Identity thief in West Virginia pleads guilty

Another report of a conviction of an identity thief - this time reported on by Cheryl Caswell in the Charleston Daily Mail. Here's a quote:

"A Putnam County [West Virginia] woman who defrauded the Social Security Administration and committed identity theft faces a prison sentence.

Ramona Mack, 39, of Winfield pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers to aggravated identity theft and taking of Social Security benefits to which she was not entitled.

An investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, assisted by the Social Security Administration, revealed that Mack began collecting disability benefits in 2004 based on her income. But she used an online search to find the Social Security number of a person with a similar name and then used that information on applications to various employers.

As a result, Mack received approximately $62,000 in benefits she was not supposed to have. Mack also used the stolen information to secure a home mortgage, an automobile loan, credit cards and checking accounts, resulting in victim losses of $310,000."

Despite this arrest and conviction, identity theft is still the most under prosecuted crime in America.

For the whole article, see http://www.dailymail.com/News/PutnamCounty/200907210373.