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Remember LifeLock? That's the identity-protection company that launched a major ad campaign featuring -- Ta-Da! -- their CEO's Social Security number. (Posted above!) The obvious message being, we're so confident of our service that we'll even put our OWN Social out there for public consumption.

Except that somebody has managed to misuse those digits after all. The company says there was at least one breach; critics say it's something closer to 20. LifeLock is now facing a class-action lawsuit, saying its ad campaign overpromised.

Saw this via QuizLaw!

Young lovahs stole IDs to finance jet-setting lifestyle, police say

This is an update of a story we had a few months ago from Philly. A young couple, Jocelyn Kirsch, 22, and Edward K. Anderton, 25, allegedly stole $120K through identity theft, which let them travel the globe and buy things that God did not intend for 20-somethings to be able to afford. Authorities say Kirsch and Anderton have signed plea deals.

Hat Tip: Many thanks to the Invincible Golfer!

In this undated photo released by the Philadelphia Police Department, shown is Jocelyn Kirsch,and Edward Anderton of Everett Wash. Kirsch, and Anderton, accused of stealing the identities of more than 16 people to live expensively and travel the world in style have agreed to plead guilty to federal charges, an attorney said Monday may 12, 2008. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Police Department, HO, File)

IA woman used stolen credit card to pay court fines, police say

Ah, stupid crooks, I've missed you ...

Dumb criminals du jour

Why would you steal someone's backpack, then their identity, then show up at their front door? (Yes, these suspects got caught.)

Hat tip: Thanks, eephus!

| Sara Shepherd

Identity thief charged $100K in three days at Target, Home Depot

Sharlita Y. Proctor, 31, of Vallejo, Calif., is getting three years, five months for her part in a credit card scheme. She flew to Kansas City last summer and used stolen credit-card numbers to buy nearly $100K in electronics and gift cards at Target, Home Depot and other businesses -- in three days, U.S. Attorney John Wood's office reports.

KC woman stole customer info from OP bank for identity-theft scheme, authorities allege

A grand jury has indicted two Kansas City residents -- Kimberly Ann Mavis, 30, and Jerry Bagby, 51 -- of running an identity-theft scam, U.S. Attorney John Wood's office reports. Mavis allegedly stole customer information from Premier Bank in Overland Park, where she worked. Then she and Bagby would buy things at Best Buy, Sears and other stores in those customers' names, then sell merchandise and pocket the cash, authorities allege.

Report: Most identity thieves aren't using the Internet

There's a new study out today that looks at identity thieves and how they operate. Lot of good stuff here, including a profile of the "typical" identity thief.

I think the most important point is that most identity thieves aren't using the Internet, though that it is part of the problem. Instead, they use change-of-address cards to get your mail and private information. They also go Dumpster-diving or steal mail.

Here's a link to the group that did the study -- with any luck, a full version should be available online later.
And here's a site with more information about identity theft.

Footage of suspect in Gladstone credit-card theft

Video is available here.

From Glenn Rice's report: Gladstone police are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a woman suspected of stealing a credit card and making a series of transactions.

Police said that on July 24 the victim told investigators she parked her car at a park and began walking on a trail. While she was gone, someone broke into the trunk of her car and stole her purse. Investigators think the stealing occurred between 5:15 and 5:45 p.m., said Sgt. Richard King, police spokesman.

KC police investigate credit-card theft

Kansas City police want to interview this woman and man in connection with an identity theft from last month.

Someone went into a Plaza office building and pilfered an unattended purse. (A KCPD investigator says this is the second such case in that neighborhood.)  The victim's cards were later used at a local Wal-Mart. Detectives want to interview the people pictured above because they were caught on the store's surveillance cameras. The man and woman were seen leaving the store in a silver or grey PT Cruiser.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS. Surveillance video is available here.

Police: Detroit woman borrowed more than roommate's shirt

A Detroit woman is accused of posing as her dead roommate for weeks after the other woman's death from a heroin overdose. Authorities say she even called up the dead woman's father, told him everything was OK and then asked him for money.

This is not Brittany Ossenfort

According to the Orlando Sentinel, this is Richard Lester Phillips, a former roommate of the real Ossenfort. She says he used her name when he dressed up like a woman and was arrested on suspicion of prostitution. (Best Part: When he needed bailing out, he didn't just call Ossenfort, but her boss, too, she said.)

Unfortunately, the sheriff's department can't change the name in their arrest database because of some policy.

4 charged in alleged JoCo check-forgery ring

Four people have been charged with conspiracy to commit identity fraud after they allegedly rented a hotel room and printed off counterfeit checks, the JoCo DA's office reports. Those charged include Lyndsay Elizabeth Manville, Shelley Auburn Pellegrino, Brian Donald Mamerow and Paul David Torres .

ID thieves target families of servicemen and women

A ring of identity thieves have been posing as Red Cross employee and calling military families to tell them their loved ones have died overseas, The AP reports. The servicemen and women are OK, it's just a scam to get Social Security numbers and other info out of their families.

Worst. Roomate. Ever.

From the New York Daily News:
"As his unconscious roommate was having his leg amputated after an accident, Anthony Giordano tricked hospital staff into handing over the patient's wallet --- and went on a $22,000 spending spree."
Giordano got credit cards in his roomie's name, spent his money on strippers and a new Jeep, and didn't get caught until after he moved out the following year.

Latest victim of ID theft: Herman Munster

Great story about identity thieves who tried to sell the personal data of one Herman Munster, 1313 Mocking Bird Lane. A security firm monitored the chatroom conversation and told the story to AP. The working theory is that a TV fan deliberately gave the bad info to the thieves, who operate overseas and don't get Nick At Nite.

(I can't imagine Herman has really good credit. Have you seen his ride?)

Victim of ID theft hunts down dirtbag who stole her life

Excellent story about a California woman who lost $30K after someone stole her identity theft and made her life a living hell. Unlike most of these cases, this one ended in a foot chase through the streets of San Francisco and the bad guy getting arrested.

Turns out the victim and the suspect were both at the same Starbucks on the same morning. The victim recognized the suspect's coat from a surveillance camera photo.

Hat Tip to a reader who requested anonymity -- Many thanks, friend!

Info on credit-monitoring and identity theft

Paul Wenske has a good roundup this morning on the different credit-monitoring services that help people fight identity theft.

Baby's First Identity Theft?

From The Star: A box containing about 80 enrollment forms with personal information for next year’s kindergarten pupils at Clear Creek Elementary School in Shawnee was stolen from the school last week.

The box also contained personal checks for enrollment fees and the school’s complete list of new kindergarteners. Alvie Cater, De Soto School District spokesman, said officials have contacted some parents who enrolled kindergarten students, but because the list with all of the names was taken, not all parents have been contacted. District officials are asking parents of new kindergarteners who enrolled their children April 17 to contact the school at (913) 422-8700.

Not so smooth

Astroglide's customer list accidentally gets leaked to the Internet. (Hat Tip to Shultz)

KCK man accused of identity theft

Last week, a Missouri trooper stopped David Fletcher, 41, of KCK, on U.S. 71 near Carthage, Mo. Fletcher aroused suspicion when he allegedly produced not one driver's license, but three, plus two Social Security cards. A search turned up nine more licenses on his person and 56 in the vehicle. He's been charged with trafficking in stolen identities.

No charges in identity theft, Internet harassment

A Pittsburg State employee says one of her former coworkers stole her personal info, including her social, and made it so companies sent her a flood of spam, credit-card applications and porn, the Joplin Globe reports. But there won't be any charges -- the prosecutor says there's not a law that specifically applies here.

Circus tix trip up accused card thief

Dawn L. Brooks, 32, Kansas City, accused of credit card theft and allegedly pictured on several Northland store videos, has been arrested. From Kansas City police:

• Ms. Brooks was arrested this weekend at an area circus by investigating detectives, when they discovered that a recent stolen credit card was used to purchase tickets to that event.

Waitress gets own ID carding patron

WESTLAKE, Ohio (AP) - A bar waitress checking to see if a woman was legally old enough to drink was handed her own stolen driver's license, which was reported missing weeks earlier, police said.
"The odds of this waitress recovering her own license defy calculation," police Capt. Guy Turner said Monday.
Maria Bergan, 23, of Lakewood, was charged Sunday night with identity theft and receiving stolen property. She was arrested at her home in suburban Cleveland and was jailed in Westlake to await a court appearance.
The 22-year-old waitress, whose name was not released, called police last week and said she had been handed her own stolen driver's license by a woman trying to prove she was 21. The woman, who became suspicious of the delay as the waitress went to call police, fled the Moosehead Saloon, but her companion provided her name.
The waitress said she had lost her wallet July 9 at a bar in Lakewood.
The victim also had a credit card stolen. The stolen card has been used to make $1,000 in purchases, Turner said.

Hat tip to reader *****!

180,000 millionaires, 30 IRS audits?

Expect a response from the IRS if this gets any play:

• New data from the IRS reports that only 30 of the nation's 180,000 plus millionaires were subject to face-to-face audits in FY 2005. Analysis by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) also shows that when only traditional face-to-face audits are considered, those reporting less than $25,000 in total positive income were six times more likely to be audited than all those reporting $200,000 or more in income. IRS continues to withhold from TRAC statistical data it has made public in the past that might explain the aberration.

I know both TRAC founders:

• David Burnham was the NYTimes reporter whistleblower Karen Silkwood was going to see when she died in a traffic accident.
• Susan B. Long and her husband sued the IRS for its "audit triggers" when they were audited in the 1970s. The Supreme Court said you can't have 'em, but you can have tons of other IRS and federal agency data. Thus TRAC was born.

And here's the IRS response, via the above TRAC co-directors, 4:13 p.m.:

• After TRAC's report on the government's audit of millionaires was posted this morning, the IRS contacted TRAC and informed us that its official numbers were not correct. In an effort to understand the reasons for this error, TRAC has requested additional information from the IRS. A follow up report will be posted if it is warranted.

Previous post: Worst-named group has best stats on federal prosecutions

Man sentenced for stealing brother's ID

From the  U.S. Attorney, 1:44 p.m.:

   KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Todd P. Graves, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former Independence, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for stealing his brother’s identity in order to make more than $55,000 in purchases.
   Lawrence Stuart Tuttle, 49, formerly of Independence, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Dean Whipple this morning to five years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Tuttle to pay $46,425 in restitution. Graves noted that today’s sentence marks an upward departure from the federal sentencing guidelines, which recommend a sentencing range of 30 to 37 months.

Full press release