by Joseph R. Perone / The Star-Ledger

Wednesday April 29, 2009, 7:00 AM

 

People who steal your name for a living are becoming more ingenious in desperate times.

 

Take an identity theft ring that was smashed late last year. More than 20 people around the country were charged with stealing consumer data about home equity lines in what authorities are calling a $7 million fraud.

 

The suspects tapped home equity lines from the victims' online accounts and set up local phone numbers to intercept calls from bank employees who were checking on the money requests, according to Erez Liebermann, an assistant U.S. attorney in Newark.

 

"Stealing from a $150,000 credit line can be much more profitable than stealing from a checking account with a few thousand dollars," Liebermann said.

 

Consumers haven't been the only target of identity thieves. The U.S. Small Business Administration warned companies in February not to respond to false SBA letters seeking bank account information to qualify for federal tax rebates. Cape May County Sheriff Gary Schaffer said the scam appeared to be "timed with the release of federal stimulus money" by the Obama administration.

 

Brazen identity thieves are adapting to poor economic conditions just as legitimate businesses struggle to find their footing in a severe recession. Consumers and businesses have to be vigilant to protect themselves from criminals who are trying to steal their credit, experts said.

 

"The word on the street is that identity fraud is definitely increasing because of the poor economy," said J. Drew Procaccino, an associate professor at Rider University who has studied identity theft.

 

For the first time in five years, identity fraud rates increased over the previous year. The number of fraud victims nationwide jumped 22 percent last year to 9.9 million adults in the United States, according to a February report by Javelin Strategy & Research of San Francisco. The amount of money stolen rose 7 percent last year to $48 billion, the report said. Identity fraud is defined as any unauthorized creation of an account or use of a bank or debit card.

 

Don Humphreys, president of Voyager Wealth Management in Harrington Park, was the victim of identity fraud two years ago. His wife was reviewing their bills one day and noticed an unusual charge on a rewards card.

 

"That's why you have to keep track of your purchases and when you made them," he said. "I tell my clients to make sure they go through their statements carefully every month, because if you catch it quickly, you can stop it."

 

He also tells clients to be careful when sending their children off to college because they are vulnerable.

 

"They are filling out so many forms in college asking for their Social Security number and other personal data, that if another form is slipped in they might not notice," Humphreys said. "Make sure their laptop, iPhone and BlackBerry are password protected."

 

Always ask why anyone needs your Social Security number, whether it's a doctor's office or a Little League program, said Dan Tower, chief operating officer of Regal Bank in Livingston.

 

"You can just give them the last four digits of your Social Security number to distinguish you from someone else with the same name," he said.

 

He said consumers also should receive credit reports from freecreditreport.com to check on any unusual activity on their credit histories that are on file with major reporting agencies.

 

Tower said banks had to put measures in place last fall to check for red flags in a consumer's account. "For example, most people don't open a home equity line of credit to buy jewelry or for a fur," Tower said. "So, we look for buying patterns. You would expect to see checks going to a contractor or a college, not to Best Buy for a new home theater system."

 

Some consumers have become victims of health insurance theft, according to Procaccino, the Rider professor.

 

"They will steal the insurance card identification of somebody else and use it for themselves," he said. "A medical insurance card is like a million-dollar credit card."

 

Patients should carefully go through every charge on their health insurance statements to look for unusual items, Procaccino said, "so you won't be charged for an open-heart surgery that wasn't yours."

 

 

 

 Here are some web sites to help consumers keep up with the latest scams and trends related to iden­tity theft:

 -- Joseph R. Perone may be reached at jperone@starledger.com or (973) 392-4262.