Posted on 04/02/2005 10:50:49 AM PST by 11th_VA
Gilbert resident Bob Switzer is "constantly worried" about being a victim of identity theft.
"I am always checking my bank accounts to see if there is unauthorized activity, and I get a copy of my credit report once or twice a year," he said. "I also shred any credit-card applications I get in the mail."
Arizona has been documented by the Federal Trade Commission as first in the nation for occurrences of identity theft per capita.
In 2002, Arizona had 4,517 reported cases of identity theft, which means that 88 out of every 100,000 people were victimized by this crime.
Gilbert Crime Prevention Specialist Vickie Owen said the town's statistics for identity crimes mirror those of Arizona as a whole. Even though Arizona is one of 10 states that classifies identity theft as a felony crime, it doesn't seem to stop these criminals.
"We have thousands of victims in Gilbert," she said. "Credit-card fraud, mortgage fraud and Social Security fraud have increased, and they all fall under ID theft."
How it occurs
Identity crimes can come in many different sizes and types; all a criminal needs to steal someone's identity is a few key pieces of information about the person: name, address, date of birth and Social Security number. All or a combination of a few can lead an identity thief to quickly assuming a new name.
Once criminals have any of this information, they most often obtain credit cards in the victim's name, steal money from existing accounts, apply for loans, establish new accounts, rent apartments, buy buildings and land, or file bankruptcy.
According to Ms. Owen, a victim's Social Security number is the most sought-after piece of information by a criminal. With that number, criminals can easily assume the identities of their victims without their knowledge.
In 2001, 46,839 Social Security number thefts were reported to the Federal Trade Commission, and that number keeps growing.
When criminals steal a victim's wallet, they are very likely to be able to commit Social Security theft, Ms. Owen said.
"Having your Social Security number on your driver's license is a huge problem," she said. "Don't carry your Social Security card in your wallet either."
By simply lifting the Social Security number off the victim's driver's license or their Social Security card, the thief can then easily assume the identity of the victim.
Another big attraction to identity thieves: visible credit-card numbers.
"Many people don't know that in January a federal privacy act was put into law, requiring all businesses to only have the last four digits of your credit-card number on your receipt," Ms. Owen said. "If you catch a business using your entire number, you can call your credit-card company to report that business."
Our high-tech age
Many cases of identity theft begin with the consumer not being careful enough.
Ms. Owen points out that because of all the technology that has emerged in our society, these crimes have become easier for criminals to commit.
"Ten years ago, the criminals would have to put themselves in danger to rob someone," Ms. Owen said. "But now, they don't have to leave their homes."
Through available programs such as CreditMaster, identity thieves can punch in the first four numbers of a credit card, and are given 10,000 possible numbers, 70 percent of which are accurate numbers.
The Internet has also produced some well sought-after information for criminals. Now, many government documents are posted online as public records, giving otherwise private information to potential identity thieves.
This newer technology is giving criminals the upper hand when it comes to scamming people.
Many of the more notable scams are ones where the criminals set up Internet sites almost identical to well-known and well-trusted sites. Most recently, thieves have lifted images off of sites such as PayPal and eBay to make their own mirror-sites, to fool the general public.
In a recent scam, one of these criminals set up an Internet site looking identical to PayPal's site. They then sent out spam e-mails to many consumers, asking them to "confirm" their information with PayPal or their accounts would be closed in five days.
Ms. Owen said many people have fallen for this scam, and some similar scams.
According to the FTC, many of these fake sites will have Web addresses similar to the sites they are copying, which doesn't help the consumer distinguish between the legitimate and fake sites. They recommend computer users not give out their credit-card information to anyone over the Internet unless they have initiated the contact with the person or company and they have a well-established relationship with them.
Ms. Owen offered more advice to consumers about purchasing items through the Internet. She advised consumers to only purchase through companies with a good reputation, and through companies that complete transactions in secure connections.
Mail fraud
Many of the preventable identity crimes in Arizona occur through mail theft. As the leading state in the nation, Arizona suffers 40 percent of all mail thefts nationwide. Mail theft occurs most often when thieves break into large-volume mail receptacles.
Federal Postal Inspector Robert Maes said Arizona leads the nation in large-volume mail theft because the state has a higher per capita number of mail lockboxes than any other state.
When lockboxes were originally designed 25 years ago, their sole purpose was to have a box to protect the mail from getting wet from the rain, but as criminals emerge in our society, a need for secure, lockboxes continues to grow.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Agency has been working to install new, more secure locking boxes in many locations across the Valley.
These newer mailboxes are now in place in Gilbert, and Mr. Switzer said they grant him peace of mind.
"They are much more secure than the old ones," he said. "I like the added security feature in them for leaving large packages, because you have to have a key to gain access to them."
Federal Postal Inspector Pat Armstrong said $12 million has been spent to install 5,000 of the new high-security mailboxes so far in the Valley.
"Since we began installing these high-security boxes in 2002, we have not had one of them defeated," she said. "In 2001, before we began installing the new boxes, we had 2,588 break-ins. Last year, we had 544 break-ins. So each year we are seeing a decrease with these new mailboxes."
Break-ins to lockboxes are the biggest problem in mail theft, but the problem does exist in other locations with curbside boxes as well.
Ms. Armstrong suggests citizens purchase a retrofit locking mechanism at any home-improvement store to keep their mail safe during the daytime because this is often when criminals strike mailboxes the hardest.
Most often, these criminals will steal single pieces of mail with important information from residences to build a new identity.
"I've seen cases where (criminals) will steal pre-approved credit cards from the mail, activate them and wait," Mr. Maes said. "They will steal the mail from that person until the credit card comes."
After receiving the pre-approved credit cards, criminals have wide access to account information, which often leads to large spending sprees using the victim's identity.
Mr. Maes suggested that all residents check their mail daily, and if they see anything suspicious, report it to the U.S. Postal Inspection Agency at (602) 223-2660.
Preventative measures
Even though identity theft can sometimes be an unpreventable crime, there are a few safety measures that can be taken to prevent a consumer from falling victim to identity theft.
Ms. Owen recommends:
l Always shred documents that contain important information; many times criminals find information about a person's identity by "dumpster diving" and finding these types of papers.
l Avoid leaving outgoing mail in the mailbox. Oftentimes, these items can be stolen without the victim's knowledge. Also, retrieve mail from the mailbox daily, which prevents information-sensitive items such as credit-card statements from falling into the hands of thieves.
l When paying for a meal at a restaurant, hand credit-card receipts directly to the server instead of leaving them on the table.
l Keep a list of credit-card account numbers and phone numbers in a safe place at your home. In case you do become a victim, this information will be readily available for you to report to your creditors.
l Have annual credit checks done to make sure all items present are supposed to be there.
The FTC also gives victims a list of measures to take to help prevent identity theft from occurring again. Their suggestions include:
l Opt out of pre-screened credit-card offers by calling 1-888-567-8688.
l Opt out of e-mail solicitations by visiting www.dmaconsumers.org/offemaillist.html. By submitting your e-mail address, solicitation e-mails will be drastically reduced for one year.
l Don't carry your Social Security card with you; keep it in a secure place and memorize the number.
l For passwords, avoid using easily obtainable information such as addresses, birth dates, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, or series of consecutive numbers.
If you become a victim
If you discover you have become a victim of identity theft, immediately call the three major credit-reporting bureaus to mark your credit reports with possibly fraudulent activity.
l Equifax - www.eqifax.com; 1-800-525-6285.
l Experian - www.experian.com; 1-888-397-3742.
l Trans Union - www.transunion.com; 1-800-680-7289.
These credit-reporting bureaus will immediately send you a free copy of your credit report to look for any unauthorized activity.
Ms. Owen also recommends that victims of identity theft keep a log of everyone they have contacted with times, dates and notes about the conversation. A log sheet is available at the Gilbert Police Department, 75 E. Civic Center Drive.
The next step is to report the suspected identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission to fill out an ID Theft Affidavit, in order to ensure that you do not become responsible for the accrued debts on your account. The FTC also keeps an identity-theft database with the names of all the victims and suspects, in order to help resolve matters more easily.
To report an identity theft to the FTC, call 1-877-438-4388.
We're number one!
The article didn't make the connection but it occurs to me that there is a lot of identity theft associated with illegal immigration and it comes as no surprise that these particular locations with the highest occurrences of identity theft also have among the highest concentrations of illegals.
These are just good hearted people who came to America to do the jobs that Americans won't do.
Yeah, like these guys:
Mail Theft Called Epidemic In Monterey County
MONTEREY, Calif. -- Oscar Luna, of Soledad, was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday after pleading no contest to burglary, mail theft and identity theft charges. Yesenia Reulas, of Salinas, was also sentenced to five years. The two are just a few examples of a rise in identity theft cases, according to authorities. Police estimate that 9 million Americans are now victims of identity theft, and authorities are having a hard time finding the people doing it because it's such a hard crime to track.
http://www.theksbwchannel.com/news/4274360/detail.html
San Beranadino/Riverside County is number two in the nation.
I rwad an article similar to this months ago. Most of the victims are Hispanics. It was written to make us feel bad for the "poor guy" who snuck over, stole someone else's identity, had a job, home, and family. Now he must go back to Mexico. Oh! Boo-hoo!
No you are not the only one. I see the connection. Anyway, what really alarms me is after you move. Credit card offers keep coming for the previous tenants and I keep sending them back and they still keep coming. what I would recommend is to call that number to reduce the number of pre-approved credit card offers.
I would welcome identity theft. I am tired of being me.
Why in the name of all reason are the victims of such fraud not allowed to change their social security numbers?
1. Your number will never change.
2. You must reveal your number to many people.
3. Anyone who knows your number can impersonate you.
Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this system?
On Tom Martino's Troubleshooter radio program several months ago, he asked his audience if they could guess who the leading perps in ID theft were. It wasn't service workers, and it wasn't friends or family. It was illegals, which is why the government has been quiet on the issue.
My guess is Arizona's identity theft problem is mostly illegal alien Hispanics stealing the identity of other Hispanics. Anglo names/identities won't work for their scams
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