Dramatic hike in cases makes South Florida 'identity theft capital'

As identity theft has skyrocketed here in the last five years, more South Floridians are being plunged into the aggravating and painfully slow process of proving they exist after thieves steal identity.

From thieves installing ATM skimmer devices at Publix Supermarkets to those filling fraudulent tax returns in someone else's name, identity theft has left many local victims in financial limbo. College students can't get financial aid. Some can't close on homes they were scheduled to buy. Others can't get new credit cards. And thousands have had to wait more than a year for the federal tax refunds they were counting on to pay bills.

Identity theft affects South Florida's the young and old ? from babies' newly issued Social Security numbers being filched to thieves stealing identities from the graves of the deceased.

Even law enforcement hasn't escaped.

Davie Police Capt. Dale Engle, has been waiting seven months for his federal tax refund check since a thief filed for one in his name ? just five days before Engle tried to submit his own.

"It's a huge problem," Engle said

Such is the reality in South Florida where the dramatic jump in reported incidents to the Federal Trade Commission ? from 8,317 cases in 2007 to 17,668 in 2011 ? has made us the Identity Theft Capital of the nation. There are more identity thefts per capita here than in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or any other large urban area in the country.

Last year saw the numbers of identity theft explode with claims jumping 76 percent in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. South Florida reports increased from 184 per 100,000 population in 2010 to 324 per 100,000 population in 2011, according to the FTC.

For Richard Zadanoff having his identity hijacked meant his plans to move from a home to condo was upended. The Tamarac man discovered the problem earlier this year during tax season, but then he couldn't close on a condo because the bank found records of someone else claim to be him at a different address.

The 77-year-old stood in line for hours at the Internal Revenue Office in Plantation to report that his identity had been stolen ? only to be turned away because so many others were ahead of him. He finally got an IRS office in Virginia to take his information by phone.

Victims of tax-related identity theft are required to file affidavits with the IRS and report the case to local police. Some departments have balked because they figure the feds will investigate, said Cindy A. Liebes, the FTC's Southeast regional director. But sometimes victims can't get credit agencies to list the identity theft in their files unless there is a police report, she said.

The FTC also recommends that victims report the crime to the Social Security Administration. Carol Flynn of Davie said the IRS didn't tell her to report her tax-related identity theft to local police, the FTC, the Social Security Administration and the credit reporting agencies.

She's still waiting to hear about her refund ? but she said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's staff directed her to a taxpayer advocate who is now updating her about her case.

At times, state and local agencies also have inadvertently put personal information online,

Bruce Hogman, a senior computer systems consultant who lives in Fort Lauderdale, was upset when he learned that Broward County had published some of his personal information on line.

"My Social Security number was on the web for five years before a neighbor hold me," he said.

Broward County promptly removed his number after he alerted them, Hogman said.

Still, he fears others may be exposed to identity theft because some of their personal may remain online in public documents such as deeds.

Lyz DeMarco of Hollywood couldn't believe when the IRS rejected a tax return because a thief had claimed her identity first ? she had already been a victim twice before.

Once, when someone tried to buy surfboards in Texas with her stolen her credit card number. "It was a crazy amount of surfboards," she said. And another time someone tried to use her debit card at a sports bar. "They must have made a counterfeit one," she said. "I had mine with me."

DeMarco she encountered a number of hurdles when she tried to report the crime with police telling her they didn't take IRS cases. On third try police took a report. The IRS required her to submit an "identity theft affidavit" to prove who she was. She spent hours on the telephone with different IRS staffers before her theft claim was finally accepted.

Despite the ordeal that last half a year, DeMarco considers herself lucky. She called the IRS Wednesday and after on hold for an hour, this time there was good news:

Her refund was being wired into her bank account ? with $50 in interest.

"I was floored ? I was absolutely floored," DeMarco said.

dgehrke@tribune.com or Twitter @donnagehrke

Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-recovering-stolen-id-20120915,0,4065468.story?track=rss

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