ID theft appears to be relatively easy to do. It it isn't our own citizens trying to rip off the public, it's illegal alien conspirators providing them to illegals. Our government needs to make ID cards much more difficult to duplicate.
Two Augusta residents accused of stealing the financial identities of more than 50 people will remain in jail pending trial.
U.S. Magistrate Judge W. Leon Barfield signed orders Thursday noting that Glenn Love II, 36, and Vickie Parks Sheppard, 50, will be held without bond until trial. Both have pleaded not guilty in federal court to seven counts of conspiracy, fraud, possessing devices used to create identification and aggravated identity theft.
According to the indictment, federal investigators think Mr. Love used telephone books from cities outside Augusta to identify potential victims, especially elderly women.
Mr. Love allegedly pretended to be "David Jason," a credit card company fraud investigator. By claiming to be investigating unauthorized charges, he allegedly obtained personal identity information and numbers for bank account numbers, credit cards and debit cards.
The indictment says that Ms. Sheppard made follow-up calls to the victims to assure them that the credit card company was taking care of the unauthorized charges, and gave the individuals false claim numbers.
The identities of more than 50 individuals were taken, according to the indictment.
Mr. Love gathered more identity and financial information by calling the victims' banks and obtaining their credit reports, according to the indictment.
The crimes took place between July 18 and Jan. 10. Mr. Love and Ms. Sheppard were allegedly found with an identification card printer, a scanner/printer and a laptop computer.
According to the indictment, the computer had images of Social Security cards, a U.S. Department of Defense identification card and drivers licenses from Georgia, Florida and Texas.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
ID theft appears to be relatively easy to do. It it isn't our own citizens trying to rip off the public, it's illegal alien conspirators providing them to illegals. Our government needs to make ID cards much more difficult to duplicate.
Mr Love and Ms Sheppard appear to be "our own citizens". No where did it mention they are illegals.
Identity theft is now a global problem; these individuals should be sentenced to 50 years in prison without parole. When one's identity is stolen, the victim is berift of financial and emotional stability and is confronted with a logistical nightmare that can take years to clean up the mess the perps left behind. I have no sympathy for these two individuals.
I can tel you a scary event that we had right here in Columbia County in the BelAir/Columbia Road area. Was at a fast food place, drive up window, when a young man took my cash card through the window. I was talking to a child in the back seat of the car so when I did turn to look, he had his cell phone out in one hand and my card in the other and I have no proof but I think he was photographing my card. There was a line behind me and I got struck so fast with this that I pulled up so others could be served but I had to call the police from the parking lot to tell them. They told me they would question him and talk to the manager- if they did I did not know. This was last year and I did go get another cash card immediately but make sure when you are dashing about that nobody takes that card away from your site. You think they don't have your pin but then they can go on line and use that card like a credit card with the information printed on the card w/o any problems and it's charged to your bank account. And soon afterwards, the young man was gone and now the register is in visible site of the window at this particular place- where they all should have them.
This is sad!!
Throw the book at them! I have not YET recovered and don't think I ever will from identity theft in the early 90's. I worked hard to earn good credit before I married. In the blink of an eye thieves ruined my credit history. I spent months and months trying to repair my credit and chase down that thief while she shopped from here to Columbia, SC. She lived on the same street as I did! She bought more on those cards in those months than I had in 10 years. I do not understand why she was never arrested. I have not used credit cards since then. I don't think I'm ever going to get over what her and her male accomplice did. I know what she looks like, though, and I see her standing waiting for the bus sometimes. The LTD her accomplice drover her way from Toys 'R Us when she was almost caught, sits in her garage, apparently it broke down years ago and she doesn' t have a ride anymore. I just look right through her when I pass and she looks petrified with guilt. She's hard to miss with her extremely short blonde hair, light skin and gold tooth. She even often wears the same big hoop earrings she was wearing at Toys 'R Us. I don't have to "get" her. God will.
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