Identity Theft String Leads to Smoke Shop Owner Arrest

It may have been better to go "smokeless in Seattle."
An owner of a suburban Seattle smoke shop has
been arrested after police linked him to more
than 20 incidents of identity theft credit fraud.

It seems all of the identity theft victims had shopped
at this particular smoke shop which lead police
investigators to the owner's front door.

The identity theft victims would be scammed within
minutes of having used their credit or debit card at the
smoke shop. The identity thieves, evidently working
closely with the smoke shop owner, would quickly get
copies made of the victim's card information and
then empty out the legitimate card holder's bank
accounts using automated teller machine's (ATM).

What made the smoke shop stand out for police investigators is
the credit fraudsters were operating, not so much in the Seattle
area, but rather as far away as Las Vegas and cities in
California.

This identity theft case is still under further investigation
and the Redmond police have asked for anyone with
information to call them on their tip line.

So, our tip for today is to help the dozens of other victims
across the east side of Seattle and tell them about the police
tip line. Being an identity theft victim dictates fast action
and one of the key tasks you need to do, after freezing
your credit and banking accounts, is to file an
immediate police report.

This step will immeasurably aid your arduous
journey through the mountain of paperwork and
countless phone calls needed to clear your
good name from debt collection and future
credit problems.

That local police tip phone number to call is
425-556-2581.

Finally, if you know of a friend who may have
been stung by this crime but has not reported
it to police, please forward this article to them.

It's free and harmless to share id theft secrets
with your friends and associates.