Crime ring that sold felons stolen identity packages shut down

February 23, 2010 – 4:05 pm

Think of it as a bargain warehouse club for criminals. For a nominal fee between $7,000 to $10,000, felons and other enigmatic individuals were able to purchase brand new identity packages for themselves — complete with birth certificates, Social Security cards, work identification documents and, as a final coup de grâce, New York drivers’ licenses. The facilitators, which prosecutors say involved six individuals and over 200 “customers,” included two DMV employees in New York City and is thought to have raked in over $1 million during its operation.

Here’s how prosecutors say it worked: after the client paid the fee they would contact a DMV employee and make sure that the identity they had bought hadn’t been reported as stolen. Afterwards they would schedule an appointment with another DMV employee to use their stolen identity documents to get a New York drivers’ license. The DMV employee, who happened to be the office’s supervisor, would process their ID personally and they’d be on their merry way.

Those who purchased the identity packages weren’t your run-of-the-mill client base either. Prosecutors referred to the client list as “essentially a rap sheet.” Some of the customers included a person featured on “American’s Most Wanted” for drug-trafficking, a person convicted twice on DUI charges and a convicted sex offender. All were able to get new identities and out of their felony or wanted status due to this crime ring.

Can you imagine if suddenly your name was connected to the new identity of a convicted sex offender? That’s why having a service like LifeLock Command Center is so important. LifeLock Command Center is one of the rare services that could detect when your identity is being used by someone else. It’s well worth its low monthly cost of $15. And if you use LifeLock promotion code DEFENSE when signing up you’ll save an additional 10%!

Bookmark It