Archive for March 2014

Medical Identity Theft: The Fraud That Can Kill You When it comes to medical identity theft, more than your money is in danger: This type of fraud could cost you your life. Receiving the wrong blood type, being misdiagnosed, or getting a prescription in error because a fraudster’s medical history is commingled in your chart…

ID theft bill at least in present form would funnel cash to Florida counties TALLAHASSEE — The Senate Criminal Justice Committee Monday approved a bill (SB 1472) that would toughen penalties for identity theft and send money to three counties in South Florida for beefed-up law enforcement. The bill, filed by Sen. Joseph Abruzzo, D-Royal…

K.I.D.S. Act Awaiting Passage By House News Release: Commissioner Adam Putnam’s Communications Office Tallahassee, FL – The Florida Senate today unanimously passed the Keeping I.D. Safe (K.I.D.S.) Act, a priority of Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam to keep Florida’s children safe from identity theft. “Florida will become one of only a few states in…

Hotels urged to use caution when disposing of sensitive documents Austin police are urging hotels and motels to shred or properly dispose of trash containing customers’ personal information after they said a man was seen searching through Dumpsters at those businesses Officials said Wednesday that Dustin Jackson, 33, was seen going through hotel Dumpsters and…

Personal Records Thrown In Dumpster From Topeka Dental Service Company TOPEKA, Kansas (WIBW) — Last week 13 News reported about confidential records found in a dumpster behind a Topeka office building. Since then, 13 News has been investigating to find out where those documents came from, and it seems the origin isn’t too far away…

Woman charged with fraud after health-department identity thefts A Clermont woman was arrested Tuesday on charges of filing $4 million in fraudulent income-tax returns using information that prosecutors say was provided by two Orange County health-department employees. A federal indictment charging Tanya M. Fox, 38, with conspiracy, wire fraud, theft of government property and aggravated…

Tax preparer pleads guilty in identity theft and tax fraud scheme Oakland Park tax preparer Louis A. Francois pled guilty Thursday to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Wifredo A. Ferrer. Francois, 44, of Margate, is scheduled to…

Florida leads nation in fraud complaints Florida ranks first in the country in the number of fraud complaints last year, with nearly 1,000 complaints per 100,000 people A large population of older residents who are considered more vulnerable to scams and a great number of foreclosures are among the reasons for the state’s number of…

Texas tax fraud case puts focus on identity theft DALLAS (AP) — The recent case of a Texas man convicted of tax fraud highlights one part of the lucrative black market for stolen personal information that the IRS estimates altogether costs U.S. taxpayers more than $6 billion a year. Luigi Montes was sentenced in 2013…

Former TD Bank employee, accomplice pleads guilty to identity theft A former TD Bank employee and her accomplice pleaded guilty to stealing identities to commit tax fraud. Tenisha Nkesha Francis, a former financial services representative at TD Bank from Lake Worth, and Ryan Michael Francis, of Riviera Beach, both pled guilty to federal charges of…