Written by Loren Stanton
The single mother in
The agency wanted to know why the woman had failed to report
income from the other job she held in
The woman was yet another victim of identity theft. And though she eventually cleared things up, she needed the help of the police to do it
.
Figuring out and sorting out those kinds of messes has been a familiar task for Byron Pierce. The Overland Park Police Department detective was investigating identity theft before identify theft was cool – for criminals, that is.
In fact, Pierce says the identity theft term “wasn’t even a buzz word” when he began working in the department’s financial crimes unit 12 years ago. Back then, the offense was so new there were no established investigative protocols or methods. “Everything I learned at first was through on-the-job training,” Pierce said.
Since those early years, identity theft cases and perpetrators have grown substantially in number, and the toll on victims has become increasingly more costly.
Not only is there more identity theft, but the crime keeps evolving and changing.
The
Pierce got introduced to identify theft with a case that involved 12 victims.
“They all reported that somehow their personal information was being used illegally, and they had no idea how that information had been compromised,” Pierce said.
Over lunch one day, Pierce discussed the unique nature of the case with fellow officer Sgt. Michael Imber. The challenges of the investigation prompted Imber to bet a burger that Pierce would never solve the case. It would take a lot of work, but Pierce eventually tasted success and the burger.
He started the investigation by asking the victims for their credit card statements. A side-by-side comparison of the reports revealed that all 12 had made purchases at the same shoe store. Eventually, Pierce learned that a store employee had passed customer credit card numbers to an acquaintance outside the store. That person, in turn, gave the information to an acquaintance at a call center, who used the numbers to gain access to the personal information of the victims and use it for illegal purposes.
While law enforcement knows more about the crime and has become more effective at tracking and thwarting it, there still are considerable challenges.
Cases often involve the identify theft taking place in one part of the country, while the transactions involving use of that stolen information are conducted in distant locales.
“You have to communicate with police agencies in another state, and that can be very difficult,” Pierce said.
It is hard to find the right officer to talk to, and it can be cumbersome trying to relate and share information.
“Law enforcement is doing a fairly good job (against identify theft), but there are so many cases. It’s a matter of trying to keep up with a lot of perpetrators who are outside your area,” he said.
The crime usually involves a network of individuals or organizations gathering and sharing information.
“We have the perception that identity theft involves a single person. But it takes effort, collusion and collaboration,” Pierce said.
The thieves operate at three levels. Pierce explained that the process begins with a “collector,” who gathers stolen information by various means and then passes it on to “the converter.” That person, in turn, transforms a victim’s information into the identity of another by manufacturing such things as counterfeit IDs and checks. Finally, “the passers” get involved. Those individuals are out for a quick buck by making transactions with the stolen identity.
“Our goal is always to work up the chain to get the collector. The passer is the equivalent of the low-level drug dealer. We can take them out every day. But we want to break the back of the people who are the organizers,” Pierce said.
While some might consider identity thievery a form of white collar crime, those behind it often have histories of more serious offenses. Because of the potential for good money, violent criminals also dabble in identity theft, Pierce said.
It is increasingly difficult for businesses to be alert to possible illegal use of information, Pierce said. Simple face-to-face contact with customers could reveal in some cases that a perpetrator could not possibly be who they claim. But with transactions such as credit card applications and banking being done routinely and increasingly online, there is more opportunity for perpetrators to practice their craft.
Sometimes businesses use practices that increase chances of
identity theft. Pierce is frustrated in particular by what he considers
unnecessary demands for information. In one case, personal information of several
One local company dumped a collection of documents in the trash that contained customers’ personal information. Sure enough, identity thieves discovered the trove of information via a Dumpster dive.
“It’s incumbent on companies to make every reasonable effort to safeguard people’s information,” Pierce said
Among the steps a company can take are simple things such as making sure computers are shut off after hours and that passwords are not left where they could be found. He said some companies also need to be more careful about whom they hire.
“Businesses can do a better job of doing background checks on applicants,” Pierce said. “If a business finds out a job candidate has a theft record, they are protecting the integrity of the company.”
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