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Identity Theft with a happy ending, sorta.

The San Francisco Chronicle has an interesting tale describing how identity theft victim Karen Lodrick recognized a woman who had been using her stolen identity in line at a Starbucks. She called 911 and pursued the woman, who was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to time already served (44 days) plus probation. I'm curious about one of the details, however. Ms. Lodrick and apparently the police believe that her identity was stolen when the perpetrator stole unsolicited bank cards which "she had not requested". Were these unsolicited accounts? Probably not. They are described as "debit/credit cards" and other details of the story indicate that the cards were used to extract cash (or equivalent) from her accounts. Banks routinely send renewal cards to account holders. The term "unsolicited" in this context is typically not used to describe this situation. If the bank sent her a debit/credit card for an account that she didn't want such a card for, then the bank needs to evaluate its policies.

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Anonymous said…
The bank (Wells Fargo) did in fact mail to me two (2) credit/debit cards I had NOT requested and knew nothing about. I was stunned when I found out these cards had wiped-out my Wells Fargo bank account and they were telling me it was my fault and/or someone had broken into my home. The fact is the bank mailed those unrequested cards to me and then authorized them to the criminal, Maria Nelson, when she called from an unauthorized phone number! Within days thousands of dollars was stolen from my bank account.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007 11:56:00 PM
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