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Mail, identity theft a growing concern Saratoga holds a public forum to cover 'nation's fastest-growing crime' By Kate Carter It took vigilance, it took fast action and it took an entire day of work for Christina Sand to reclaim her identity. And she was one of the lucky ones. Sand and her husband were victims of mail and identity theft, a growing problem affecting more and more Saratogans. For many, it will cost an average of $1,000 and more than two years to resolve their situations. Law enforcement officials are trying to keep up with increasing numbers of victims of such personal invasions, but it's up to individuals to best deal with and prevent those crimes. That was the message at a June 20 public forum for Saratogans, who since last October have been hit by the "nation's fastest-growing crime," said Capt. Dennis Bacon of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office West Valley Substation. Mail theft is when valuable items - checks or money - are stolen from the mail. Identity theft is when someone steals a person's identifying information - driver's license number, Social Security number, bank account or credit information or any number of other documents - to access a person's assets or charge costs to the victim. Law enforcement officials say the problems are growing, with criminals specifically targeting wealthy neighborhoods and individuals. The forum was hosted by city officials, sheriff's officers and officials from the U.S. Postal Service and its investigations department. About 25 people showed up to hear directly from the officials about how to keep mail and identify theft from happening to them. But Sand pointed out a number of different things for people to think about and emphasized the importance of suggestions made by the officials, to the point that they began to refer questions to her. In April 2001, Sand and her husband were targeted by some particularly industrious mail and identity thieves who took mail out of their mailbox, opened bank statements and other important documents, photocopied them and then returned them to the mailbox. The Sands never noticed anything amiss and didn't realize they were crime victims until Christina tried to use her credit card to pay for a haircut and was told she couldn't because her account was maxed out. She checked her account and found that someone had been using her credit card for things like phone calls, pizza deliveries and money wires. In one of those incidents, the suspect showed an identity card and was arrested, she said. But in early May, the Sands were contacted by their bank's branch manager, checking on a request he'd received to wire a portion of their account funds to an account in the Philippines. The Sands had made no such request, and Christina said she thinks the individuals who stole their mail later sold their information to an international identity theft ring. The money transfer was thwarted, but the Sands took the next day off work and "literally spent the whole day phoning, faxing and writing letters" to get all accounts in their name - credit, bank, utility, insurance, investments - changed. They also asked credit bureaus to alert them if a new credit account was created in their name. "It was a real pain," Christina said. Her two next-door neighbors were also victims of mail theft - one had several pieces of insured mail stolen, and the other had a passport stolen. Christina said she believes the wave of mail and identity theft has been going in Saratoga, as well as Los Gatos and Campbell, since Christmas, 2000, and that law enforcement is "definitely understating the problem." Bacon said that the incidence of identity theft in particular has been significant since December 2000, but that his office didn't notice a real jump in the numbers until last October. He acknowledged that his department is still adapting to the new demands mail and identity theft are placing on it, but said his officers are working closely with those in other jurisdictions and other agencies to prevent and solve such crimes. "This is truly a joint effort," he said. "We learn something new about this every day. We do hope we've made some kind of impact. Are we going to stop it entirely? Probably not." The sheriff's office has conducted surveillances and meetings, shared information with other law enforcement agencies and made some arrests in response to the growing number of mail and identity thefts, he said. Statistics indicate that one in three people in the United States will be affected by identity theft. According to Bacon, some 500,000 people - mostly elderly individuals and those with disabilities - are affected by the crime annually. Bacon said thieves acquire information by going through garbage, intercepting mail, using inside sources, getting access to online data and stealing purses and wallets. Individuals can commit identity theft by using or duplicating driver's licenses or Social Security cards or by using checks, even if they've been written on; ATM cards; and long-distance calling cards or passports. Bacon recommended that people not carry their Social Security cards in their wallets, that they be careful with receipts and review bank and credit card statements every month. He asked people not to leave outgoing mail in their own mailboxes but instead use secured U.S. Postal Service mailboxes. Bacon also suggested that people request credit and Social Security reports every year, have new checks mailed to their bank rather than their home, not release personal information over the phone, consider getting unlisted telephone numbers, not use professional titles that can highlight monetary worth to a potential thief, not carry personal identification numbers in wallets with bank cards and only use secure Internet websites for purchases. Deputies Ken Nelson and Mark Ramirez, who cover Saratoga's daytime beat five days a week, also encouraged people to become involved in the office's Neighborhood Watch program. "We have a target painted on our city because we have people who are well-to-do," Nelson said. "People who don't have come and take from those who do. It's going to help everybody in the city if we just start watching out for each other. That's what Neighborhood Watch is all about." Forum attendees asked Saratoga Postmaster Curtis Jewell to make sure mail carriers deliver mail at consistent times each day so that they can immediately retrieve it from their boxes. It was also requested that letter carriers place mail inside mailboxes rather than hand it to who they think it belongs to. "The thing that would really help this is if you could somehow turn off the direct marketing," Sand said. Such marketing results in credit card offers coming to one's mailbox, which thieves can then use to get credit cards in victim's names. But trying to remove one's name rarely works, she said, because of loopholes in the law governing the direct marketers. And, above all else, "shred everything" that may have important information on it before putting it in the trash, Bacon said. Sand said the best way to prevent identity and mail theft is to purchase and use locking mailboxes, either as an individual or a group. She acknowledged that many neighborhoods in Saratoga don't want to use group mailboxes because they don't fit in with their communities' styles, but that there are many options online that aren't "ugly." She and Bacon said that if one becomes a victim, it is important to immediately report the theft to credit bureaus, the sheriff's department or the law enforcement agency covering the jurisdiction in which the crime occurred, postal inspectors and one's own creditors. They also recommended getting a copy of one's credit report, contesting all the bills associated with the theft and watching for false legal judgments in one's name. One should also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and contact the Social Security office. Bacon said that the U.S. Department of Justice's website, www.usdoj.gov, has good information on identity theft. Sand said that since the theft in April of last year, she and her husband have purchased a locking mailbox as well as a safe for important documents in their home. They also purchased a cross-cutting shredder, which turns documents into little squares rather than just strips, which thieves can paste back together. "Now that we know how they're doing it, we can prevent it," she said. The three credit bureaus are Equifax, Trans Union and Experian. Call Equifax at 800.685.1111 to order a credit report or 800.525.6285 to report fraud. Call Trans Union at 800.916.8800 to order a credit report or 800.680.7289 to report fraud. Experian can be reached at 888.311.4769. To reach the Social Security Administration's fraud hotline, call 800.269.0271. To reach the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft Clearinghouse, call 877.ID.THEFT or visit www.consumer.gov/idtheft. To reach the postal inspector, call 408.938.4802. |
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