Minnesota identity theft hits 10 women in one neighborhood

In the past two weeks, one neighborhood in Minnesota has fallen victim to a rash of identity theft crimes that have affected nearly a dozen residents. The Forest Lake neighborhood was the setting for a string of identity thefts totaling a combined loss of nearly $100,000. The victims, who were 10 women living in the subdivision, saw their personal information, such as Social Security numbers, used to open up credit card accounts at retailers such as Sam's Club and Wal-Mart, KMSP-TV reports. As a result, residents packed into the library this week to listen to police talk about the recent thefts and what they could do, KARE-11 explains. The police told individuals that they believe the perpetrators were working out of the Chicago and Dallas areas, but they still haven't found the reason why such a small area got hit. "Maybe a database, just because the similarity of the victims and the locations in the neighborhood," Detective Darren McDonald told the news source. McDonald added that the cases could be linked to similar crimes in Madison and Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. The FBI is now also looking into the theft, according to KARE-11.