16 Identity Theft Victims Request Attention of Elected officials (Philadelphia, PA)

4/28/2024 02:40:00 PM

Facing many serious identity theft incidents happened in the Chinese Community in Northeast Philadelphia, on 4/24/2024, NEPCA sent the following email to the Philadelphia Mayor, City Council members, Northeast Philadelphia State representatives, State Senator, and Congressman Boyle.

---------- Forwarded message ---------

Dear elected officials,

I would like to bring to your attention that serious identity theft (IDT) crimes have taken place in the Northeast Philadelphia Chinese community and they may have spread out quickly.

From 4/8/2024, the Northeast Phila. Chinese Association (NEPCA) has registered information of 16 Chinese IDT victims and gave the victim list to Office Mark Mroz of the 2^nd PD on 4/22/2024 to assist with solving the crime. He also advised everyone should help to alert everyone else about the identity theft crime to fight this crime together.

Please make changes to public procedures for prevention measures and provide more resources to victims.

Here is a brief description of the crimes encountered by the 16 victims. Most are in Northeast Philly, a few are in the suburbs. Similar scenarios happen:

1. Victims had their driver's license tampered with such as address changed or stolen.

2. The victims' phone numbers were stolen, putting their phone unit out of service while the thief uses their phone number to put on a new phone unit and in some cases, open another new SIM card or new number in the victim's name.

3. The criminal gets access to the victims' bank accounts and forges their signatures to withdraw cash at the branches, or do online fund transfers, or open a new bank account and transfer the money over, etc.

4. They illegally cloned debit cards so they could continue to withdraw money from the victim's account.

5. They open new credit cards or make big credit purchases in the victims' names.

6. Use victims' accounts to pay for parking, and make small purchases.

7. In the case of driver's license address changes, most of these victims or criminals have Northeast Philly addresses and are all Chinese.

8. Some victims had called to bring attention to PennDOT and their elected official offices, but only to feel that they were being ignored and not taken seriously.

The Victims hope you can do the following:

1. Please make PENNOT improve their security measure on the website and in their procedures. Its online driver license address change function has very weak security checks and it is easy for criminals to make address changes. Moreover, DMV clerks at the service windows should be more mindful to inspect the client's face, in some cases, the offenders have been able to impersonate the victim to get a new driver ID in person. These loopholes have contributed to many licenses being stolen led to cases on the rise. PennDOT should have responsibility for the victim's loss.

2. We strongly urge you to help exert pressure on major banks to refuse payments for any suspicious withdrawal activity.

3. We want law enforcement to act promptly to find criminals to prevent more victims with SSNs and driver's licenses stolen.

4. Put requirements for phone providers to assist victims of phone number theft. Customers should have guidance on what to do with their stolen phone numbers and information about the National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange (NCTUE) report. Currently, phone companies don't do much to help the victims get back the number or close down the number.

5. The public office should make more awareness of identity theft crimes and should provide more resources to assist the victims.

• Most victims at least know to file a police report and call credit card and financial companies, but many do NOT know to take additional steps to file for an FTC Identity Theft report, or know how to apply for Victim Compensation, or contact the National Consumer Telecom and Utilities, take identity repair steps, etc.

• In addition, many victims do not discover the issue until some time later and are not aware of the serious financial damage is opening to them.

• In some cases, the victims can recuperate the money, but the thief still has their information. This puts the individual and their family members at constant risk of financial trouble and they live in fear. What should they do. Overall, there is a lack of resources for people who've had their identities stolen.

Please address this issue urgently to protect your constituents.

Sincerely yours,

Mingchu Pearl Huynh

Founder | President | Project director

Northeast Philadelphia Chinese Association (NEPCA)

Mailing Address: 6331 Shelbourne St., Philadelphia, PA 19111

Phone: work: 215-839-6108; Cell: 267-423-3323

Email: Pearl.huynh@gmail.com

http://www.nepca.us/

PS:

A Quick note on Identity theft and scam resources by FTC

www.identitytheft.gov;