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| Identity Theft Continues Upward Climb |
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| Brady Delander, METRO NORTH NEWSPAPERS |
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7/23/2009 - The first time was a hassle. The second time Chris and Carey Chapin had their identities stolen was more than frustrating.
The Northglenn couple keeps a watchful eye on their finances, but some unknown people had other plans about what to do with the Chapin’s money. That included two charges totaling $2,450 at an athletic store while the husband and wife were vacationing in Mexico.
“Discover Card called us to confirm some charges that we put on the card in Mexico, which we had,” Chris Chapin, 45, said Monday. “Then they said two $1,228 payments went through back-to-back at some college athletic store. I told them that wasn’t us.”
That was the second time in a little more than a month that the Chapins had fallen victim to what Colorado Attorney General John Suthers called the fastest-growing crime in America. In early June, a debit card belonging to the Chapins was used to purchase $300 in goods from a store in Aurora, mere minutes after Chris Chapin had used the same card for a purchase in Northglenn.
There were 4,328 incidences of identity theft across the state in 2007, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Identity theft has been the top consumer complaint to the FTC for nine consecutive years, and there were approximately 10 million reports of identity theft last year alone in the United States.
“We try to prevent identity theft as much as possible, but there are going to be some cases,” said Ed Bilek, communications specialist for BBVA Compass bank. “We have a fraud and prevention staff and technology, and they work continuously. Unfortunately it seems that computer hackers are always one step ahead of the people writing the security programs.”
Bilek said the best way to resolve an incident is for the bank to act quickly, communicate with the customer and ensure the security of the account.
In Colorado, 56 percent of identity theft victims are between the ages of 18 and 39, and there seemingly is no end to the way people can become victims.
Some criminals rummage through garbage cans looking for bank statements or other information; others do it via the Internet, which is called phishing. Some thieves “skim” by attaching a data-storing device to an ATM that captures information after someone swipes their card.
Westminster Police in April discovered an ATM skimming device used for identity theft at First Bank near 94th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard. Westminster police said it believes it to be the first found in the Denver-metro area.
“Due to the fact that everyone’s information is on the Internet and computers now, it is so easy to access,” Northglenn Sgt. Steve Garrow said. “Also, a lot of people aren’t shredding papers, and criminals go through trash and put different pieces of information together – a name, account number, date of birth driver’s license.”
Garrow noted that straight-cut shredders often are not enough to prevent identity theft. He recommended cross-cut shredders.
“Criminals can put those shreds together and get information,” he said. “We all have our jobs; that’s their job – crime. They have nothing but time.”
While he didn’t have exact numbers, Garrow said he has noticed an increase in the number of identity theft cases over recent years in Northglenn.
For some like the Chapins, it’s unclear what steps could have been or should have been taken to prevent the identity theft.
“I don’t know what we could have done,” Chris Chapin said. “We shred all of our documents before they get thrown out, and we try not use (credit/debit cards) at high-risk places. But we don’t know what places aren’t high-risk anymore.”
To reduce the risk of becoming a victim of this type of crime, experts said to reduce the number of credit/debit cards and to not use debit cards for online purchases. Also, people should check their credit reports at least once a year.
Victims now spend an average of 600 hours recovering from identity theft, often over a period of years, according to IDTheftCenter.org.
“Luckily our bank was pretty good. We never saw the charge on the Discover Card, and it only took seven days for the bank to put that $300 back in our account from the first time it happened,” Chris Chapin said. “It’s still a huge hassle, and it would have been worse if we were living paycheck to paycheck like so many people are.”
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