ACLU Supports Identity Thieves -- Sues County Sheriff

The ACLU has filed a suit against the County Sheriff and District Attorney of Weld County, Colorado in a strange twist of logic supporting the position of identity thieves. These stories (Operation Number Games and Fight with ACLU suits Buck to a ‘T’) from Weld County, Colorado are illustrate some of the contention between protecting fourth amendment rights and prosecuting criminals.

The back story ---
It begins with former mayor of El Paso, Texas and tax accountant Ray Salazar. In 1988, Salazar listed among his clients a Mr. Jose Lopez. Lopez is a citizen of Mexico and a resident alient in the US (he has a green card permitting him to work in the US). Three weeks of the month, Lopez works at a ranch near El Paso and returns home to his family just across the border in adjacent city, Ciudad Juarez for the fourth week (El Paso and Ciudad Juarez both part of the same metro area but are separated by the US/Mexico border).
All was well until one evening when Lopez was returning home he was mugged and his wallet stolen. He reported the theft to, among others, the Social Security Administration which issued another green card with the same ID number as the original card.


Fast forward to 1995 when Servando Trejo, a citizen of Mexico paid $1,500 to a human smuggler to take him across the border into Arizona. Once there, Trejo purchased a fraudulent birth certificate and social security card in the name of Jose Lopez. Trejo, an illegal immigrant, then assumed the identity of Lopez. With the Lopez identity, Trejo worked at several different jobs and eventually moved to Greeley, Colorado where he opened a bank account and gained a Colorado drivers license.

The fraud seemed to be going well for Trejo. Especially well, since Trejo chose not to pay income tax on his earnings during the years and by 1999 had accumulated a bill for $11,000 in taxes owed. That (1999) was when the IRS decided that the tax bill needed to be paid and contacted the real Lopez in El Paso and presented him a bill for $12,000. The real Jose Lopez, the part-time ranch hand in El Paso only made $10,000 per year and not only did not truly owe that much.  Moreover, he lacked the means to pay the bill.

That is when he turned to his CPA, Ray Salazar. Salazar worked with the IRS to resolve the problem but the IRS was skeptical of Lopez' claim. It wasn't until 2003 that Salazar was able to have an IRS agent take a close look at the circumstances and realize that Lopez had been the victim of identity theft. The IRS promptly removed the claim for back taxes and the situation appeared to be fully resolved. Jose Lopez never did find out who had been using his identity and could not be sure that it would not happen again.

In 2005, Trejo (still masquerading as Lopez) living and working in Greeley, filed an income tax return. Trejo had less than $2,000 withheld from his check to cover taxes but when he filed the return, he was given a refund of more than $4,000. This event apparently triggered something in the IRS system and again the real Lopez in El Paso was presented with a bill for $11,000 in taxes. Once more, Jose Lopez turned to Salazar the CPA for assistance in working with the IRS. Through another source, Lopez discovered that someone in northern Colorado was using his social security number. Lopez contacted the Loveland, Colorado police department who referred him to the Weld County Sheriff's office.

The Weld County Sheriff's deputies begin an investigation. On August 13, the deputies located the "Jose Lopez" they sought and arrested Servando Trejo at a feedlot where he worked. Trejo was arrested on charges of identity theft and forgery. Trejo later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of criminal impersonation and was sentenced to probation for two years. Trejo was subsequently transferred from the Weld County jail to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE subsequently deported Trejo to Mexico.

While still in the custody of the Weld County Sheriff's office, Trejo told the deputies how he was able to get large income tax refunds through a local business, Amalia's Translation and Tax Service. With this information the deputies investigated further to found that, not only Trejo but, a great many other illegal aliens were using Amalia's Translation and Tax Service to obtain income tax refunds under assumed identities ($2.7 million). Deputies sought and obtained a search warrant and seized the Amalia records. The seized tax records revealed approximately 1,300 cases of identity theft.
--- end back story


Information in a court case is normally considered public record. The evidence in the case was the tax records of Amalia's clients who had an interest in their tax records not being disclosed as a part of the public record of the case. Consequently, the Weld County District Attorney had the tax records put under seal and reviewed by grand juries (whose sessions are secret).

The ACLU, curiously, rather than supporting the Sheriff and District Attorney in their efforts to bring the identity thieves to justice chose to oppose their efforts and demand that the evidence either be returned to Amalia or destroyed and abandon attempts to prosecute the fraudsters.

Today the court heard opening arguments in the case. It is not certain how this will end or if there can be found an elegant compromise that both protects the rights of citizens from unreasonable search/seizure while still giving law enforcement the ability to effectively perform their duties and keep us safe from criminal activity.

Thieves Take More Than Towels

Wyndham Hotels in Florida notified the state Attorney General about a data breach in which the credit and debit card information as well as personal data of 21,000 hotel guests was compromised in December 2008. Wyndham notified the affected guests by letter.

So far there has been no evidence that foul play has occurred, but Wyndham is urging those affected to be vigilant and obtain fraud alerts from the major credit bureaus.

Another solid piece of advice would be to watch for suspicious credit card activity. Any suspicious charge can be challenged and taken care of fairly easily with your credit card company. This is yet another reason to use credit cards rather than debit cards. If your debit card information is compromised, thieves can easily drain your bank account before you even notice a problem.

Read the original story by clicking here.

Non-fat, Low-foam Laptop Please!

Starbucks has once again lost a laptop containing employee data. In October 2008 the company lost a laptop that contained 97,000 employee's personal data, including Social Security numbers and addresses. I guess that fits in the extra-extra-large cup. Notice I said "once again?" In November of 2006 a laptop containing personal data of over 60,000 current and previous employees was also stolen. The difference is, this time the employees decided to file a lawsuit.

Some employees are saying that Starbucks took too long to notify them about the breach and provide them adequate time protect themselves against identity fraud. Starbucks has offered the employees one year of identity theft protection and credit monitoring, but some employees are asking for up to five years. Some of the plaintiff's have seen evidence of fraud due to the data breach, and are therefore seeking monetary damages.

This is bad news for you coffee drinkers. If this lawsuit is successful, I would expect to see the price of a Starbucks coffee increase. It's going to take a lot of beans to pay for the double blunder.

You can read the full story here.

Going to the Hospital?--Leave Your Purse at Home

If you are making a trip to the hospital, you will be making yourself exceptionally vulnerable to others. No, I am not referring to the quality of medical care from the doctors and nursing staff. I am referring instead to the probability of your becoming a victim of identity theft and fraud.

To illustrate the point, I refer to a recent event that occurred to a patient while staying at Scottsdale HealthCare Shea in Scottsdale, Arizona. The patient, a 79-yr old woman seeking treatment, was apparently victimized not once but twice by two separate members of the support staff operating independently and without knowledge that the other had also victimized the patient.

The alleged perpetrators are Nancy Adame 34, and Sylvia Cubit 40. The victim reported to police that she had been contacted by her bank about suspicious activity in her account. When she examined the contents of her purse after her stay at the hospital, she discovered that personal checks, credit cards, and her debit card had been stolen.



Nancy Adame has been charged with fraud, theft, and forgery and has been released pending completion of the investigation. Slyvia Cubit (who also works at another Phoenix area hospital and medical laboratories) has been arrested after Scottsdale police obtained a search warrant and entered her home finding evidence linking her to several other identity thefts. She, Cubit, has been charged with theft, aggravated identity theft, theft of a credit card, forgery, fraudulent use of a credit card, trafficking in the identity of another, and trafficking in stolen property.

What lessons do(should) the rest of us learn from the misadventures of these two hospital staff?

1. Difficult times often brings out the worst in people.
2. Constant vigilance to guard against identity theft is always a good idea.
3. Motive and opportunity are all that it takes.
4. Don't assume that others are not motivated to steal from you and your creditors.
5. You can influence, if not control, how much opportunity is provided to identity thieves.

Source: http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/2009/02/05/20090205abrk-hospitaltheft0205.html

The State of Identity Theft

You'd think that by now with ID theft as prevalent as it is, that we'd have a better grip on what to do to prevent it and keep these thieves from stealing our information. Well, necessity is the mother of invention. Thieves continue to use more sophisticated techniques to stay up with or ahead of modern technology. To make matters worse, it's not just technology they're adapting to. They are also adapting to troubled times and using our down-turned economy to their advantage.

An article I read on the pressofAtlanticCity.com website quotes Jay Foley of the Identity Theft Resource Center as saying that thieves are continuing to be more creative and adapting to the current economic conditions. They are taking advantage of people who are looking for jobs, losing homes, and whatever else is ailing us. Be alert for these kind of scams. Offers of lower interest on your current home loan can seem promising, but make sure you verify the source of the lower interest and read the fine lines. Make sure it's real.

You can read more here. It seems that things are likely to get worse before they get better. Which is why you might consider an identity theft recovery solution from Merchants Information Solutions, Inc.. While prevention is the key to identity theft, it is always helpful to have a recovery advocate working on your behalf to restore your good name and credit to it's pre-theft status, should you become the victim of identity theft.

Who's Watching the Watchers?

I'm the kind of individual that believes if I have to spend the night in the hospital, I shouldn't take anything of value with me (iPods, cellphones, laptops, etc.). These only serve as temptations to those with lesser scruples, causing them to wait until I'm out of the room, in the restroom, or fast asleep to sneak in and help these items grow legs. If it's valuable, leave it at home. It's unfortunate that we can't take the same approach with our identities.

Today, some delightful health care billing worker in Los Angeles has been accused of stealing the identities of more than 1,000 patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and using those identities to steal from insurance companies. What a black eye for the medical community. The former employee, James Allen Wilson, is accused of taking around $69,000, but the investigation continues. Read more here, or here.

I can't help but wonder if Mr. Allen was ever properly screened before obtaining employment at the medical center? Even if he was, he may have had a, pardon the pun, clean bill of health prior to this event. Regardless, I hope that Cedars-Sinai Medical Center takes proper precautions in the future to ensure such an event never happens again. Screen, screen, screen.

ID theft is growing rapidly and it can happen any time, any place. Have you taken measures to ensure your identity remains healthy? If not, Merchants Information Solutions identity theft product, SmartIDentity+, can help you protect yourself and your family by offering email alerts, credit monitoring, identity monitoring, and a fully-managed recovery solution in case you ever become a victim. Cover your bases. Make sure someone is watching the watchers.

3 Ohio Officials lose jobs over Joe-the-Plumber Records Search

Regardless of which presidential candidate you supported, and regardless of your personal feelings toward Joe Wurzelbacher; this can't be seen as anything other than a victory for maintaining privacy, greater protection against identity theft from state actors, greater safeguards against official misconduct.

Yesterday, the Houston Chronicle reported that Ohio governor Ted Strickland accepted the resignation of Helen Jones-Kelley (Director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services). She commented at the time of her resignation that "this decision comes after a time of pause, in which I realize that I continue to be used as a political postscript, providing a distraction from urgent state priorities".

Jones-Kelley Resigns
Governor Strickland, through his spokesman, said "he understands her decision and accepts her resignation". No word on whether Jones-Kelley offered her resignation of her own volition, or whether the governor asked for it. I leave it to you to draw your own conclusion.

I do, however, think it noteworthy that never at any time did Jones-Kelley make an admission of wrong-doing. She never came forward to say that she had made an error in judgment. She never begged the pardon of Mr. Wurzelbacher or the people of Ohio who she serves.

Assistants Dismissed
So that no one is under the mistaken impression that Jones-Kelley is in the right, her two deputies (Fred Williams, the Assistant Director is out on January 31, 2009 and Doug Thompson, Deputy Director for Child Support is likewise out on December 22, 2008) are getting the axe for their involvement in the misdeeds.

More to the point, Jones-Kelly continues to proclaim her innocence. In the statement accompanying her resignation, she continues to practice denial saying that she will not allow her reputation to be disparaged. I find it curious that no matter how often or how loudly she trumpets that what she did (investigators confirmed that she accessed Mr. Wurzelbacher's records) was proper, the public is not half so thick as she believes and has consistently asked for her to be held to account.

That day has come.

Ohio is expected, in the wake of this smear on the Ohio public officials, to adopt new restrictions today on who can access personal records and for what purpose .

Reconciliation?
Perhaps Jones-Kelley will at some future day to reach deep inside and grasp the courage and insight sufficient to admit to herself that she did wrong and then attempt to make amends. Judging from her resignation statement, her deepest regret seems to be, not that she did something wrong, but rather that she got caught. Not a positive start on reconciliation process, but perhaps the end of a career will grant her the time and space to make the admission.

In the meantime, she should count herself fortunate that the consequences arising from her misdeeds resulted only in the self-inflicted wounds of: losing her job, trashing her reputation, and likely ending her career as a public official. It might have gone worse if the attorney general had wanted to aggressively pursue the issue by seeking not only her resignation, but also fines, and jail time.