A generation ago, identity theft was sufficiently rare that no laws had even been passed against it. Now, the crime is escalating everywhere, and those who aren?t taking precautions to protect themselves are vulnerable, said Det. Cpl. Dawn Wolf, of the Harford County Sheriff?s Office.
The Sheriff?s Office has two detectives dedicated to tracking down perpetrators of identity theft, a task they admit is not easy.
“It?s hard to get a grasp on the number” of incidents exactly, Wolf said. Although the county had 43 cases of identity theft last year, the crime is also often reported and counted under other categories, such as credit card misuse, she said ? or it may not be reported at all.
According to a Februaryreport by the Maryland Attorney General?s Identity Theft Forum, the Federal Trade Commission received 31,000 complaints when it began tracking identity theft in 2000. The number had ballooned to more than 250,000 just a few years later. And Maryland ranked 11th nationally in the number of victims in a 2005 FTC study.
“As disturbing as these numbers are, they are an underestimate of the identity theft problem, since they only count complaints received by the FTC,” the report notes. “Although estimates of the number of identity theft victims vary, one of the most thorough recent reports estimated that the number of identity theft victims last year was 9.3 million, and the amount of thefts was $52.6 billion.”
Wolf said she is seeing several different versions of the crime more and more frequently. One involves family members or other trusted individuals stealing a victim?s identity. In another, thieves move into an area, steal mail and apply for credit cards with stolen information.
Fred Ruthke of Edgewood was a victim of ID theft about two years ago when a financial statement was sent to the wrong address, and the residents at that address used the information to spend “about a couple grand” in Ruthke?s name.
“Fortunately, since I caught it so early, there was no problem,” Ruthke said. Following advice from police, he contacted the credit bureaus, had alerts placed on his credit and was able to avert damage to his credit report. Others are not so lucky.
To avoid ID theft, there are some simple precautions to take, Wolf said.
“People need to stay educated. Check credit card statements and get a credit report. If you don?t have a shedder in your house, you should.”
Examiner Staff Writer Patti Rosenberg contributed to this report.
When a thief strikes
What to do if you are a victim:
» Call police even if the bank or credit card company says otherwise.
» Contact the credit bureaus and place fraud alert on credit:
Equifax ? 1-800-525-6285
Experian ? 1-888-EXPERIAN
TransUnion ? 1-800-680-7289
