12.06.2011

Identify Theft News From The Courthouse (Updated)

Image Came Back After Google Search For "Identify Theft". Funny. 

I was talking to someone associated with the Wise County Court at Law, I'll call her "Shamberlyn", who told me about being a victim of recent identify identity theft.

Get this: Someone got all of her information (she didn't lose a purse or anything like that), created a fake Texas driver's license, and then applied for a couple of credit cards. So far, the bills have cracked $8,000.  But get this: Shamberlyn had a credit card at Sears (never really used), but the thief went into Sears and either said she had lost the card or didn't have it with her, and (after presumably showing them the fake ID) they gave her a "day pass" credit card. And then "boom", over $4,000 got charged.

What's up with the "day pass"? Someone else mentioned during that conversation that they rarely take store credit cards with them in order to prevent loss or theft. They simply tell the store they left them at home, show an ID, and then get the day pass. I had never heard of such a thing.

By the way, whatever company handles credit for Apple, denied the thief credit.

Edit @ 2:15 pm: The total is now up to $19,000 with Best Buy and Sam's Club yet to report