attorney for one of the men arrested, Daniel Vargas, said he could not comment on the case because it was still pending, but he confirmed what was in the court record concerning his client.
Canace, who’s also a Connecticut police officer, said he’s been “in court at least three times” when 50 Cent’s name “has popped up as a victim of credit card crime.”
An American Express spokeswoman reiterated that it “will not hold our card members liable for any fraudulent charges.”
A spokeswoman for 50 Cent had no comment.
