KGVY Radio, Monday, June 2, 2008

Green Valley Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers

Bill Roskey

Remember to be careful with your Social Security number. One Green Valley resident reported to SAV last week that an individual used his Social Security number to obtain credit with two companies. He then proceeded to run up bills of $5,700 with one company and $4,000 with the other. The individual also obtained two credit cards from two different banks in the resident’s name and, using those, charged another $10,000. That’s a total of nearly $20,000. Police believe they have apprehended the person responsible, but, needless to say, the victim has undergone a great deal of inconvenience as a result. To people who know how to commit credit fraud, things like a person’s Social Security number, date of birth, and other personal identifiers used by banks and credit cards, are as valuable as gold.

Two Green Valley residents reported illegal activity with one of their bank accounts. Someone claiming to be one of them had the address for the account holders switched to an address in Texas. Checks were then written on this account and cashed. Normally banks, brokers, and credit card companies are quick to make sure that the change of address of an account holder is legitimate, but not every phony change of address is caught immediately. Be sure to check your statements every month. If you’re missing a statement, it’s possible that someone changed the address and is writing checks or making charges on it. Be sure to check with the institution.