Profile of an Identity Thief Articles
It was supposed to be a casual cup of coffee after a business meeting in Annapolis. The victim had just signed a business contract with one Thomas Calvin Eichelberger, and the older man offered to buy him a cappuccino. Dinner and drinking followed, then a sick and queasy feeling, and somehow the victim woke up in Eichelberger’s home, in his bed, unclothed.
Drugged, Stripped and Photographed
A camera found under the bed showed nude photos of the victim, who eventually dressed and went home unsteadily to his wife and mother in law. From there he went to the hospital, where medics found ...
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Think identity thieves are done when they’re sent to prison? Think again. Just as “on the outside,” ID criminals in prison work via the phone and in other ways to continue their thieving ways.
In fact, identity theft may be one of the easiest crimes to pull of from prison, experts say. Many forms of ID theft involve networked communications (read: “hacking”), which can often be achieved using nothing more than a phone line and a little criminal know-how.
And ID criminals often have a realtime network too, working in conjunction with others to pull off multiple scams.
Behind Bars
It’s long been known ...
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Identity theft is not a concern only for the rich, the poor, or the elderly. It strikes all types of people, in many different places, and in many walks of life. The thieves are not always the people that you’d suspect, either, as has been proven by the case of the mother-daughter team of Cynthia Jean Walker and Cassidy Janosky in Washington State.
The duo was discovered when an alert resident tipped off the local police that a credit card had been opened in their name—and they knew absolutely knew nothing about it. A local detective was able to put a ...
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Back in Time - to 2006
A few years ago, Shell employees made headlines as an identity theft scam was uncovered in Forest Hill TX. Erica Washington was employed at a Shell station there, and realized she could make a nice side business out of selling customer credit card information off of in-store generated manger reports.
Erica sold off credit card numbers and expiration date information to a couple from Ft Worth, who subsequently used the numbers to make multiple purchases online. The items purchased included shoes, clothing, DVDs and other items that were shipped to Melvin Jones and Jenifer Perkins - ...
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It was a cold January morning when MVE officers entered a Salt Lake City hotel room to find evidence of an incredible, carefully planned crime. Stacks of stolen mail; dozens of credit cards with corresponding user agreements, account information and pin numbers; counterfeit state ID cards and multiple credit reports littered the crowded room, along with the receipts for two laptop computers.
The Motor Vehicle Enforcement officers had found what they were looking for; the second half of an elaborate and carefully put together identity theft ring. They arrested Joshua Smith and Michelle Chapman, who would be joining the previously apprehended ...
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