Bonnie, Ex-Girlfriend and Identity-Theft Scam Partner Sentenced

Jocelyn Kirsch - a previous Drexel University student and the ex-girlfriend and identity theft scam collaborator of 2005 Penn alumnus Edward Anderton - was condemned on Friday to five years in prison.

A federal judge also ordered Kirsch to pay $100,000 for amends and to be supervised by a probation officer for five years after she is discharged from prison.

This summer, Kirsch and Anderton both pleaded guilty to six charges, including money laundering, conspiracy and intense identity theft. The pair has been nicknamed the "Bonnie and Clyde" of identity theft.

From September 2006 to November 2007, Kirsch, 23, and Anderton, 26, directed an identity theft scheme in which they stole info from their family, friends and co-workers in order to acquire fraudulent credit cards.

Authorities say they finally stole about $116,000 from their victims and had meant to steal at least $122,000 more.

Anderton is set to be condemned on Nov. 14.

Read more!

Theft of Electrical Wires Causes Blackout in Ontario Mill Mall

Two retail merchants and an eatery in the Ontario Mills mall were left without power and closed Thursday after electrical wiring was stolen, police said.

Electrical boards were meddled with at Kohl's department store, Fazoli's restaurant and another store near East Fourth Street and North Milliken Avenue, police Sgt. Bret Larson said.

"Metal theft has been increasing at an awful rate," Larson said.

"We've been having a lot of thefts of wire, copper and electronics equipment."

A Kohl's supervisor reported the theft Thursday morning, Larson said.

Fazoli's manager Mercedes Avalos said that he spent Thursday replacing the missing wiring.

"This is the first time anything like this has ever occurred," she said.

"I don't see what they get from that."

Kohl's officials were inaccessible for comment Friday afternoon.

Larson said he knows precisely why Ontario and other cities are experiencing a rise in scrap metal theft: Thieves will resell and recycle the stolen metal scraps.

"People will reprocess the wire and get money for the copper," he said.

Everything from the cabling in lampposts to air-conditioning units in deserted and foreclosed homes are vulnerable to theft.

Read more!

8 Million Americans Are Victims of Identity Theft

More than 8 million Americans became victims of identity theft in 2007, ensuing in close to $50 million stolen.

Additionally to the individual thefts, there have been breaches of secure information in almost every sector of the business community, sometimes effecting hundreds of thousand of people at one time.

8 shocking facts from the Federal Trade Commission about Identity Theft -

• Identity theft has been the big top consumer complaint to the FTC for the past five years in a row.

• The FTC estimates that victims each spend 600 hours recuperating from ID theft, and approximately $1,400 repairing damage to their good name and credit record.

• It is approximated that victims of identity theft lose an average of $5,720 per incident.

• In 26 percent of all cases, the victim knew who had abused their personal information.

• It is calculated that 9 percent of all victims reported a family member or relative as the person responsible for misusing their personal information.

• 39 percent of victims ascertained that their identity was stolen more than seven months after it first occurred.

• 29 percent of identity theft complaints were a part of Generation Y (ages 18-29).

• 25 percent of identity theft victim information was misapplied through credit card fraud.

Read more!

Dover Man Charged For Theft of Antique Pistol

A Dover home security guard is facing a theft charge for allegedly thieving an age-old gun, valued at roughly $10,000, from a Portsmouth mansion he was working at in May.

Scott Gagnon, 25, of 31 Mill St. in Dover surrendered himself to the Portsmouth Police Department on Monday as a consequence of an bench warrant that accused him with a Class A felony count of theft from a building.

Police say a probe by Detective John Peracchi keyed out Gagnon as the person who stole an antique pistol that has been found by police. The said theft took place in May of this year.

Portsmouth Police Capt. Janet Champlin said the weapon in question is an antique Flintlock pistol made by England's Ketland and Co., and it considered to date back to the 19th century.

Champlin said the gun was retrieved in good condition and can be most easily equated to the type of pistols people might come across in pirate films. She said it is a metal gun with a brown coloring on the side.

Read more!

Man Charged for Theft from the Elderly

Joseph Kelly Lecureux, 39, is accused for theft from the elderly. Authorities are charging him of attempting to take vantage of an elderly widow whose home was on the brink of foreclosure.

According to Marian Rosen, [the homeowner's] lawyer, the aged widow was suffering from dementia when she signed the deed to her home over to Lecureux, selling it for lower than 15 percent of its rate.

According to the FOX 26 video coverage, the widow's attorney filed a successful civil suit annulling the deed and restituting title to the home in the name of the widow. Sometime thereafter, local law enforcement authorities filed the criminal charges against Lecureux.

Read more!

$23 Million Theft of Gold Bullion from Hong Kong

Hong Kong Police arrested five people for the theft of $23 million worth of gold. Police arrested them from the 3D-Gold Jewelery Holdings Ltd, the company whose dead founder created a solid gold toilet.

A report was made to the police when a batch of gold bullion was found missing from the vault of a listed company.

After an investigation, police arrested three men and two women, aged from 45 to 68. All of them are employees at the company.

Source: Bloomberg, USA

Read more!

Police Fund Anti-theft Software for Laptops

Nottinghamshire Police are now providing funds to install anti-theft software for people who live in theft hotspots.

The police force is paying for licenses for Absolute Software's ComputraceOne, which connects the company's monitoring centre to a machine every 24 hours, and every 15 minutes if it is reported stolen.

This will enable the police to track any stolen laptop that connects to the net.

The anti-theft software is embedded in the BIOS. So, if anyone reformats the hard disk the software can still do its work.

Other police forces, including West Midlands Police, have used the anti-theft software and have been able to return several laptops.

Source: ZDNet, UK

Read more!

Beckham Housekeepers Arrested for Theft

Two housekeepers working in a mansion of David Beckham and Victoria Beckham has been arrested by the police on charges of theft. One is a 56-year-old woman while the other is a 55 year old man. They have been arrested from Essex, east of London.

Reports say items belonging to the LA Galaxy star and his wife, a former Spice Girl, turned up for sale on eBay.

The thefts occurred from Hertfordshire, north of London, where the Beckhams have a private mansion.

Source: Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia

Read more!

10 Tips to Avoid Identity Theft

Identity theft is a serious problem today. Identity theft can make it difficult to improve your credit score. It can also lead to legal troubles. If your credit history is affected, you may have trouble getting a new job, housing, or insurance.

Here are 10 tips that can help you from becoming a victim of identity theft:

• Memorize your social security number and your PIN numbers.

• Don’t use easy to guess passwords, like your birthday or your mother’s maiden name.

• Secure your computer by using firewall software and always update your computer security to safeguard your computer from spyware.

• Confirm if the website URL that is requesting your personal information is authentic or legitimate.

• Beware of emails, especially with attachments, belonging to someone you don’t know. Emails like these contain viruses or spyware that can easily be installed in your computer and can send your personal information stored in your computer to thieves.

• Websites that ask for personal information should be secure. A secured website usually has URL that starts with “https://” with the “s” meaning secured.

• Beware of telephone inquiries asking you to give your personal information, unless you contacted them.

• If you lost your credit card, report it immediately to concerned authorities. It could have been stolen by identity thieves.

• Get your mail as soon as it is delivered.

• Do not discard bank, credit card or any other transaction receipts in public areas. Someone might obtain these information by dumpster diving.

Source: CreditScoreAide.com

Read more!

Historian Goes to Jail for Theft of Lincoln's and Washington's Letters

Edward Renehan Jr., 52, is a historian of a different kind. Instead of doing historical research or writing history books, he tried to do a somewhat different kind of historical activity and in the process, he made himself in history as ‘The Historian Who Stole the Letters of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and Went to Jail’.

He was sentenced on Friday to a year and a half in prison after apologizing for stealing the letters.

Edward Renehan Jr., 52, also must pay more than $86,000 in restitution to a Manhattan gallery where he tried to resell the letters, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin ordered as he imposed the sentence.

Renehan admitted he stole the presidential letters in 2006 and 2007 from the Theodore Roosevelt Association, based in Oyster Bay, on Long Island. He was then its acting director.

Among the letters, one was handwritten by Lincoln on March 1, 1840; two were written by Washington. One of those was dated Aug. 9, 1791, the other Dec. 29, 1778.

Renehan still faces a state charge of stealing and trying to auction off a 1918 letter that President Roosevelt wrote about his son Quentin's death in World War I.

Roosevelt Association director Jim Bruns said outside court that it was "a painful pill when a historian is caught in a position like this." But he said it was a significant breach of trust that must be faced.

Source: The Associated Press, NY, USA

Read more!

Scam Artists Fine-Tune their Portfolio with Armed Robbery

Police are looking for a few scam artists in Austin, Texas, who just upped the ante from theft to armed robbery.
These scam artists first talk to people very gently for giving them donation. They say it is for a charity organization. However, if the victim refuses, they pull out a gun and force them to hand over money.

Seems like they have perfected their new art!

The suspects have African accents and are working in groups of two or three.

One of the suspects is a man in his 50s in a black felt hat with a short brim and a tattoo on his left arm with the letter E or H.

Source: KXAN-TV, Austin, TX, USA

Read more!

Detention Sergeant Arrested for Theft from Inmates

Amado Martinez, was a detention sergeant of the Pinal County Sheriff's Office Detention Facility. But his acts were somewhat against the colors of his uniform.
He was indicted on Friday on 18 charges, including theft from inmates, forgery and identity theft.

A staff employee at the Pinal County Adult Detention Center discovered Martinez was stealing money from inmates, investigators said.

Martinez was booked into the Pinal County detention facility on a $100,000 bond.

Source: KPHO Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, USA

Read more!

Alexandria Woman Arrested for 17 Thefts

‘Frailty, thy name is woman,’ said the bard. Although some may say that he was incorrect, but a recent exploit by a ‘she’ turns the table upside down.

Alma Rene Williams, 22, of 2052 Overton St., Alexandria, is a woman miraculous – unlike any of her kind that we know or may have known.

Alexandria police arrested and charged her with 17 counts of theft in connection with the theft of cell phones and cash from Alltel Wireless over the past few months.

The charges are: one count of theft of more than $500, six counts of theft between $300 and $500 and 10 counts of theft of less than $300, police said.

An employee of Alltel Wireless at 3611 Jackson St. alerted police on Aug. 13 to the theft of money and 20 cell phones. After an investigation, officers arrested Williams, an employee of the store.

Source: Alexandria Town Talk, Alexandria, LA,USA

Read more!

24 Cracking Tips to Save Yourself from Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud

Don't just rely on insurance to protect you from identity theft and card fraud. It's much better to take these precautions to prevent it from happening in the first place!

These tips can save you from financial loss and the pain and effort needed to make it right again:

Identity-theft insurance:

A typical identity-theft insurance policy will pay for such things as rejected loan application fees and lost wages if you have to take time off work to reclaim your identity. The biggest benefit, in my opinion, is that many providers will be able to tell you what to do, who to report to, which companies to call and so on. This might be useful if you think you wouldn't keep a cool head in that situation.

Credit-card protection insurance:

A typical credit-card protection policy will cover you for loss due to fraud up to a specified limit, perhaps £5,000. Once you have reported the loss to the insurer, the limit for any additional losses that occur after the report could rise to £50,000 or £100,000. In addition, these insurances will often cover cash that has been stolen with your cards (up to a few hundred pounds).

Other benefits can include a service that will contact all your card providers to notify them of theft and to get replacement cards re-issued. Furthermore, if, because of the theft, you have no money to get home, the policy will probably pay for your transport costs too. The cost of replacing documents such as your driver's license and passport may also be covered if they go missing at the same time as your cards.

Are these insurances worth it?

Identity-theft and card protection insurances may particularly benefit people who are victims of fraud that is committed outside Europe, as it can sometimes be harder then to recover your money. However, I believe that identity-theft and card protection insurances are of negligible value to most people. This is because of these basic rights:

1. Credit-, debit- and charge-card issuers must bear the cost of fraudulent use. In some cases, you have to pay for part of the loss, but this is limited to £50. The exception is if you're grossly negligent, e.g. if you write your PIN on your card.
2. If you make a purchase worth £100 to £30,000 with a credit card and you have a problem with your purchase, your credit-card issuer is equally liable to refund you. This means you can ask your credit-card company to refund your account in addition to the vendor.

This leads us to the third way to protect yourself and your money:

Be careful!

If you're careful, the chances of suffering from fraud are very low. If you have a loss, it can take a while to fix it and get your money back, and this can be stressful. That's why it's best to be alert. We've not shared any tips on this for a while, so here are the better ones:

Documents:

1) Keep your cheque books separate from your credit cards.
2) Keep your driver’s license separate from your keys (as your license has your address on it).
3) Keep your passport safely hidden away when traveling.
4) Shred all documents with your personal or financial details, rather than bin them.
5) Check bank and card statements for unfamiliar transactions
6) Re-direct your post when you move and notify all companies that send you post of your new address.
7) Check your credit report occasionally.
8) Ignore letters that seem too good to be true; the ones that offer you money for nothing or ask for personal details.

Cards:

1. Report missing cards immediately.
2. Don't let restaurant and shop staff take your card out of your sight, because they might clone it.
3. Inform your bank if you're planning a trip abroad, so they don't get suspicious of your overseas transactions and bar your cards.
4. Be paranoid about people finding out your PIN number. Try to memorize it, not write it down, and cover it up when you enter it into readers or cash machines.
5. Put all your cards on a photocopier and copy both sides. Write the emergency contact numbers for each provider on the paper. Then store it somewhere secret and safe.

Computer and telephone:

1. As with letters, ignore dodgy calls or emails that ask for money or personal details from you.
2. Don't click through links sent to you by email from your bank or any other financial organization. Often these are cleverly disguised 'phishing' attacks to lead you to fake websites, where you enter, and therefore reveal, your personal details and passwords.
3. Be careful with your passwords, and don't choose anything obvious.
4. Don't give passwords to anyone who calls you, regardless of who they say they are. Find the correct number online and call them back, so you know it's not a fraud.
5. Make sure you see the padlock sign before you type personal details into forms on the Internet.
6. Get some anti-spyware and anti-virus software. Don't be conned into buying a fake product though! Get tips from your IT friend, or pick software you know has a good reputation. I've used Ad-Aware and Spyware Doctor for anti-spyware, but other well-known packages are Norton and McAfee. I've used McAfee's anti-virus software too.
7. Scan all attachments you receive by email for viruses.
8. If you download (i.e. open or save) any files from the Internet, save them to your computer first and then scan them. Don't just open them.
9. To be extra safe, don't download files from sources you don't know and trust.
10. Try to resist putting your personal details on networking sites such as Facebook for all to see.

Source: Motley Fool UK, UK

Read more!

Mississippi Student Arrested for theft of $100K

Jake Marshall is a 23-year-old doing his communications major from Biloxi. He was arrested on Tuesday by the Mississippi attorney general's office.

Why was he arrested? No, not because he stole boiled eggs or toasted bread, but on two counts of wire-fraud.

According to investigators, Marshall used the checking account and routing numbers off his paycheck from Tampa, Fla.,-based Barbizon modeling school to allegedly funnel up to $100,000 into an account with Tuition Management Systems, a private vendor used by Mississippi College.

They say that he spent his summer handing out fliers at Northpark mall for Barbizon and entered the numbers on the bottom of his paycheck into Tuition Management Systems' online form, apparently with the plan of paying his tuition and pocketing the rest.

Jan Schaefer, spokesperson for Attorney General Jim Hood, said investigators arrested Marshall on campus after he picked up a check for $19,000 cut from the tuition service.

Mississippi College will hold a disciplinary hearing next week to determine Marshall's future as a student.

He is being held at the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond until his court appearance, which has not been scheduled.

Quite an ingenious method for paying tuition fees!

Source: Jackson Clarion Ledger, Jackson, MS, USA

Read more!

4 Solid Steps to Stop Your Bike From Being Stolen in the Campus

A college is a perfect place for a ride. Ride to class, ride to the nearest gossips, ride the the nearest mountains or the countryside, or ride anywhere. However, today's bikes cost $500 to $1,500 and more, and they've become prime theft bait. So much that campus police departments are warning students to leave their nice bikes at home.

It’s very easy to steal a bike but very hard to identify the thief.

It is a plague. Nearly 1.5 million bikes are stolen each year from college campuses.

Apparently, bike theft rings are at least partially responsible. These rings sell stolen bikes for drug money, and they're good at it. And, according to a recent report about a man in Toronto who stole over 2,800 bikes himself, bikes also have considerable scrap metal value with today's high commodity prices.

4 tips (must read tips) to avoid your dear bike from being stolen:

1. Check homeowners coverage:

It varies by policy, but you may have some coverage for a student's bike in your homeowners insurance, if the student is living on campus. That off-premises coverage covers most property away from home including items in a car, and might be 10% of the total property coverage, says Cris Barnette, a Farmers Insurance agent on the West Coast.

If the student lives in an apartment off campus, he'll need a renter's policy. And you also need to consider the deductible. The point: check with your agent.

2. Buy the right bike:

"Buy a bike you don't mind losing," says Richard Amneus, a bike shop owner in Oregon. "If you must have a good bike, keep it in your room for special occasions and use the 'beater' to go to class."

It might sound like taking advantage of a bad situation, but buying unclaimed bikes from local law enforcement agencies is the best. Once a waiting period has elapsed, they are fair game and cheap.

3. Make the bike identifiable:

According to studies cited by the National Bike Registry, some 48% of stolen bikes are eventually recovered by law enforcement, but only 5% ever find their way back to the owners. Putting a card, like a business card, under the grips is a good solution.

You can also register the serial number with the National Bike Registry. See the site.
But note: Serial numbers (and bike registry numbers) can be easily eliminated by thieves.

4. Ride and park smart:

If you have a nice bike, don't leave it in a dark place all by itself and available to the masses. Park and lock it in a place where lots of bikes are parked, and next to more expensive bikes if possible.

So, enjoy those crisp fall morning rides, and keep your bike through the school year.

Read more!

46 Years Old Man Arrested for Theft of 247 Empty Beer Cans

He is a 46 year old man from Waterford. He is a crack addict.

On early Tuesday, he had no money for crack. Therefore, he went to a 7-Eleven store, opened the doors of its outside storage room and grabbed a large bag. The bag was filled with empty beer cans. He stashed it into his car and made his way.

But the police – they are an awful lot – maybe! They stopped him and in no time, he was behind the bars. They recovered 247 cans worth about $25.

Later, he told the police that his crack addiction forced him into doing the theft.

The police did not reveal the man’s name.

Related Links:
Waterford man stole cans for crack

Read more!

Two 13-Year Olds Try to Rob With a Fake Gun

Two boys, both 13-years old, tried to rob a 46-year-old man outside his Hollywood Avenue home. They were using a fake handgun.

The man spotted the boys looking at his motorcycle outside his home. He asked them what they were doing. Suddenly, one of them pointed a fake gun towards him and asked him what was in his pockets. He tried to grab the boy but both of them ran away.

The man did not stop; instead, he gave them a chase. He captured one of them and the police captured the other nearby.

Both were then turned over to the Youth Division and charged with first-degree attempted robbery.

The incident has prompted Police Commissioner Edmund Hartnett to schedule a press conference. He discussed the dangers and consequences of using fake guns in the conference.

Related Links:
Cops: Fake gun used in attempted robbery
Two teens face serious charged for holding up man with fake gun

Read more!

65 Year Old Elkhart Man Tries to Stop Theft

A 65 year old man from Elkhart was grabbed onto a pickup truck and was dragged about 200 feet.

His crime? He tried to stop scrap metal thieves from stealing.

The man was hospitalized on Monday with multiple broken bones and possible internal injuries. Police didn't release his name.

Police say the man tried to stop two men who had broken into a pole barn he owned along Indiana 19 in Elkhart, but the men ignored him and began to leave in a Dodge pickup truck. The building owner then grabbed the truck and was dragged about 200 feet when the truck didn't stop.

A witness saw the man fall off the truck and stayed with him until emergency workers arrived.

But whatever happened, we have to praise this old man for his courage and bravery in front of adversary.

Read more!

Bullying and Theft Rife at Holloway Women Prison

Women prisoners at the Holloway prison in north London felt very unsafe. Inspector Anne Owers has reported this finding. Her report also states that bullying and theft is very common inside the prison.

Prison managers are already acting on the need to improve the level of security inside the prison.

The inspection found levels of "victimisation" by other prisoners was nearly twice as high as at similar prisons, Ms Owers said.

Phil Wheatley, director general of the National Offender Management Service, said: "Holloway has now implemented a new violence reduction strategy, produced following consultation with women on safety issues."

Ms Owers said: "Our major concern, and that of many of the women we spoke to, was bullying and pilfering on the residential units," she said.

"Much of this was low-level, but appeared to be accepted as part of life at Holloway."

The report also found that the level of self-harm among the women inmates were high.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "Once again prison inspectors have found that our overcrowded prisons are holding many mentally ill women who should not be jailed."

Related Links:
Prison Self-Harm 'At High Levels'
Holloway self harm levels 'high'
Nat APge 19 Bullied inmates feel unsafe at women’s prison
Cells at the city's jail 'not fit for purpose'

Read more!