Third Identity Theft Case Reported

A Mt. Bethel Road resident reported a case of identity theft Wednesday, following similar reports on May 23 and May 28.

In the most recent incident, the resident reported having their identity used to obtain a credit card account and subsequently charge more than $28,000 to the account.

On May 28, a Springdale Lane resident reported a fraudulently credit card was used to $3,343 with it, and on May 23, a Valley View Road resident reported fraudulent credit card charges totaling $2,274.

Police and experts on identity theft say such incidents are difficult to investigate and prosecute.  The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office offers these tips on preventing identity theft, and Mike Prusinski, vice-president of corporate communications for Lifelock, an Internet security firm, says people need to become better educated about identity theft crimes.

Such as the fact using someone's identity to obtain credit card represents just the tip of the identity theft iceberg, accounting for about 15 percent of the crimes. Prusinski says much bigger identity theft crimes are committed using Social Security numbers to obtain employent, medical treatment—or as the IRS recently noted, tax refunds.

Victims of identity won't want to hear how few of the thieves are ever prosecuted (less than 0.05 percent of the cases are ever prosecuted) or how little punishment is often imposed (Prusinski said many first offenders aren't even sentenced to any jail time), and they especially won't want to hear the theft may only mark the beginning of their problems.

"Not only do (the thieves) use (your identity) now, they sell it around the world," Prusinski said. "Once it starts, it may never stop."

He and the SCPO offer these tips to prevent having crucial information stolen:

• Shred documents
• Get free credit reports regularly (Prusinski recommends using annualcreditreport.com)
• Consider signing up for fraud alerts from credit agencies.

And very importantly, Prusinski says to notice what your kids have loaded on their computers: if they are using peer-to-peer programs, such as Limewire, to share music and videos with friends, they may also be unwittingly enabling identity thieves to capture vital information.

Lifelock, the company famous for its advertisements featuring company founder  Todd Davis announcing his social security number as a way of promoting Lifelock's ability to block identity theft, also conducts seminars teaching police departments across the country about identity theft.