Pennsylvania uncovers another costly identity theft case
Sep 03, 2012 Dave King
Several high profile identity theft cases, many of which carried out by rings of criminal associates who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting consumers, businesses and banks, have hit the news in recent weeks. This has shown that ID verification practices are simply lagging behind the abilities of fraudulent forces. Businesses can certainly deter such instances, and save themselves the money, reputation and reliability lost from successful identity theft attacks. If firms are not comfortable with all of the practices and processes involved in ID verification, they should seek assistance from providers of related solutions. Another case uncovered in Pennsylvania
The Times Herald recently reported that a woman, Monica Holloway, turned herself in after a warrant was issued for her arrest in connection with the stolen identity of a Whitpain Township, Pennsylvania, resident. According to the source, the 35-year-old Holloway is currently being charged with 17 counts of identity theft, forgery and a menagerie of other charges. Holloway used the identity of her victim to make purchases at nearly 20 stores in three states - New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania - while law enforcement officials were tipped off by a detective in Delaware. The source noted that the investigation was long, while Holloway had been arrested initially for using a false credit card at a retailer. Massive ring uncovered earlier this month
In mid-August, Minnesota and federal law enforcement officials uncovered an identity theft ring that was responsible for nearly $50 million in lost funds, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. This ring was responsible for attacks on more than 500 victims, on top of the massive amount of money lost. The news provider reported that members of the identity-theft ring were sentenced to a total of nearly 50 years in prison, in addition to paying restitution for the money stolen. Officials only uncovered $10 million in actual losses, though prosecuted the criminals for the additional $40 million they intended to steal. Through better ID verification practices and improved data security policies, merchants can deter such occurrences from hitting their stores. In both cases, the criminals used false identities and fraudulent credit cards to make purchases at retailers - theft that should be viewed as simply unacceptable among the retail community.
The Times Herald recently reported that a woman, Monica Holloway, turned herself in after a warrant was issued for her arrest in connection with the stolen identity of a Whitpain Township, Pennsylvania, resident. According to the source, the 35-year-old Holloway is currently being charged with 17 counts of identity theft, forgery and a menagerie of other charges. Holloway used the identity of her victim to make purchases at nearly 20 stores in three states - New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania - while law enforcement officials were tipped off by a detective in Delaware. The source noted that the investigation was long, while Holloway had been arrested initially for using a false credit card at a retailer. Massive ring uncovered earlier this month
In mid-August, Minnesota and federal law enforcement officials uncovered an identity theft ring that was responsible for nearly $50 million in lost funds, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. This ring was responsible for attacks on more than 500 victims, on top of the massive amount of money lost. The news provider reported that members of the identity-theft ring were sentenced to a total of nearly 50 years in prison, in addition to paying restitution for the money stolen. Officials only uncovered $10 million in actual losses, though prosecuted the criminals for the additional $40 million they intended to steal. Through better ID verification practices and improved data security policies, merchants can deter such occurrences from hitting their stores. In both cases, the criminals used false identities and fraudulent credit cards to make purchases at retailers - theft that should be viewed as simply unacceptable among the retail community.
