Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Pasadena Star-News, CA
Whittier Daily News, CA
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, CA
July 4 2005

Identity thieves prey on your mail

Authorities urge residents to be on guard with their postal
deliveries

By Josh Kleinbaum Staff Writer

Months after moving from Santa Monica to New York City, a 32-year-old
woman received a letter from a credit card company thanking her for
being such a good customer.
One problem: She never had an account with that company.

Kris, who asked that her last name not be used, soon received a bill
saying she owed the company $9,000.

Like nearly 1,000 Los Angeles residents every month, Kris was a
victim of identity theft. Someone else opened a handful of credit
cards in her name and took advantage of her good credit rating,
accumulating more than $50,000 in debt. Like many identity-theft
victims, Kris’s problem began in her own mailbox.

“It was a friend of mine, an ex-business partner,” Kris said. “I
moved back East, and he moved into my old apartment. He started
getting into my old mail. He’d get those applications that they send
you, open this card now, and he started filling them out.”

Identify theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the nation,
particularly popular among Armenian and Russian organized crime
groups in Glendale and the eastern San Fernando Valley, officials
said. With more people shredding their personal information before
putting it in the trash, some of the culprits — like Kris’ former
business partner — find the information necessary to commit the
crime in a mailbox, before it ever reaches the intended recipient.

The Los Angeles Police Department receives an estimated 850 to 950
identity-theft reports per month, including 400 in the San Fernando
Valley, officials said. Because most identity-theft victims do not
know how the culprit received their personal information, officials
don’t know what percentage of cases begin with stolen mail, but
detectives working on identity-theft cases believe the number is on
the rise.

“We’re seeing more usage of the Postal Service to commit identity
theft,” said Detective John Barragan, who serves on an identity-theft
task force sponsored by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

“People drive up and down, following the mail carrier, looking for
credit card statements, bank statements, anything with a name, Social
Security number, date of birth and account number.”

As identity theft has become more commonplace, so has mail theft,
according to the Postal Inspection Service.

The service made 6,618 arrests for mail theft in the 2004 fiscal
year, up from 5,175 two years earlier. Since November, it has made
4,041 arrests.

Mail theft “tends to increase during the summer months, because
people go out of town on vacation,” said Postal Inspector Yvonne
Guerrero. “It’s been a bigger problem overall, though.”

In December, a man robbed a postal carrier at gunpoint in Mission
Hills, taking the carrier’s mail. The Postal Inspection Service
offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension
of the gunman, but he is still at large.

Mail thieves target homes in the Hollywood Hills and the affluent
areas of the Valley, officials said, where mailboxes are often at the
bottom of a driveway, unlocked and out of sight from the house,
officials said. Identity thieves look for financial statements,
preapproved credit card applications and anything that might contain
a check.

“There are other ways you can make payments than sending a check,”
said Sheila Gordon, director of victim services for the Identity
Theft Resource Center. “You become very vulnerable at that point.

“People can get the routing number off the check and start
duplicating checks. They’re going to look just as authentic. The next
thing you know, your bank account is drained.”

Gordon and police officials said people should take precautions to
avoid becoming a victim, such as using locking mailboxes, disposing
of junk mail in safe places and regularly checking credit reports for
unusual activity.

For victims, the theft can turn into a nightmare. Credit ratings can
be ruined, and many credit companies and collection agencies are
hesitant to remove items from a credit report.

“It was a huge headache, dealing with it,” Kris said. “I would say it
was like a full-time job. It took thousands of hours, and it’s still
not resolved.”