MO sheriff's wife accused of ID theft

Story is from Barton County, where the sheriff's wife is accused of using the Socials of her mother-in-law and a Golden City couple to get an American Express card, which later ran up $14K in debt. In the probable cause, the sheriff's wife denies the report -- she says she got confused when filling out the form, but never stole anyone's Social.

Hat Tip: Many thanks to the Mighty FanDanGo!

Stripper stole disabled woman's ID, bought foreign cars, police say

A BMW and a Maserati, to be specific, worth a grand total of $113K. She's still on the loose, police say. Story is from Texas.

Missouri AG sues to shut down Web site over private info

Jay Nixon says that identity thieves are able to find Social Security numbers from a site called Public Data, which would allow the crooks to get phony credit cards.

The site says its taking down the info -- and note that it's a little funny for the state to be suing, since it was the Department of Revenue that released the information. (DOR says the info was only supposed to be available to banks, credit agencies and related businesses.)

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

KC firefighter accused of identity theft

From the U.S. Attorney's press release:

John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a firefighter with the Kansas City, Mo., Fire Department was indicted by a federal grand jury today for identity theft and credit card fraud.

Mark M. Braden, 38, of Kansas City, was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City.

Today’s indictment alleges that Braden unlawfully used the name and Social Security number of another person on Feb. 28, 2007, in order to commit credit card fraud. Braden allegedly used an American Express card issued in that victim’s name to receive items valued at $1,000 or more betwe! en Feb. 28 and April 15, 2007.

The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Braden to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offenses, including a desktop computer.

Wichita police: Identity thieves target NFL players

Wichita police say identity thieves posed as Dexter Coakley, a former St. Louis Rams, and retired Dallas Cowboys player Gary Sayre to buy motorcycles at dealerships near Wichita.

Crimefighting sisters give ID thieves what-for

I want so badly for this to be turned into a TV show ... Two sisters tracked down the identity thieves who stole the younger one's purse from a Michigan swimming pool, the Macomb Daily reports.

While she was canceling her cards, she learned the thieves had charged about $800 at a local CVS, most of it on makeup. (Sidebar: What the hell, CVS?) The sisters got there too late, but they convinced the manager to show them the security tape.

Meanwhile, one of the sister's friends works at a bank and phoned them a tip about someone trying to access little sister's accounts. The friend was forbidden from saying which branch, but the women quickly deduced there was only one open: the bank at the local Kroger.

They got there just in time to capture the thieves, who tried to run off, only the sisters held them down until police arrived. Did I mention the suspects were still wearing their bikinis?

Police: Woman got 83-year-old high so she could steal her personal info

From The AP: A woman forced an 83-year-old housemate to smoke crack cocaine so she could steal personal information to get a credit card in her name and run up more than $3,000 in charges, authorities said.

Pasco County sheriff's investigators have accused Theresa M. Stanley-Morgan, 41, of getting the older woman to smoke the drug at least twice to make it easier to exploit her financially. Hathaway and a witness told investigators that Stanley-Morgan forced Hathaway to smoke a lit crack pipe - telling her it was the "hooty," the report said.

Hat Tip: Thanks, Doc!

Photocopier duplicates ID theft worries

Photocopiers could lead to ID theft if someone gets hold of the hard drive inside them that sometimes retains images of photocopied documents. Also, if you leave your wallet/purse on top of the copier...

2 women guilty in local ID theft ring

Two women using stolen customer credit information from a local car dealership have pleaded guilty in federal court to ID theft.

The women and other conspirators obtained credit with the stolen data, then bought things at Sam's Club, Target and Home Depot, and applied for cell phone service, prosecutors said.

Barbara DeLuce, 60, Lee's Summit, and Hope Madewell, 28, Overland Park, face up to five years.

News release from U.S. attorney Bradley J. Schlozman's office

3 arrested in JoCo on ID theft charges

Above, from left: Lori Nightingale, Kristyna Kleban, Samantha Arnold

Three women allegedly carrying around identification for 19 people have been arrested in Johnson County and charged with multiple counts of identity theft in Johnson County District Court, authorities said.
The three were taken into custody after a grocery clerk recognized a false military ID, prosecutors said.

Alleged ID theft ringleader named

Stolen customer records from two local firms were the data source, prosecutors said:

Up to 50 persons may be charged
Authorities say they’ve cracked a prolific identity theft operation that relied on phony Kansas driver’s licenses to rack up about $5 million in bad store charges and mortgage loans.
Law enforcement is looking at as many as 50 suspects as part of the investigation. Sixteen persons, all but one from the area, were charged in connection with a 37-count federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, two distinct conspiracies relied on the fake licenses. One group allegedly hit box stores and a car dealership, making off with thousands of dollars in ill-gotten goods. The other used victims’ identities to get mortgages.
Carlton P. Strother, 38, of Kansas City, is accused of being the linchpin, providing the fake driver’s licenses to both operations. He was charged with conspiracy and aggravated identity theft and if convicted faces up to 209 years in prison.

News release from U.S. Attorney Bradley J. Schlozman's office

Your path to lower utility bills: ID theft

High utility bills got you down? Try what Savannah Menzie, 39, Kansas City, is charged with doing:

• 1. Become a mail clerk at the Social Security Administration.
• 2. Use someone's SSN to sign up for KCPL electric service.
• 3. Use another SSN to sign up for MGE gas service.
• 4. What the heck, sign up twice more for another residence.

News release from U.S. Attorney Bradley J. Schlozman's office.

New fed kit on preventing ID theft

Handy announcement in the latest issue of the National Center for Criminal Justice Research and Statistics  newsletter:

• New Identity Theft Kit Available
• AVOID Identity Theft: Deter, Detect, Defend, a Federal Trade Commission education kit, supports federal efforts to reduce the risk of becoming a victim and identifies resources to help identify those who are victims of identity theft. As a federal partner in this campaign, OVC is distributing 4,600 kits in helping to spread the word: Deter, Detect, and Defend.

I don't know if you qualify for a kit, but the site's explanation of how to avoid ID theft is worth a look.