I spend a lot of time reporting the bad news about ID theft so today I thought I’d take a break from that and just hit the good news–the people who are getting busted.

Today’s first story takes us to Dallas, Texas where a gang of 30 identity thieves (I think safe to consider this a ID Theft Ring) were all busted. Once the pawns started to get picked off, the ringleader wasn’t far behind: 48 year old Essie Evans was finally brought to justice on May 20th. According to the article, “It was a very organized scheme that they had. They’d get up in the morning and go watch a Star Bucks [sic], a grocery store. Even a day care,” said Dallas Police Sr. Cpl. Kevin Janse. “Once they started making those arrests, suspects would start talking.”

Our next story is out of New Jersey where 18 year old Jenna Richardson was busted after she spend over $1500 off stolen credit cards. You’re probably asking yourself “What would an 18 year old spend money on?” Well, the answer is exactly what you think: amongst the purchases were Olive Garden, American Eagle, Footlocker and PacSun. Well duh. I could have told you that part. She got away with about 15 different cards and was arraigned on 12 counts of forgery and a handful of other related charges.

This next one is especially disturbing because it was an inside job. In this particular case, over $161,000 was illegally transfered from accounts when a banker was found to have been selling personal account information to an illegal Liberian immigrant in Houston. Both men were 34 years old and charged with aggravated identity theft. Both men also plead guilty to fraud.

Finally, out of wholesome Nebraska, another identity theft ring was foiled after a woman’s stolen purse lead directly to the arrest of five men within the ring. Like with most crime rings, once the outer bands start to get caught they immediately rat out the people above them until the whole unit is having unpleasant meetings with police. Unlike the first ring busted in Dallas, this one turned violent and the ringleader was shot (not fatally) inside of a hotel room when the police moved in on a tip. This ring would quickly cash out the credit cards and liquidate the ill-gotten property to buy drugs.

Ready to get Lifelock now?

Tags: lifelock

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 3:09 am and is filed under Individuals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.