KGVY Radio, Monday, March 17, 2008

Green Valley Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers

Bill Roskey

During the past week, no new kinds of crimes have been reported to SAV—just the usual, but they serve as reminders to be careful. Probably the most serious and growing crime in Green Valley is identity theft. A number of Green Valley residents reported their wallets missing. In some cases, it was unclear as to whether the wallets were lost or stolen, while in other cases, the wallets were definitely stolen—as in one case when a man’s locked car was broken into, and his wallet and checkbook stolen. Most of the wallets contained drivers’ licenses, credit cards, debit cards, and similar items that identity thieves use, as well as cash. Most of us are old enough to remember when the worst thing that could happen when your wallet was lost or stolen was that you lost the cash that was in it. These days, far more is at stake—a person actually assuming your identity and the potential loss of many thousands of dollars, so SAV encourages you to be extra careful with those wallets. Two other Green Valley residents reported what have now become common crimes in Green Valley. The first was credit card fraud, a reminder to us all to check those monthly statements to make sure that all of the purchases shown are actually ours. The second had to do with bogus sweepstakes, yet another reminder that if someone tells you he will send you hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars if you first pay him several thousand dollars, it’s time to hang up the phone or delete that e-mail.

This past week, five members of SAV were given awards recognizing them for the amount of time they’ve volunteered. Josephine Roth has contributed more than 500 hours, Jim Hill more than 1,000 hours, Susan Kline more than 4,000, Madeline Sperry more than 7,000, and Fred Lawrence more than 14,000.