Finding out that you’re a victim of ID theft is no fun at all, as one resident of San Leandro, California, learned in December.
That resident walked into a San Leandro McDonald’s and paid for his meal with a credit card. He didn’t realize, however, that the cashier who took his credit card swiped it through a small device known as a skimmer. Thieves who are interested in ID theft use skimmers to copy information off the back of the card, lifting the magnetic information that contains the victim’s name, account number and other vital information.
Once that data is collected, usually without the victim having any idea that he or she has just been made a victim of ID theft, the personal information can be transferred onto a fake card and then used to make fraudulent purchases.
A few days after having his credit card information “skimmed,” that McDonald’s customer learned that his credit card number had been used to make almost $800 in purchases at a nearby Macy’s store.
Luckily, this customer was alert enough to remember the cashier, and contacted the San Leandro Police Department - which opened an investigation.
The investigation led to the cashier’s house, which was also in San Leandro. A search warrant led to the discovery of the skimmer used to steal the victim’s credit card information, seven laptop computers, five desktop computers and a handgun. In total, five people were arrested for being involved in the ID theft ring.
Detective Michael Olivera stated to the press:
Nationwide, identity theft is our fastest-growing crime. When someone’s identity is stolen, usually more than one person is involved.
Detective Olivera explained to the media that the person who actually physically handles the credit card and who steals the data is usually the lowest ranking person in the ID theft group. Those people are paid cash to steal data and skim credit cards for other criminals who specialize in ID theft and use the information to commit larger, more profitable crimes.
You don’t have someone stealing your identity to pay their utility bill,” he said. “It’s used to fund bigger things.
Detective Olivera related that in a recent case, one individual was collecting data from other ID theft rings and using that to buy and sell homes around the Bay area as well as in Arizona. Detective Olivera also stated that stolen identities are often sold to criminals overseas who usually rack up very large bills buying items in foreign countries.
According to Detective Olivera, his desk at the San Leandro Police Department is stacked high with identity-theft case files. He said he gets about 50 new local identity-theft cases a month.
A single identity-theft case usually occurs across multiple jurisdictions, so solving a case can be a multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency effort.
With ID theft becoming such a serious threat, Detective Olivera is getting some help with his workload from the Identity Theft Strike Force, which is headed by the San Francisco office of the Secret Service.
Agents from the Secret Service began combining resources earlier this month with the San Leandro and Oakland police departments, as well as with the U.S. Postal Service, in order to coordinate Bay Area ID theft investigations.
“The workload for one detective is daunting,” Lt. Tom Overton said. “The strike force brings more resources to bear to combat the increasing problem of ID theft crimes.”
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