ID theft News around the country...this week.

Georgia
Man Mistakenly Arrested After ID Used To Steal Car

CHAMBLEE, GA (AP) -- A college student was mistakenly arrested and jailed for days after someone else used his ID to steal a car, police said. Andrew Garrett, 26, was arrested at his parent's home last week and charged with auto theft. He was not released until Tuesday.

Garrett, a student at Kennesaw State University, was taken to the DeKalb County jail, unable to be bailed out because he was arrested on a felony warrant. But what police did not know was that Garrett's wallet had been stolen earlier in the year. more at First Coast News

Montana

Montana near the top for ID theft growth

MISSOULA - A new report indicates Montanans should brace themselves for attempts by would-be thieves to steal their identities.

ID Analytics Inc., a California company that sells fraud-protection products to businesses, says Montana has one of the fastest-rising identity fraud rates in the nation. more at Billings Gazette

North Dakota

Overall, six Montana communities made the company's top 10 list of identity fraud "hot spots." Springfield, Ill., leads the list followed by Bozeman and Missoula, Mont., in second and third place, respectively. Whitefish, Lolo, Hamilton and Bigfork, Mont., are also included, with North Dakota's Bismarck, Grand Forks and Fargo rounding out the top 10.
more at Bizmarck Trubune

Florida

ID theft traced to dental office
Cops say assistant got credit cards with patients' info

Virginia Adkins was puzzled. One day $150 disappeared from her checking account. A short time later, something else odd happened: Target sent her a letter, congratulating her on her new line of credit, but no one in her household had applied for a Target credit card.

Adkins, 32, an Oviedo mother of three, was the victim of identity theft.

Seminole County deputies on Thursday said they solved the mystery: Adkins and at least eight other people were victims of a 21-year-old dental office assistant, who combed through medical files and personal information.
more at Orlando Sentinel

Wanted' In ID Theft Scam Caught In Florida
Feds: Scam Stole At Least 2,000 Credit Reports

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A man accused of being a member of a notorious group of Nigerian identity scammers was arrested during a routine traffic stop in Florida, according to the Secret Service.

Rilwan Soetan, 49, who is on the U.S. Secret Service's "Most Wanted List," was taken into custody in Hamilton County on Tuesday.

Federal agents believe Soetan is part of a $1.7 million identity theft scam. more at News4Jax.com

Connecticut
Milford woman charged with identity theft

BANTAM - In their attempts to apply for a mortgage, a Morris couple discovered their credit report said they had a little more debt than they thought.
Police arrested Joanne O'Connor, 55, 219 Broaday, Milford, Tuesday afternoon and charged her with identity theft. O'Connor was arraigned in Bantam Superior Court Wednesday.
O'Connor reportedly admitted to state police from Troop L that she was in dire financial straits after being disabled and unable to work and used her brother's social security number and sister-in-law's name and phony social security number to set up accounts. The couple discovered their credit report was hampered by an unpaid American Express Card account, electric bill and phone bill. The total debt was reported at $3,244. The couple suspected O'Connor and reported the crime to police.

O'Connor has a prior criminal history of sixth-degree larceny and failing to appear in court. more at Register Citizen News

New York
Cops bust woman using fake credit card at Best Buy NY

A customer at a Valley Stream electronics store was arrested for identity theft Tuesday night after using fake ID and a fake credit card to buy a PlayStation 3.

But before she was caught she handed off the game console to an accomplice who got away with the goods, the Nassau police said.

At the Best Buy on West Circle Drive in Valley Stream, Amanda St. Louis, 31, tried to pay for the PlayStation at 8:40 p.m. Tuesday with a forged Georgia state driver's license and two fake credit cards, the police said. more at Newsday