Being smart can lower ID theft risk

[TexasStooge]

By MACIE JEPSON / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - You've heard about it before, and you might even be a victim.

Identity thieves are stealing money and crippling lives - but hearing one woman's story and what she did may save your financial future.

Heather Cranford was left broke after someone drained her bank account. She had to place the kind of calls no one wants to make.

"This is Heather Cranford, and I have a bill due with you tomorrow," she told one creditor.

Someone used Cranford's Bank of America debit card number to charge more than $1,500 on Hotels.com, and to T-Mobile.

"I thought there was a mistake," she said. "I went back; I thought I'd looked at it wrong, then I became furious."

Unlike victims of credit card theft, Cranford's regular look at her bank account put a quick stop to it. She closed her accounts, contacted her online debtors, and filed a fraud alert with the credit bureaus.

"(I had to) prove that it's me, prove that it really did happen, and that I just don't have the money," Cranford said. "It's a lot of proving, and my deal is, why didn't these people have to prove they were me when they stole this money from me?"

Grapevine Police work 40 new ID theft cases a month.

"It's a huge problem, absolutely huge," said detective Kelly Smith.

But Smith got a little extra help this time. Security cameras at the Rangers Inn in Arlington picked up Michael Young allegedly paying for two rooms with Cranford's money. Young showed his drivers license when checking in, but the hotel employee didn't think to ask for the credit card he'd used with Hotels.com.

Smith said merchants are a part of the problem.

"If we start asking for pin numbers on credit cards as well as debit cards, it may put a stop to some of this," Smith said.

Until it's required of merchants, Smith said using cash is your only protection.

Cranford wondered, "Life goes on and you try to learn from your mistakes, but did I really make a mistake?"

Police suggest you check credit card and checking account activity regularly. Also, never have new checks mailed to your home, and call debtors as soon as you notice a missing statement.