How to Get Out of Debt With the Get Out of Debt Guy » theft

Elaborate Scheme Leaves 180 With Over $1 Million In Fraudulent Purchases

Amanda Miller — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:05:58 +0000

Charges were announced last Thursday against seven members of an identity theft ring that allegedly used stolen identities of more than 180 people at major New York City retail stores including Home Depot, Sears, Kmart and Kohl’s, among others. The ring of fraudsters resold merchandise and gift cards for a profit after purchasing them under account holders names fraudulently.

Allegedly, as part of the scheme, the member of the ring manufactured driver’s licenses using the stolen identity information to facilitate their impersonations of the legitimate cardholders at the stores.

The ring consisted of Phillip Smith, the ring’s leader, Melissa Morton, who allegedly impersonated female identity theft victims, Mahmoud Abdul Hussein, Ali Abdul Hussein, Fadal Abdul Hussein, three brothers who allegedly manufactured the fake driver’s licenses out of their storefront smoke shops in Greenwich Village; and Francis Hidalgo and Randy White, who are alleged to have resold the illegally obtained store credits or used them to buy materials for home improvement projects for their businesses.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated that “Identity theft is an insidious crime – its victims are often unaware they’ve been robbed until days or weeks later when they are hit with credit card bills for mysterious purchases made by criminal impersonators. Identity theft results in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to unsuspecting victims and businesses, and victims may have to spend countless hours just to get their lives back in order. As [these] arrests demonstrate, we hold no quarter for the alleged perpetrators of these crimes and will work with our state and federal law enforcement partners to bring them to justice.”

According to court documents, since the ring’s inception in 2008 or earlier, Smith allegedly obtained stolen identities, including the names and social security numbers of legitimate account holders at large retail chains.

After obtaining the stolen identities, Smith called the customer service numbers at the retail stores to confirm that the victims had credit accounts and to determine the available credit limit. Once that information had been obtained Smith had a fake driver’s license in the name of the account holder made (allegedly from the Hussein brothers) but with photos of the individuals who would impersonate them at retail outlets.

As alleged, Smith drove Morton, one of his co-defendants, to retail stores throughout New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, where she charged expensive merchandise and gift cards to victims’ accounts. Morton would tell the checkout clerks that she had forgotten her store credit card and home but would offer the fake driver’s license and the victim’s social security number as proof of identity.

Smith then allegedly drove Morton to branches of the retailers in other locations where she returned the fraudulently acquire merchandise for store credits. Then, the credits were sold to other members of the ring, including Hidalgo and White, for approximately 60 percent of their face value. In turn, the items were then resold for usually 70 percent of their face value.

During the investigation, court-authorized wiretaps were used to intercept telephone calls between the defendants. In some of the calls, Smith and Morton speak in code about the fake driver’s licenses and the victims whose store accounts they planned to target. In a separate call, Smith warned White that the fraudulently obtained Sears store credits had to be used “right away,” because otherwise “they [would] go bad.”

In other calls, Smith arranged to sell Home Depot store credit to Hidalgo for approximately 60% of the face value, and Hidalgo in turn allegedly found contracting businesses to buy the fraudulently-obtained store credits in return for cash. In still other calls, the Hussein brothers discussed the fake driver’s licenses they manufactured.

The Complaint charges Smith, Morton, Hidalgo and White with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, which carries a maximum term of five years in prison. The Complaint also charges Smith, Morton and the Hussein brothers with a separate conspiracy to produce fake driver’s licenses, which carries a maximum term of 15 years in prison. Smith and Morton are additionally charged with aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two-year sentence if convicted – Source.

If you have been scammed and would like to file a scam report, please click here.

Friday The 13th: Unlucky For Fraudsters, Lucky For Potential Victims

Amanda Miller — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:48:50 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

Those that are superstitious often view Friday the 13th as an unlucky day. This past friday, January 13th, members of an identity theft ring received some unlucky news when they were sentenced to prison. Contrary to superstition, this was a very lucky day for future victims that could have fallen into their web of lies and deceit.

Two men, Richard Gaylon Conaster and Geoffrey Michael Wentzel, along with other conspirators were sentenced to prison after using personal information of dozens of victims to obtain fraudulent credit cards. Conaster and Wentzel both previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft and were charged with 124 and 65 months without parole, respectively.

Officers with the Houston Police Department (HPD) arrested Conatser and Wentzel at Wentzel’s home in October of 2010. Officers had recognized Conatser from the surveillance video of a Best Buy, where items had been purchased using a credit card obtained in the name of a victim.

At the home, police seized multiple laptop computers, flash drives, laminating machines, credit card magnet readers and other equipment used to make fraudulent forms of identification. Police also discovered the personal identification information of dozens of victims on the laptop computer and in credit applications from Kingwood Air Conditioning & Heating, which were also seized during a search of Wentzel’s house. Wentzel is a former employee of Kingwood Air Conditioning & Heating.

Conatser and Wentzel used the personal information and fraudulent forms of identification to open credit accounts in the names of at least 45 different individuals at more than a dozen different retail stores in the Houston and Dallas areas, including Kohls, Sears, Dillard’s, Home Depot and Bass Pro Shops.

After being approved for credit in the victims’ names, Conatser, Bird and other conspirators purchased thousands of dollars of merchandise, often being captured on video surveillance in the process. In some cases, Conatser then sold the fraudulently-purchased items to Wentzel, who in turn sold the items within days using his eBay account.

Law enforcement agents connected Conatser and Wentzel to Bird, who was previously arrested in July of 2010, during a traffic stop in Coppell, Texas. Police in Coppell discovered several items related to identity theft in Bird’s vehicle and a hotel room where Bird and other conspirators were staying. Among the items discovered by police were fraudulent identifications and other person information belonging to victims whose information was later discovered at Wentzel’s home.

In addition to their sentences, the two men were ordered to serve supervised release terms of three years following their release from federal prison. They were also ordered to pay restitution to victims totaling $142,197.88 – Source.

If you have been scammed and would like to file a scam report, please click here.

McDonald’s Manager Selling Stolen US Citizen Identities To Employees

Amanda Miller — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:00:09 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

A former manager of a McDonald’s restaurant in Savannah, Georgia was sentenced last month to 32 months in prison for her role in a scheme to sell the stolen identities of United States citizens to employees within the McDonald’s restaurant chain.

The former McDonald’s manager, Eva Ramos’, guilty plea and sentencing hearings revealed that Ramos, with the assistance of others, knowingly provided the identities of United States citizens to illegal aliens applying for work at Savannah area McDonald’s restaurants. Ramos sold some of the identities for a profit.

In addition to Ramos’ 32 month sentence she has also been ordered to pay a fine of $1,5000 and has to serve 3 years supervised release.

United States Attorney Edward J. Tarver said, “Our office will work with our federal partners to protect unknowing United States citizens against identity theft which is a rapidly growing problem across our country. Victims of identity fraud suffer a great deal and the effects of such fraud can be long-lasting.” – Source.

Ba-Da-Ba-Ba-Ba …. I’m scammin’ it!

If you have been scammed and would like to file a scam report, please click here.

Newspaper Deliveryman Makes Amanda Miller’s List Of “People I Wouldn’t Suspect Of Fraud”

Amanda Miller — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 21:19:36 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

Amanda Miller’s list of “People I Wouldn’t Suspect of Fraud” just keeps on growing week in and week out! Amongst the already listed TSA employee, postal carrier, United Nations employee and firefighter I now introduce to the list: a newspaper deliveryman.

A guilty plea was announced last week by Andre Tyler, a Maryland newspaper deliveryman, to unauthorized use of an access device and aggravated identity theft.

According to his plea, Tyler was a newspaper deliveryman for WilCan Services, a delivery contractor for a Washington newspaper, whose route included addresses in the Damascus/Laytonsville area of Montgomery County, mainly off Route 108 in Maryland. From December 2010 until his arrest on May 19, 2011, Tyler occasionally took mail from mailboxes along his route, kept the credit cards and threw the other mail away. Tyler would attempt to activate the stolen credit cards and if successful, use the cards for his personal benefit until they stopped working.

On at least one occasion, after the credit card company had suspended the stolen card Tyler called the company claiming to be the account holder and succeeded in having the card re-activated.

The total loss as a result of Tyler’s fraudulent use of the access devices was between $5,000 and $10,000.

Tyler faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for the unauthorized use of access devices and a mandatory two years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, for aggravated identity theft. Chief U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for January 30, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. – Source.

If you have been scammed and would like to file a scam report, please click here.

Insane Couponers: Savey-Savvy Perp!

Amanda Miller — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 23:26:21 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

photo © 2011 Randy Landicho | more info (via: Wylio)
“Extreme couponers” are seen by many as selfish, greedy hoarders. Thanks to those showcased on the TLC disaster show, “Extreme Couponing”, I’d have to generally agree. Perhaps we should label this new breed of couponers, those that hoard or manipulate the system as: Insane Couponers.

Insane Couponers are popping up left and right, north and south, and anywhere in-between. Denton, Texas saw it’s own share of an Insane Couponer in June when Sybil Hobson of Denton was arrested with a charge of “fraudulent destruction or removal or concealment of writing.” What does this have to do with couponing you ask?

Everything.

Hobson had been caught stealing coupon inserts off of papers in Denton. A large sweep of coupon thefts had been occurring in the area so a newspaper vendor hired a man to watch local newspaper stands and vending boxes to try to catch the savey-savvy perp!

On June 5th the hired man called the police to let them know while on his coupon-snatcher stakeout he had witnessed a woman stealing coupon packets off of papers. She had paid for one paper but proceeded to snatch the coupons from each paper in the box.

Apparently the man followed her from one box to another where he confronted her about her stealing. He told her the police had been called and she had been instructed to wait with him. To no surprise, she fled the scene.

The man was able to describe Hobson and her vehicle to the police and she has since been arrested. Her original charge was a Class C theft but the District Attorney’s office bumped it up to a Class As as a “more serious charge was appropriate.”

This crime results in up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. I hope she found a “Get Out Of Jail Free” coupon card in one of those packets she stole. She’s going to need it.

Source: Denton Record Chronicle

My Second Husband Spent All of My Home Equity Line. – Nicole

Steve Rhode — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:08:00 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

“Dear Steve,

My second husband, not the father of my children, has managed to spend $150,000 of the home equity line of credit (all of it). He says he gave the last $24,000 to his aunt for ‘safekeeping’ because the banks were going to reduce the amount of equity people have available. $8,000 was for my car and I’ll be generous and say $20,000 was to redo our kitchen. We never put an addition on the house as hoped.

The rest of the money was spent $1000- $5000 at a time WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE. And I was also unaware of the $24,000 to his aunt. I’m absolutely sick about this. My original mortgage was for $115,000; a 15 year loan that is 4 years away from being paid. Thank god I have prepaid college for my 2 children, one who is a senior in h.s. My house is not worth the amount of debt in my opinion. I’ve decided to separate from this man in order to stop the financial bleeding. I’m a teacher and I don’t make millions.

I don’t know where to begin to clean up this mess. How do I get back on my feet financially. I’m afraid a divorce will make things even worse. But I can’t afford this man who has lied to me repeatedly. I’m so embarrased I have not told this to anyone.

Nicole”

The Answer:

Dear Nicole,

I’m so sorry this happened to you. Sounds like your husband just went “secretly wild” with the money. Honestly, the most logical approach here is to strongly consider a bankruptcy at the same time as the divorce and get a total fresh start and complete break from this man.

It might seem like an extreme approach but then again this is an extreme situation. I would also strongly urge you to pull a copy of your consolidated credit report and see if there are any other financial surprises out there in your name. If he’d silently take money from the home equity line of credit, who knows what other funds or fraudulent accounts may be out there.

Identity theft is a lot like date rape, it usually happens by someone you know. I would not be shocked if you found a credit card or account on your credit report that you did not recognize. The consolidated credit report link is the same one I use for myself.

Thank you for sharing your situation with me. I appreciate the trust and I’m proud to be able to help you.

You’ve got some stressful and tough days ahead but I can already see the light getting brighter for you at the end of this tunnel. Stepping up and taking action moves this issue a lot closer towards resolving it.

Please update me on your progress by posting updates here in the comments section of your question. I’m very interested in how this works out for you.

Big Hug!

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

P.S. Be sure to read ‘The Secret of Surviving Through Difficult Economic Times. What I Learned On My Journey‘.

If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.

Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud for New Boobs

Steve Rhode — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:11:01 +0000

From How to Get Out of Debt

A 44-year-old woman, Julianne Johnson, was arrested on theft and fraud charges after authorities say she stole credit card information to get breast implants and a hotel room for Valentine’s Day.

Authorities say Johnson also used the identity of a man to open new credit cards and spent more than $3,000 on the accounts.

She is also accused of charging more than $5,600 on another man’s credit card at Florida Coastal Plastic Surgery, the Manatee Surgical Center and the PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens.

Johnson is being held in Manatee County Jail in Florida on $105,000 bond. But she looks good.

How to Get Out of Debt With the Get Out of Debt Guy » theft

Elaborate Scheme Leaves 180 With Over $1 Million In Fraudulent Purchases

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Friday The 13th: Unlucky For Fraudsters, Lucky For Potential Victims

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McDonald’s Manager Selling Stolen US Citizen Identities To Employees

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Newspaper Deliveryman Makes Amanda Miller’s List Of “People I Wouldn’t Suspect Of Fraud”

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Insane Couponers: Savey-Savvy Perp!

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My Second Husband Spent All of My Home Equity Line. – Nicole

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