By Molly Tanenbaum
Anyone with an e-mail address probably deletes several e-mails a day that pretend to be from eBay and Paypal and ask to “verify” personal information. Attempts at identity theft are all around us, and yet we often fail to do the simplest things to protect ourselves from it.
That is why Mountain View’s public works and police departments have teamed up this year to provide free, confidential paper shredding, and education about identity theft, during a March 11 event for Mountain View residents.
“We view this as an excellent opportunity to educate the community about the importance of protecting their identity, while at the same time giving them a special opportunity to get rid of those items which, if they fell into the wrong hands, could be easily used to commit crimes under that person’s identity,” said police spokesperson Jim Bennett.
Identity theft is when someone illegally uses your personal information to obtain credit, loans or services in your name. Police records show a significant rise in fraud cases — many of them involving identity theft — in Mountain View in recent years, tripling since the mid-1990s to about 150 cases a year.
Much of this growth is due to Internet fraud, but telemarketing and mail theft are also to blame, Bennett said. Because of this increase, it is now Officer Jodie Pierce’s full time job to investigate of identity theft cases.
According to Pierce, it can take months or even years for a victim to find out that identity theft has occurred. Perpetrators will rack up huge debts by opening new credit cards in the victim’s name, and finally a letter from a collection agency will appear in the victim’s mailbox.
“That’s when you get a bill for $6,000 for a card you never owned,” Pierce said.
That is what happened to Tanya Butler (her name has been changed to protect her identity), a Mountain View resident whose identity had been used by a Sunnyvale woman to open up a credit card. The Sunnyvale woman had a long history of identity theft in multiple states, and had simply stolen mail out of Butler’s mailbox four years prior to Butler finding out about it.
“She’s been impersonating people all over the country,” Pierce said.
The thief most likely used a pre-approved credit card offer to open up a card in Butler’s name, Pierce said, but with the address changed to a Sunnyvale address. She racked up thousands in debt, which complicated things for Butler, who was trying to buy a new house at the time.
Fortunately, one of the documents mailed to Butler’s house had the thief’s address on it, and police were able to track down the woman, who later spent six months in jail.
Because a suspect often lives in another county or state, Pierce said, it can take more than 100 hours to investigate an identity theft case. And the victim spends far more time straightening things out with the bank, credit card company and merchants. Butler was finally able to get rid of her debts and purchase her house, but not without hours of hassle.
Butler’s case may show that identity theft can happen to anyone, but there are steps people can take to make themselves less vulnerable. Here is what the Mountain View Police Department advises:
* Purchase and use a heavy-duty cross-cut shredder
* Check your credit report at least once a year; you can do this for free at www.freecreditreport.com
* Put your outgoing mail in the postal service’s blue box instead of your own mailbox, and try to collect incoming mail as soon as possible
* Be cautious about providing personal information, such as date of birth, social security number or address, especially over the phone
INFORMATION:
What: Free Confidential Paper Shredding, provided by the Mountain View Police Department and the Department of Public Works. Mountain View residents may bring up to two paper grocery bags or two cardboard storage boxes of documents (bank statements, tax returns, bills) and data storage (DVDs, video tapes, CDs, diskettes) to destroy.
Who: All Mountain View residents are invited to attend with proof of residency (driver’s license or any utility bill)
When: Saturday, March 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: St. Joseph’s Church, at the corner of Castro and Church streets
E-mail Molly Tanenbaum at mtanenbaum
