Identity Thief Caught On Camera, Tracked Down: Police

WILMETTE, IL — Detectives from the Wilmette Police Department, with the help of Chicago Police and the United Postal Inspectors, tracked down a woman who stole the identity of a Wilmette resident last year. Ayondela Moore, 42, of the 4700 block of South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, stole more than $14,000 between November 2016 and January 2017 by using the resident's personal information, according to Wilmette Police Chief Kyle Murphy.

Moore has been charged with one count of identity theft and one count of use of a credit card to defraud. Moore was not known to the person whose identity she is accused of stealing, Murphy said.

The incident was first reported on Dec. 21 of last year, when a Wilmette man told police someone had opened up two fraudulent credit card accounts in his name and accessed his checking and savings accounts starting in October 2016. He told police he contacted the issuers of the cards, Chase Bank and American Express, and cancelled the cards. But, he learned a suspect had moved thousands of dollars from his Chase savings account and to his checking account before withdrawing it, according to police reports.

The suspect also transferred money to a Fifth Third Bank account and opened up a new American Express account in the name of the Wilmette resident.

The Wilmette man spoke to all the members of his family and told police he didn't suspect any of them of the theft. He noted that someone had changed the wi-fi password to his home internet using an unrecognized cell phone number. The man also found an address and a telephone number referenced in his credit history that he didn't recognize, according to police reports of the investigation. He also noted that someone had gained unauthorized online access to his second mortgage.

Wilmette detectives got a hold of surveillance footage of Moore using the resident's account and circulated the images among police. With the help of Chicago police, they were able to identify Moore, according to Murphy.(Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Wilmette — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Moore in being held at Cook County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bond ahead of an Aug. 31 court appearance. Court records and police reports indicate Moore has a past conviction for identity theft following an arrest in 2010.

_{Top photo: Ayondela Moore (Cook County Sheriff)}