Janesville woman facing felony charges

Amanda Wheelock, 43, is facing felony charges for financial transaction card fraud after opening two credit card accounts in a man’s name without his consent. She was charged with this crime on November 30, 2022, according to the criminal complaint.

Between July 29, 2021 and January 28, 2022, Wheelock opened credit card accounts to Credit One and Capital One. The transactions on those accounts were more than $4,000, which in the state of Minnesota could result in up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.

The victim of the credit card fraud, who remained anonymous in the report, reported the fraud to the Janesville Police Department. He suspected that Wheelock, his mother, was the one who opened the accounts using his name and social security number.

The statement of probable cause says that about three to four weeks prior to visiting the police, he received a credit card bill from Credit One for an account he had not created. He then opened an Experian Application on his phone and found that another credit card had been opened under his name with Capital One.

The victim then called both companies and discovered that Wheelock’s email address had been provided on the applications. The last four numbers of the phone number used to open the accounts also matched Wheelock’s cell phone number. The victim then made a report of fraud to both companies.

When the victim confronted his mother about the accounts, she denied making them. When asked to accompany him to the police department to make the report, she refused.

The male and Wheelock shared a post office box mailing address in Janesville up until the week before the statement of probable cause was filed. The report states Wheelock was always the one to pick up the mail. The report also noted that the man had not lived with Wheelock since graduating from high school, and that she never spoke to him about opening any credit card accounts in his name. He also claimed she had his social security card and when he had asked her for it, she told him she lost it.

Wheelock will make her first court appearance on January 3.