Columbia House Alias CD Scam

From 1994 to 1998 in New Jersey, a man named David Russo fooled the computers at Columbia House Music Club and BMG Music Service by using 1,630 aliases and 12 mailboxes, tweaking addresses to trigger first-time buyer deals. He paid about $56,000 total to buy CDs, roughly $2.50 per disc, then operated a "CDs for Less" scheme where he sold them at flea markets for about $10 each. After investigators flagged heavy shipments to mailboxes in seven towns and matched handwriting by hand, Russo pleaded guilty to mail fraud in November 1999 and faced up to 18 months in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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