A restaurant waitress was accused of using a customer’s credit card information to make unauthorized purchases that, according to Cam Stories TV’s account of the case, eventually totaled about $190,000.
The investigation began after a customer and a family member realized they had accidentally swapped nearly identical JetBlue Barclays credit cards after dining out. What first looked like a simple mix-up soon led them through a list of unexplained purchases, including an airline ticket that appeared to point directly back to the restaurant where the card had been used.
Cam Stories TV’s host said the case unfolded after officers were called to investigate allegations that a restaurant employee had manually entered a customer’s card information to buy flights and other items.
The woman denied knowing how the charges appeared on the victim’s account. But detectives confronted her with flight details, a travel itinerary, social media information, and the fact that the ticket appeared to have been booked using the customer’s card.
She was ultimately charged with grand theft, credit card fraud, and identity theft, according to the channel. Those are allegations, and she is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
A Swapped Card Starts the Investigation
The customer, identified in the footage as Mr. Hanna, told detectives that he and a family member had gone out to eat on June 21, 2025.
Both men had similar JetBlue Barclays credit cards, with one card issued in each person’s name. At some point after splitting the bill, they apparently mixed up the cards.
The mistake did not become clear until weeks later, when they began reviewing the transactions tied to the account.
Mr. Hanna told the detective that he and his family member went line by line through the charges to determine which purchases were legitimate and which were not.
His relative reportedly remembered using the card at only a few locations, including Walmart and the restaurant where they had dined.
Then they found charges that neither man could explain.
One transaction involved JetBlue. At first, the family member recognized one restaurant-related charge and agreed to repay it. But other airline charges did not fit his travel history.
There was also a small movie-ticket transaction, which helped show that the card information may have been used more than once.
The family did what many victims of card fraud are forced to do: they disputed the charges, canceled the compromised card, and began tracing every unexplained purchase.
An Airline Ticket Leads Back to the Restaurant
The most important clue came from the JetBlue transaction.
Mr. Hanna told the detective that the account statement included an e-ticket number. Using that number, the family was able to identify information connected to the passenger on the flight.
The credit card company also reportedly helped provide the name attached to the purchase.
That name was then searched on social media.
According to Mr. Hanna, the name led them to an Instagram and Facebook profile connected to the same restaurant where the card had been used.
The alleged connection became even more suspicious because the airline ticket was not a normal card-present transaction. Mr. Hanna said the credit card company told him the charge had been manually entered rather than swiped, tapped, or inserted into a payment terminal.
That detail mattered.
A manually entered card number can indicate that someone had access to the account information without physically possessing the card. In a restaurant setting, customers often hand cards to staff or use payment terminals close to employees, creating opportunities for dishonest workers to see or record the details.
The victim told detectives he did not know the woman whose name appeared on the ticket and had never authorized her to use the card.
He also said he wanted to pursue charges.
Detectives Question the Waitress
Cam Stories TV’s footage then shifts to detectives speaking with the restaurant employee, identified in the interview as Lena Amalia Perez Martinez.
Detective O’Connor and Deputy Cruz questioned her about a transaction tied to the customer’s visit on June 29.
The detectives asked whether she had been the server for the table. She said she worked at the restaurant but did not appear to remember the customer.
The officers then asked how credit-card payments were normally handled.
Perez Martinez said customers usually used the payment terminal themselves. She denied taking cards away from the table and insisted that customers inserted or tapped their cards directly.
That answer created the central question of the investigation.
If the customer had not handed over the card and the transaction had been entered manually, detectives wanted to know how the card number was allegedly connected to a JetBlue ticket.
They showed her information involving a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Santo Domingo, with travel dates listed as July 20 through Aug. 5.
Detectives said the airline ticket had been paid for using the customer’s credit card.
Perez Martinez denied booking the flight.
“I haven’t used that card because I don’t even recognize the person,” she said through the questioning.
But Detective O’Connor told her the issue was not whether she personally knew the customer. The question was how the customer’s card information had been used to purchase travel connected to her.
The Santo Domingo Flight Becomes the Key Evidence
The questioning became more direct when detectives asked Perez Martinez about her travel to the Dominican Republic.
She said she traveled to the Dominican Republic monthly and stated that her mother was in Santo Domingo.
Detectives then returned to the flight information.
They pointed out that the travel itinerary involved a JetBlue flight to Santo Domingo and appeared to include multiple passengers. They also said the card number ending in the customer’s digits had been used to pay for the booking.
Perez Martinez maintained that she did not know how the card information had been used.
Detectives asked who completed the booking and entered the traveler names, dates of birth, and other information required for an airline reservation.
“I don’t know,” she answered.
The detective then told her that the evidence placed her in a difficult position. The flight did not appear to be an unrelated transaction; it appeared tied to a trip connected to her personal travel plans.
At one point, the detective gave her what he called her last chance to tell the truth.
“You either want to tell me the truth or not,” he said, “but I know what happened.”
She still denied knowingly using the card.
Why Small Clues Can Build a Major Fraud Case
The case is a reminder that credit-card fraud investigations are often built from ordinary details that only look significant once they are placed together.
A customer noticed charges. An airline ticket had an e-ticket number. A credit card company provided a name. Social media appeared to connect that name to the restaurant. The flight destination reportedly lined up with the employee’s regular travel.
None of those pieces alone automatically proves a crime.
But together, they gave detectives a roadmap for investigating whether the card information was stolen at the restaurant and then used remotely for unauthorized purchases.
The case also highlights why customers should review statements quickly, especially after cards are used at businesses where many people may have access to personal payment information.
A fraudulent transaction can be difficult to spot when it is small. But a small charge may lead to a much larger pattern if the card number is stored, copied, or used repeatedly.
Mr. Hanna said he had already canceled the card and was waiting for the billing cycle to close so he could see whether any more questionable charges appeared.
That is often the most stressful part for victims: realizing that the purchases they can see may not be the only ones made.
Charges Follow the Investigation
According to Cam Stories TV, Perez Martinez was charged with grand theft, credit card fraud, and identity theft.
The footage does not provide a final court outcome, plea, or conviction, so the case should not be treated as resolved.
Still, the investigation shows how a family’s careful review of a credit card statement turned into a criminal complaint involving a restaurant visit, an airline ticket, and a trail of personal information that detectives believed connected the transactions to one employee.
The alleged fraud may have started with a single card number, but the losses described by the channel were enormous.
For the customer, the case began as a confusing billing problem after a family card mix-up. For detectives, it became an alleged theft investigation that followed the money from a restaurant table to a flight booked for another country.
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, John developed a love for the great outdoors early on. With years of experience as a wilderness guide, he’s navigated rugged terrains and unpredictable weather patterns. John is also an avid hunter and fisherman who believes in sustainable living. His focus on practical survival skills, from building shelters to purifying water, reflects his passion for preparedness. When he’s not out in the wild, you can find him sharing his knowledge through writing, hoping to inspire others to embrace self-reliance.
