Stats: ID theft takes heavy toll in Valley

BROWNSVILLE - The Brownsville-Harlingen area ranks fourth in the nation in the number of complaints of identity theft, according to statistics released by the federal government.

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2007, there were 876 complaints of identity theft per 100,000 residents filed in the Brownsville-Harlingen metropolitan area, according to the federal government's Identity Theft Data Clearinghouse.

At the time there were more than 230,000 residents in the area, according to the Census Bureau.

Brownsville Police Chief Carlos Garcia said residents should be careful of where they store their personal information and to whom they entrust it.

He said the problem lies with individuals "not taking precautionary measures to protect their personal information, such as social security numbers or dates of birth. I think that's the biggest contribution - individuals just being too lax."

Garcia said people should dispose of e-mail and postal mail properly.

"When you get (credit card) applications ... in the mail, it's easy for other people to pick up that (envelope) and apply under your name," he said.

"In most cases, when a person files (a complaint of) identity theft, it is because more than likely somebody has already used their identity somewhere else. All of a sudden it comes back that somebody else is using their Social Security number. I think for us, it's still (a) learning phase, because in most cases ... people are coming in here after the fact."

Identity theft occurs when someone's personal information, such as Social Security number or name, is illegally used to apply for credit, loans and jobs or to make a purchase.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said illegal immigrants trying to fashion a new identity sometimes steal the Social Security numbers and names of legal residents to get jobs, homes and credit inside the United States.

"Our proximity to the border, our high number of illegal criminal immigrants entering the country, taking advantage of the situation," Treviño said. "Even those illegal immigrants that are not committing (violent) crimes are still involving themselves in ID theft."

The entire Mexican border region is plagued by high instances of identity theft, according to the study. Of the top 25 cities, 17 are in border states.

For the second year in a row, the McAllen area ranked fifth for the number of identify theft complaints in the country in 2007, among metro areas with populations of 100,000 or more, according to a report from the Federal Trade Commission.

 HOW THIEVES STEAL IDENTITIES

Dumpster Diving: Rummaging through trash to look for papers with personal information, such as bills and bank statements.
Skimming: Credit and debit card numbers are stolen by using a device attached to card reader used when purchasing something.
Phishing: Sending fake spam or pop-up message to get a person to give away personal information
Changing Address: Changing a persons address to send billing statements to another location by completing a change of address form.
Stealing: Wallets, pursues and bank and credit card statements from a person or their mailbox.
Pretexting: Calling a crediting agency and using "false pretenses" to obtain personal information, such as pretending they are from a research firm.
Source: Federal Trade Commission: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/about-identity-theft.html.