Like Mother, Like Daughter – Partners in Crime
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 stop to the delivery of several items before they were shipped. Cynthia Walker and Cassidy Janosky were arrested at the local Kennewick Sears in January when they attempted to pick up a birthday present for Walker—a treadmill that they had fraudulently ordered.
The Real Estate Agent and the V.P.
As a licensed real-estate agent, Cynthia Walker was able use vacant homes as mailing addresses for credit card applications—credit cards that she and her daughter, local bank vice-president Cassidy Janosky, had taken out in other peoples’ names. Walker knew the area well, and kept abreast which neighborhoods had a slow turnover as far as home sales were concerned. Armed with this knowledge, Walker figured out which houses would likely be empty for a while and could be used as a valid mailing address.
Janosky, meanwhile, had the trust of many people financially. She took advantage of that trust, and used it in the worst way—opening up credit cards in people’s names without their permission. Digging through the personal financial files belonging to customers of her local bank was a daily event for her, and never questioned. She was the vice-president, after all!
A Betrayal of Trust
By using a hotel computer as well as one in a business center at Janosky’s apartment complex, this two woman team were racking up the trinkets in their expensive little scheme—to the tune of $13,000. Online, Walker and Janosky were able to sign up for credit cards and make purchases to send to the vacant homes—where they would conveniently arrange to be to pick up the merchandise.
Walker and Janosky’s ability to steal others people’s identities was not more conniving or better than anyone else’s – these two women just happened to be lucky enough to be well-trusted by many people.
The Broken Family
Since the duo’s arrest, mother and daughter have turned on each other in order to save their own skins. Janosky blames her mother for concocting the idea in the first place. Walker on the other hand has made statements that totally refute Janosky’s accusations, claiming that her daughter was the mastermind.
Charged by the federal grand jury with a number of felonies, Janosky has learned that a mother’s love is only as good as the mother – Walker, in a plea agreement, has decided to testify against her own daughter in order to have some of her own charges dropped.
Being on the lookout for activity on their credit report is how the alert resident got the ball rolling in the first place to stop Walker and Janosky. It is truly the only way to protect yourself.
