blog.cleveland.com

The Cleveland Heights Detective Bureau is looking for information to help identify the woman in the bottom left corner of this picture, who is suspected of fraud and identity theft.
Police think this woman is responsible for stealing the identity of a Cleveland Heights resident, obtaining a fake driver’s license with the victim’s name and using it to open multiple fraudulent credit cards at stores in the region. The suspect also used the victim’s identity to try to cash a fraudulent $8,500 check, according to police. (Photo – Cleveland Heights Police/Special to Sun News)

The suspect is seen here from security camera footage at Fifth Third Bank in Eastlake. Call Det. Kane at (216) 291-3883 with information…more…

Identity Theft Less Common, More Costly

foxbusiness.com

Identity theft may be happening less often, but victims are paying a higher price. Last year, the number of identity thefts fell 28% to 8.1. million, from an estimated 11 million in 2009, according to a recent survey from Javelin Strategy & Research. This was the sharpest drop in the history of the eight-year study.

It also found the odds of being hit by identity theft fell to 3.5% in 2010 from 4.8% in 2009. The total annual reported fraud also fell from $56 billion to $37 billion. The study questioned 5,004 consumers via a standardized phone survey. From that polling, 466 fraud victims were interviewed.…more…

Lithonia man indicted for stolen tax payments

bizjournals.com
Lithonia, Ga., resident Jason Shepherd, 24, was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges of mail fraud, theft of government property, and aggravated identity theft, relating to a scheme to steal tax payments intended for the IRS.

According to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, the charges and other information presented in court, from around June to November 2009, Shepherd worked as a contractor at a Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) lockbox facility in Tucker, Ga. The facility processes tax payments for the IRS.…more…

5th suspect held in ID theft ring targeting Holy Cross Hospital patients

www.orlandosentinel.com

Federal authorities have arrested the last of five suspects in an identity theft ring that targeted patients at Holy Cross Hospital.

Jimmy Lee Theodore, 27, of Pembroke Pines, was taken into custody Tuesday, charged with using patients’ stolen identities to obtain debit cards, authorities said.

On Wednesday, he was taken from Broward County jail to federal court in West Palm Beach, where he made his first appearance, according to Del Alvarez, a supervisor with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s mail theft and violent crimes team.

The Inspection Service learned of the identity theft ring in May, when post office employees noticed debit card mailings to a number of people were being sent to the same house in Pembroke Pines, according to court records.…more…

Online drug scheme busted

www.timesdaily.com

Authorities say they have stopped a scheme that used stolen and altered medical records and driver’s licenses to obtain prescription drugs from out-of-state pharmacies online.

An ongoing roundup that began last week has netted 22 arrests, Lauderdale County Drug Task Force Director Tim Glover said.

Federal charges of mail fraud and identity theft were levied against four people accused of using the altered or stolen records to create fraudulent prescription orders, according to a federal indictment.

“These were the organizers, the ones who recruited the so-called customers to participate in the scheme,” Glover said. “Every one of the others arrested were connected to one or all four of these individuals.”…more…