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“Most victims of ID theft find out when it’s too late.” Those words by a Phoenix police spokesperson set the tone for a press briefing involving a recent police investigation that brought down a counterfeit ring that had been operating since 2007.
In law enforcement, the term used in this particular crime is called “fencing;” criminals have stolen any number of items from citizens or businesses and then set up an operation where the items can be bought and sold. Detective James Holmes, a Phoenix police spokesperson explained, “In most cases, you will find the ‘bad guys’ doing crimes against other ‘bad guys’ and many times police are led to a network of operators since the ‘bad guys’ all know each other.”
“Operation Broken Fences” as the investigation was tagged, started on December 11, 2009 when Phoenix police officers responded to a home invasion at the home of the victim, Mr. David Bidwell. Police captured the suspects that same night, recovering all of the items that Bidwell had reported as stolen. Red flags were raised when the items were reviewed, including a home computer and fake state identifications. The IDs contained images of suspects who used identities of people who had been victims of several other burglaries.
Detectives were eventually led to a residence near 35th Street and Portland where they served a search warrant that netted another suspect, Mr. Jesse Vrizuela, who was in possession of illicit drugs for sale along with guns and stolen property. The stolen items happened to belong to victims who were identified on the fake IDs recovered in the Bidwell home invasion case. The items found at Vrizuela’s residence were linked to 43 burglaries that occurred in Phoenix and surrounding communities.
Detective Kerri Stewart who works in the Phoenix police document crimes detail, pointed out how any ID cards that have a bar code numbers and magnetic strips can easily be re-encoded on another forged card through the use of proper equipment. Detective Adam Geremia explained that police make every effort to contact victims of the crimes. Robbery unit Sergeant James Bracke shared how important the cooperation between agencies is in cases such as these—this investigation involved five valley agencies.
A few important safety tips for citizens:
- Do what you can to secure your personal property; never leave mail in your vehicle, including glove boxes and consoles
- Shred all documents that contain personal identifying information
- When ordering personal checks, include only your first initial and last name. This prevents thieves from signing checks correctly.
- Stop pre-approved credit card offers. Have your name removed from credit bureau marketing lists. Call toll free 888-5-OPT OUT (888-567-8688).
- Practice awareness and personal safety, i.e., criminals watch for hikers at trail heads who leave vehicles parked and go off to hike
- Check your bank statements, credit card bills, and credit reports thoroughly and often
- Personal mail – use a post office and/or a USPS secured mailbox (retrieve any incoming personal mail from your mailbox as soon as possible)