For this Friday, here’s a little reminder from the summer that not all identity theft involves online transactions and malware…

A security guard in the Washington DC area was recently charged in connection with a long running and lucrative identity theft scheme that was so simple and easy, it bordered on brilliant. And it’s used in communities across the country, netting millions in profits for crooks.

Over a period of nearly four years, the guard and a friend regularly stole mail from local mailboxes and businesses, and then used the information in that mail to steal the identities of more than 200 victims.

They then used that information to open up multiple lines of credit in the names of the victims. But here’s where it gets interesting. Perhaps as a way to distance themselves from the crime, instead of using the fraudulent credit lines to buy goods and services for themselves, instead they paid for goods and services for other people, as well as paying the bills of strangers.

In return, they were paid a fee of around half the value of the goods and services they paid for. It sure is an interesting twist on a simple scam, and demonstrates just how easy it is for thieves with little knowledge, skills or resources to generate thousands of dollars in fraudulent income.

In this case, the two crooks are believed to have supplemented their incomes by more than $356,000.

Lessons learned:

• Guard your mail. Mail theft is still the easiest first step to all kinds of identity theft and fraud, so do everything you can to have your mail delivered directly into your home and not to a curb-side mailbox.
• Consider switching to email for your bills and statements. That will help remove much of the mailed information that’s of such value to thieves.

RELATED STORY: Guard busted in $365k ID-theft scheme

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Guard-busted-in-_365k-ID-theft-scheme-97193964.html#ixzz0sGmx5aJ8

Related posts:

1. IN THE HEADLINES: Identity Thief Scams Billionaire Out of $1.4 Billion
2. A Big Score in the Fight Against Identity Theft
3. Identity Theft: An International Conspiracy
4. The IDGuardian Podcast: Episode #011 — Identity Theft Against the Elderly
5. IN THE HEADLINES: The Growing Problem of Travel Agents — Identity Theft