$11 Million Identity Theft Ring Busted in Philly

Philadephia, known as the city of brotherly love, was
just recently found to have a little too much of the wrong
kind of affection. It seems, identity thieves had been
loving the target rich environment Philadelphia presented
as a 10 member identity theft ring were charged
for a massive fraud scheme.

That fraud scheme involved fraudulent mortgages
involving 180 properties which could potential cost
the government and private mortgage lenders
$11,000,000.

Additionally, another fraud ring of 10 identity thieves,
managed to steal from 4 different Philadelphia banks for
over 17 months using an elaborate, well organized
system designed to gather detailed consumer information
used in check cashing scams.

This scam netted over $1 million dollars from
unsuspecting bankers and consumers.

All totalled, two identity theft rings involving 20 people
and over $12 million dollars in fraud in Philadelphia.

So, our tip for today, is if you live in Philadelphia and
have accounts with PNC Bank,Wachovia Bank, M&T Bank, or
Commerce Bank during the time period of 2/2004 to 11/2005
now's a great time for you to review your other banking
alternatives as well as to seek account monitoring to
alert you of any future unauthorized account
withdrawals.