Identity Theft Rampant, Officials Say

Two years ago, local prosecutor Howard Wise was preparing to move from the Boston area to Ventura when a man in New Jersey tried using his credit card to buy thousands of dollars in computer equipment.

About the same time, Oxnard police spokesman David Keith learned that someone in Orange County had used his name and credit to buy three cars worth $135,000.

In Wise’s case, the thief was arrested and convicted; the one in Keith’s case remains at large.

Identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in Ventura County, authorities said.

In nearly every city, reports jumped more than 300% from 2000 to 2001.

“It’s rampant,” said Senior Deputy Dan Place, who investigates fraud cases for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

“It’s easy, the risk factor is low, and the opportunity is everywhere,” Place said.

If the problem sounds grim, it is.

Despite efforts by police to catch identity thieves and issue warnings to exercise caution with personal information, there are signs that the crime will continue to escalate.

“Criminals are far more capable now of creating fraudulent documents, and they are authentic-looking items that can be indistinguishable from real driver’s licenses and birth certificates,” Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks said. “Everyone knows someone who has been touched by this.”

Crime statistics, authorities say, do not accurately depict the amount of identity theft--often because people don’t immediately know they have been victimized, or they choose to deal directly with creditors--but the numbers provide a snapshot of the crime’s increase.

For example, identity theft reports in Ventura jumped from 116 in 2000 to 236 last year.

In Oxnard and Thousand Oaks, reports more than doubled during the same time, from 58 to 139 and from 18 to 51, respectively. Simi Valley had six cases reported in 2000 and 33 last year.

Identity theft was the leading consumer fraud complaint reported to the Federal Trade Commission last year, and privacy rights advocates say the number of victims nationally tops 750,000 a year.

California had the second highest rate of identity theft last year, behind the District of Columbia.

In Ventura County, some police agencies average an identity theft report every 48 hours.

“The number of people being caught and charged is minuscule [compared with] the number of cases being committed,” said Wise, one of two deputy district attorneys who prosecute computer crime.

Authorities offer alarming data:

* More than 80% of all identity theft locally goes unreported to police.

* Less than 10% of the reported cases are solved.

* Most victims have no idea how the crime against them was committed.

* Drug addicts are turning to identity theft as a quick way to make cash.

Wise, who last month received a restitution check for $85 in his case, said, “I think it’s going to happen to everybody at some point in their lives. It’s just that prevalent.”

Stealing mail and rooting through garbage cans remain the primary methods of pilfering credit card data, personal checks and Social Security numbers.

Medical office trash is particularly attractive to thieves because the industry requires Social Security numbers on most paperwork.

But authorities say computers and other electronic equipment have streamlined the crime.

In Wise’s case, the prosecutor suspects that a sales clerk at an East Coast retailer may have used a device called a skimmer to scan his credit card while ringing up his purchases.

“Often, this crime starts out small with a retail clerk using your card to charge a few things, and then it gets bigger and they go get cards in your name,” Place said.

A skimmer, which can be as small as a pager, functions like the countertop machines used to pay or get cash at gas stations.The device reads and records credit card data off the magnetic strip, and the information can then be loaded onto a computer.

The data then can be used to make Internet or telephone purchases or it can be downloaded to another device that codes the information onto a blank credit card.

Skimmers and other devices used in identity theft--embossing equipment, document software, scanners--can be purchased at most electronics stores, Wise said.

Even without a skimmer, authorities say, once a thief has obtained a bank account number--from a deposit slip or sales receipt tossed in the garbage--a computer can be used to print fake bank checks.

And dates of birth, Social Security numbers and addresses found on the Internet can be used to fraudulently obtain credit cards, personal loans--even a driver’s license--in someone else’s name.

“There are people out there who will use your information to get benefits in your name, such as welfare. I’ve heard of cases where a house was bought,” Place said.

In some cases, according to authorities, hackers have penetrated corporate databases to download Social Security numbers.

“There is a fear that financial information over the Internet can be compromised,” Wise said.

“It is difficult to say how prevalent that crime is, but it is likely the information you gave out to a department store or electronics store or any other company is being stored somewhere and can be stolen in a year or five years from now,” he said.

Regardless of the method, authorities agree that the most disturbing trend is the rising number of methamphetamine addicts involved in identity theft.

Addicts find that identity theft can be a quick and easy way to obtain cash for drugs or merchandise that can be sold for drugs, authorities say. Sometimes the criminal is a parolee who learned how to use a computer behind bars.

Although there is little a person can do about personal information already on the Internet, authorities suggest that consumers can better protect themselves by reading monthly bank statements, periodically reviewing their full credit reports and taking extreme care with documents containing Social Security or bank and credit data.

“It’s a growing problem and it’s a major hassle for victims,” said Keith, of the Oxnard police.

An identity theft victim spends, on average, nearly 200 hours and $1,000 to clear up a credit mess.

Victims of identity theft should contact police to make a report and contact the country’s three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.

And, Place added: “If you don’t own a paper shredder now, go buy one immediately. This crime will continue because the risk factor is disproportionate.”