A man faces 2 years for aggravated identity theft and 15 years for fraud after he stole a credit card in the mailbox of one of the homes he visited whilst carrying out his job delivering a local newspaper.
Andre Tyler from Germantown, Maryland, took the Discover credit card from the mailbox and then activated it. He then used the card to go on a shopping spree in his local town. The Maryland Gazette reported the case saying:
According to the plea agreement, Tyler took a Discover credit card from the mailbox of a house on Griffith Road in Laytonsville and activated the card. On March 27, Tyler used the card to buy gas and make purchases at Germantown Auto Spa, Pep Boys, Advance Auto Parts, Euro Motorcars and Hot Tint Speed and Sound. On April 11, Discover suspended the card. On April 19, Tyler called Discover Financial, pretended to be the homeowner at the Griffith Road address and reactivated the card. From March 27 to April 26, Tyler charged $4,744.76 to the card, according to the plea agreement.
Tyler had been delivering The Examiner in the Damascus, Etchison and Laytonsville area for nine or 10 months before his arrest, according to Montgomery County charging documents. He started taking mail from mailboxes sometime before Christmas 2010, according to the documents. Source: Maryland Gazette
Joe Says:
If you have ordered a new credit card or your debit/store card is running out so you are expecting a new one – and it doesn’t show up promptly then ring the company up and ask when/if it has been sent. It is in their interests to get your credit card to you as fast as possible – the sooner you have it the sooner you can start using it – so you are not going to be waiting weeks for it.
If they did send it promptly then ask if it has been activated and if so get them to cancel it immediately and then contact your local police to report it. Even if it hasn’t been activated but it seems to have gone ‘missing in action’ I would recommend you cancel it and ask them to issue a new one.
Mailbox theft is one of the easiest ways a criminal can carry out identity theft and it seems to be on the increase. I personally use a PO box and have done for years just for the peace of mind. It’s cheaper than you may think and although it can be inconvenient at times, removing the risk of both mailbox theft and identity theft makes it a small price to pay as far as I am concerned.
