Lost wallet at March Madness leads to identity theft headaches

Marian Wilbur has been afraid to check her mailbox lately. She doesn’t want to see any more billing statements from the mall in Chicago.

Someone stole Wilbur’s identity and has used it to ring up about $5,000 in fraudulent purchases, mostly at Chicago clothing stores. Wilbur said she thought the theft happened this March after her wallet disappeared in St. Louis, where she’d gone to watch Kansas University play in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

“I sympathize with anybody who’s been through it, and I don’t know how long it’s going to go on,” said Wilbur, a retired West Junior High history and English teacher.

Two weeks ago, she began getting billing statements from businesses in the Chicago area — Victoria’s Secret, The Limited, The Children’s Place and others. In each case, it appeared someone made the purchases soon after applying for instant credit in the store, Wilbur said.

“I’ve learned an awful lot in the last couple of weeks,” Wilbur said. “One of those things is that as long as you report everything promptly, you’re not held responsible.”

Federal officials say identity theft is one of the country’s fastest-growing crimes, and local numbers reflect that growth. According to Lawrence Police Department statistics, the number reported climbed from seven in 2000 to 44 in 2003. In the first three months of this year, there were 30 thefts reported.

text Act aims to help fight identity theft (3-1-04)text Identity theft bill meets with skepticism from Senate panel (1-27-04)text Senate OKs tools to help fight ID theft (11-06-03)text Federal Trade Commission: ID Theft

“I think probably thieves have become more skilled in the use of things they steal,” Wilbur said. “In a credit-card society, there are a lot more temptations there.”

Marian Wilbur, Lawrence, is a victim of identity theft. A vast amount of fraudulent purchases have been made in her name. Wilbur is pictured Friday at home holding credit cards she's received from businesses where her identity was used to apply for credit and make purchases.

Preventing identity theft:¢ Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you’re familiar with who’s receiving the information.¢ Don’t carry your Social Security card.¢ Guard your mail and trash from theft. For example, put outgoing mail in post office collection boxes.¢ Carry only the identification information and the number of credit and debit cards that you actually need.¢ Pay attention to billing cycles. Follow up with creditors if your bills don’t arrive on time.¢ Cancel all unused credit accounts.If you’re a victim:¢ Contact the fraud department of one the three major credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit file. The bureaus are TransUnion, (800) 680-7289; Equifax, (888) 766-0008; and Experian, (888) 397-3742.¢ Close the accounts that you believe have been tampered with.¢ File a police report. Get a copy of the report to submit to your creditors and others who may require proof of the crime.¢ File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC maintains a database of identity theft cases used by law enforcement agencies for investigations.Source: Federal Trade Commission