Back in January, I posted about a coworker who had been a victim of identity theft. In summary, someone stole her ID and debit card and used them to cash stolen checks against her account. When the checks came back NSF, her account was debited for the stolen money. You can read the story in more detail here.
As a follow-up to the original post, I am happy to report that the thieft was caught, however the additional information on how this happened is rather scary. The suspect apparently would sneak into office buildings during business hours and steal IDs, debit cards, and checks from unattended offices. She saw the story on the arrest on the news and called Houston Police to inquire about the case, and received a call back a few days later saying they found the stolen ID and debit card in the suspect’s possession. Thankfully she has the comfort of knowing that her ID and debit card are no longer in the hands of a criminal, although it is pretty scary to think that the theft happened right here in our office.
The lessons here are pretty obvious, mainly to lock up valuables in your desk and to not hesitate to question people you don’t recognize in your offfice. Just another reminder to always be vigilant.