Puerto Rico Birth Certificates Reissued

The Government of Puerto Rico has extended the validity of current Puerto Rico birth certificates for three months, through Sept. 30, 2010. Puerto Rico is reissuing all birth certificates because of identity theft problems starting on July 1st.

There is a huge problem with Puerto Rico-issued birth certificates being used to unlawfully obtain U.S. passports, Social Security benefits, and other federal services.

The government admits that hundreds of thousands of original birth certificates were stored without adequate protection, making them easy targets for theft.

About 40 percent of the passport fraud cases involve birth certificates of people born in Puerto Rico.

The Vital Statistics Record Office will begin issuing new birth certificates incorporating what it calls "state-of-the-art" technology to limit the possibility of forgery.

The government of Puerto Rico recommends that only people who have a specific need for their birth certificate request a new birth certificate.

People who want a copy of the new birth certificates for their records are asked to wait to avoid a rush of applications.

The new birth certificates will cost $5.

ID theft No. 1 FTC complaint in 2009

A recent Federal Trade Commission report does not surprise Florence police Sgt. Cliff Billingsley.

The report reveals identity theft is again the nation's top consumer complaint.

The recent commission report states the agency received 278,078 complaints of identity theft in 2009.

That represents 21 percent of all complaints to the commission. The next-highest complaint, third-party and creditor-debt collection, was a distant 9 percent.

Billingsley, who used to handle white-collar crime for the police department, still gives talks about identity theft to businesses and other groups.

"I still see the problem from working the streets," he said. "It's definitely still a major problem here."

Christie Yeiser, executive director of the Better Business Bureau of the Shoals, said it's important for consumers to maintain awareness about the problem.

"You need to take a proactive approach to it," Yeiser said. "Minimize the identification information you carry with you. Carry your Social Security card only if you need it that day."

According to 2008 FTC figures, the agency received 4,342 complaints from Alabama residents. The largest percentage of complaints - 32 percent - was fraud involving government documents or benefits.

Most of that 32 percent dealt with a fraudulent tax return that was filed, according to the FTC.

Roughly one-fourth of all complaints in Alabama and nationwide come from the 20- to 29-year-old age group, according to the FTC.

Officials say people are more aware of identity theft these days.
 timesdaily

Private papers found in trash

Law director not sure how documents got into the recycling Dumpster without being shredded.

For several weeks, a mound of city documents containing Social Security numbers, phone numbers and carbon copies of checks filled a Dumpster at Smith Park, where they were accessible to anyone.

The Journal received a tip that led to the discovery of countless junked records containing personal information for Middletown residents, along with blueprints, contracts and tax papers.

Most appear to have originated in the city’s public works and utilities department, with a few from the police and finance departments.

City Manager Judy Gilleland said normal records policy calls for documents of that nature to be shredded and not simply thrown away.

“We typically ... have the Shred-it company come on site and take care of everything,” Gilleland said. “I don’t know why we would be dumping in Smith Park, other than those are our Dumpsters.”

Law Director Les Landen said he is not sure how confidential documents got into the recycling Dumpster, but he suspects they started in a recycling bin within the city building. Every piece of recycled paper from the city building eventually ends up in the container at Smith Park, according to Landen.

“Somebody made a mistake and threw something away that should have been shredded,” Landen said. “We do have a policy and process for getting rid of confidential and sensitive documents, but that clearly was not followed here.”

While Landen is not sure an incident like this would expose the city to potential legal action, he said it is still “a practice we do not condone.”

“We need to make sure our employees know where the material is going after it leaves their offices,” Landen said. “Sometimes situations like this help us self-check ourselves.” middletownjournal

10 Bizarre Cases of Identity Theft

We’ve all heard the stories about identity theft – your brother’s credit card numbers were used to rack up $7000 in software purchases overseas, or your best friend found her taxes had already been filed by someone else.

Or maybe you, yourself, have been victimized, and have had your personal information used criminally in some way, without your permission. Identity theft is not a new problem, and like any crime, there are always some cases that make you scratch your head in astonishment, and ask the obvious questions: “Why would someone even try this? How did they think they were going to get away with it?” And sometimes simply, “What the heck?”

10 The Cheerleader

A 33-year-old woman stole her daughter’s identity to attend high school and join the cheerleading squad, according to a criminal complaint filed against the woman. Wendy Brown, of Green Bay, faces a felony identity theft charge after enrolling in Ashwaubenon High School as her 15-year-old daughter, who lives in Nevada with Brown’s mother. According to the complaint, Brown wanted to get her high school degree and become a cheerleader because she didn’t have a childhood and wanted to regain a part of her life that she’d missed. Brown allegedly attended cheerleading practices before school started, received a cheerleader’s locker and went to a pool party at the cheerleading coach’s house. [Source]

9 Todd Davis
As the CEO of an identity theft protection company, Lifelock, Todd Davis was 100% confident in the services provided by his company. So confident, in fact, that he starred in an advertising campaign based on sharing his actual social security number with the world. In this high-budget marketing ploy, Davis plastered his most important identifying number on billboards, the sides of trucks, all over the Internet and on television commercials. Davis dared the world to just try and steal his identity. And guess what? They did. As exposed by Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today Show, Davis’ identity was used to obtain a $500 cash advance loan, and 87 other people have used Davis’ SSN under names like Joe Blow and Jabba T. Hutt. Davis is still paying the price for breaking the cardinal rule of personal identity protection: Do not share your social security number unless absolutely necessary. Sharing it with the whole world? Now, that’s just bizarre.

8 Neighbors from Hell

Characterized by a judge as the “neighbors from hell,” a California couple was recently convicted for victimizing dozens of their friends and neighbors in a massive identity theft operation. Lara Love and David Jackson took up residence in a close-knit community, and quickly worked their way into the hearts – and homes – of their trusting neighbors. By hacking into non-secured Internet connections, pirating mail, and even lifting wallets out of cars, Love and Jackson obtained and utilized the personal information of 30 different people. Unfortunately, the “Neighbors from Hell” story, a form of “friendly theft,” is probably the least bizarre story on this list. All too often, it’s the people we love that take advantage of us. According to a Javelin Strategy and Research study released in 2009, 13% of victims had their identities stolen from someone they knew.

7 Ivy League Imposter

High school seniors all of the country would do anything to attend a school like Harvard or Columbia. The application process is intense, and every answer to every question is heavily scrutinized. However, Elizabeth Esther Reed was able to get into both schools by providing the wrong answer on the very first line: “Please fill in your name.” Better known as Brooke Henson to her classmates, Reed used the identity of a missing woman from South Carolina to take classes and eventually obtain employment. Reed was featured on America’s Most Wanted and most recently plead guilty to charges of fraud and identity theft.

6 Dr. No

Gerald Barnes was incredibly passionate about becoming a doctor, and was willing to do anything he could to practice medicine. Everything, of course, except going to medical school. Instead, Barnes made a career of stealing the identities of actual MD’s, and establishing himself based on their hard work. He has been convicted several times through this sham, but every time he was released, Barnes would do it again. As a “doctor,” Barnes would paint a picture of goodwill through community clinic work and volunteer medical missions, all the while swindling his identity theft victims through mail fraud, grand theft and even involuntary manslaughter. With his authentic-looking diplomas on the wall and gentle bedside manner, his patients trusted that he was a trained practitioner. Wouldn’t you?

5 Dead Sea Scrolls

Generally, when you think of identity theft, you assume the thief has committed the crime for monetary gain. However, Raphael Golb had more familial motives in mind when he embarked on his holy quest. Golb’s father, a professor at the University of Chicago, had come up with a controversial theory regarding the long-studied Dead Sea Scrolls. His idea was not widely accepted by fellow scholars, but his son sought to change that. Golb took on the identities of several colleagues to forge online statements in support of his father’s theories, particularly from researchers that publicly opposed them. Unfortunately for Golb, those scholars did not appreciate Golb’s family loyalty, and have had him arrested on charges of identity theft, criminal impersonation, and aggravated harassment.

4 You’re How Old?

A woman in the Czech Republic is imprisoned now for stealing the identities of several 13-year-old children, both male and female. In this strange case, Barbora Skrlova went the full mile and even attended school as a young boy, duping teachers and administrators with a shaved head and taped breasts. Other children impersonated by Skrlova included a missing girl named Anna and a sickly boy named Adam. Although Skrlova’s motives for identity theft are unclear, authorities speculate that she may have a mental disorder.

3 Brooklyn Busboy
It’s easy to imagine: A young man in Brooklyn New York borrows a much-needed ten bucks from his father, and then heads off to his demeaning job as a restaurant busboy, all the while dreaming of having the financial stability of famous figures like Ross Perot and Warren Buffett. In this story, however, the busboy is Abraham Abdallah, who decided to take this dream into his own hands. In this massive case of identity theft, Abdallah used the Internet to obtain access to the private finances of hundreds the richest people in America. Armed with Steven Spielberg’s credit card and Oprah Winfrey’s financial information, Abdallah was finally caught after trying to make a $10 million transfer on behalf of a software giant. So, for now, Oprah’s identity is safe… Or is it?

2 Stealing from… Himself

It’s usually safe to assume that anyone who steals another person’s identity to obtain money or services is a pretty desperate individual. But how desperate do you have to be to steal your own identity? That’s exactly what Li Ming, a graduate student at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, did this year. Li, feeling he had no way out from under staggering credit card debt, faked his own death, complete with a forged obituary in his local paper. Nine months later, Li attempted to obtain a new driver’s license with the intention of applying for new credit cards eventually. However, the DMV he visited, unaccustomed to issuing driving privileges to dead people, called authorities. Subsequently, Li was arrested for stealing the identity of… Ming Li.

1 Catch Him if You Can

Arguably the most famous story of identity theft is that of Frank Abagnale, who was depicted by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2002 movie, “Catch Me if You Can.” In the 1960’s, Abagnale eluded authorities by posing as characters such as an airline pilot, doctor, assistant attorney general, and history professor, all the while racking up $4 million in bad checks. Eventually, Abagnale was caught and convicted, but now serves as one of the preeminent authorities on privacy law and owns a business fighting the same crimes that made him famous.

Listverse

Bernanke Victimized by Identity Fraud Ring

According to court documents, the Fed chairman and his wife were swindled in 2008 by a skilled team of crooks...

If ever there were living proof that identity theft can strike the mighty and powerful as well as hapless consumers, look no further than the nation's chief banker: Ben Bernanke. The Federal Reserve Board chairman was one of hundreds of victims of an elaborate identity-fraud ring, headed by a convicted scam artist known as "Big Head," that stole more than $2.1 million from unsuspecting consumers and at least 10 financial institutions around the country, according to recently filed court records reviewed by NEWSWEEK.

Last summer, just as he was dealing with the first rumblings of the financial crisis on Wall Street, Bernanke learned that a thief had swiped his wife's purse—including the couple's joint check book. Days later, someone started cashing checks on the Bernanke family bank account, the documents show. "It's fair to say he was not pleased," said one close associate of Bernanke, who asked not to be identified discussing what the Fed chairman considers a private matter.

The theft of the Bernanke check book—never publicly revealed until now—soon became part of a wide-ranging (and previously underway) identity-theft investigation by the Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The probe culminated in recent months with a series of arrests, criminal complaints, and indictments brought by federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Va. The targets: members of a nationwide ring that used an inventive combination of old-fashioned thievery and high-tech fraud to loot the bank accounts of unsuspecting victims.

"Identity theft is a serious crime that affects millions of Americans each year," Bernanke said in a statement provided to NEWSWEEK. "Our family was but one of 500 separate instances traced to one crime ring. I am grateful for the law enforcement officers who patiently and diligently work to solve and prevent these financial crimes."

Identity theft is commonly associated with the heists of consumers' credit-card information and other personal data by cybercriminals. But Bernanke appears to have been swept up in the case only by chance—and through the most ancient of street crimes.

On Aug. 7, 2008, the Fed chairman's wife, Anna Bernanke, was at a Starbucks, not far from the couple's Capitol Hill home, when her purse was snatched off the back of a chair, according to Washington, D.C., court records. Among its contents: her driver's license, Social Security card, four credit cards, and a book of Wachovia bank checks from the couple's joint checking account. Printed on each check were the Bernankes' bank-account number, home address, and telephone number. Anna Bernanke reported the missing purse that day to the D.C. police.

But as it turned out, the perpetrator was no ordinary thief: he was working for a sophisticated crime ring that federal agents and the police in several states had been investigating for months. In the Chicago area, where some members were based, the ring went by the street name of "Cannon to the Wiz." (The term "cannon" is slang for pickpocket.)

One of the group's ringleaders, Clyde Austin Gray Jr. of Waldorf, Md., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in federal court in Alexandria, Va., just last month. Gray (who was known to members of his ring as Big Head) employed an army of pickpockets, mail thieves, and office workers to swipe checks, credit cards, military IDs, and other personal records, according to his plea agreement and other court records filed in his case.

One member of the ring had infiltrated an office of the Combined Federal Campaign, the official U.S. government-sponsored charity, and supplied the crime ring with stacks of checks mailed in by federal workers, the records show. Another worked in a Washington, D.C., doctor's office, with access to patients' records and their bank-account information.

The group's members also often traveled around the country targeting sporting events, such as this year's NCAA basketball Final Four tournament in Detroit, according to Donna Pendergast, an assistant Michigan attorney general who had her wallet swiped by a member of the ring after attending one of the games. Pendergast, who wrote an account of being victimized by the group last April on a blog called Women in Crime, told NEWSWEEK that the robber was so adroit he managed to lift the wallet from her purse without her even knowing it. "They took it right out of my purse while it was on my shoulder," she said. "I didn't feel a thing,"


After obtaining drivers' licenses and military IDs, the thieves took bundles of their freshly pilfered loot wrapped in rubber bands to cars parked on the street. Other members of the group waiting in the cars—equipped with laptop computers, scanners, and printers—then quickly reproduced phony new driver's licenses and IDs using the names of the victims, but substituting the victims' photos with those of Cannon to the Wiz members.

There is no evidence that the group reproduced a fraudulent driver's license in Anna Bernanke's name. But one of its members did allegedly put the Bernankes' joint checkbook to illicit use in a complex financial fraud that federal prosecutors described as a "split deposit" transaction.

Six days after the Starbucks snatch of Bernanke's purse, an alleged member of the ring named George Lee Reid walked into a Bank of America branch in suburban Prince George's County and posed as another identity-theft victim, identified in a federal affidavit as "K.N." (The person had reported his wallet stolen a few days earlier, court records show.)

Reid deposited two fraudulent $900 checks into K.N.'s bank account—one of them from the Wachovia account of "Ben S. Bernanke and Anna Bernanke." Having inflated K.N.'s account with the fraudulent check from the Bernankes, Reid simultaneously cashed two other fraudulent $4,500 checks that were made out to K.N. from a third victim, according to federal prosecutors. When all was done, he appears to have walked out of the bank with $9,000. (The Fed chairman had alerted Wachovia after the theft of his wife's purse and suffered no financial loss in the transaction, the Bernanke associate said.)

When federal agents busted the identity-theft ring earlier this summer, Reid was named as a co-conspirator in a 22-page affidavit signed by a U.S. postal inspector. But the names of the victims, including Bernanke, were concealed; the complaint referred to the victims only by their initials, referring, for example, to one of Reid's victims as "B.B."

However, a separate criminal complaint against Reid filed last fall in D.C. Superior Court (and overlooked until now) spelled out the full name of the Fed chairman: Ben S. Bernanke.

Reid's lawyer in the D.C. case, where the charges were ultimately dropped, did not return a phone call seeking comment. But a federal law-enforcement official—who asked not to be identified discussing an ongoing case—says there is now an outstanding arrest warrant for the man who allegedly scammed the Fed chairman and used his checkbook. "We're looking for him," said the official.

News Week