WRIC Richmond News and Weather - Identity Theft On The Rise
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A new federal report shows Virginia has one of the highest rates of fraud and identity theft in the nation. Three Virginia cities, including Richmond, rank in the nation's 30 worst cities when it comes to fraud and identity theft.
Criminals are taking checks and banking information out of mailboxes, utilizing online schemes, sending phishing e-mails, and rooting through your trash to find personal information.
The Federal Trade Commission says Northern Virginia and D.C. is the worst area in the country for fraud and Virginia Beach grouped with Norfolk and Newport News comes in at #19. Richmond is the 28th worst city for fraud.
Why does Richmond rank so high?
"Because we have so many different banks and such good roads around here it's just very fertile ground for people looking to do this kind of crime," says Glen Clark, U.S. Postal Inspector.
Clark is a member of the Metro Richmond Fraud and Identity Theft Task Force. He claims often the criminals preying on Richmonders aren't even from Virginia.
"We have 95 coming though here so we have a lot of people coming from other states doing checks in this area," he explains.
Clark adds he's finding many criminals he arrests have turned to identity theft because it pays better, has less severe sentences when caught, and is safer than drug dealing.
The Metro Richmond Task Force has a number of ways you can safeguard yourself from identity theft listed on their website at http://www.fraudandidentitythefttaskforce.com/
