Police in Chicago have arrested two local residents and charged one of them with more than 30 counts of identity theft.
One of those arrested, Janeen Enise Brown, attempted to rent a car from Enterprise with a credit card in another person’s name. The employees at the rental facility asked Brown questions about the transaction, and she became nervous. She eventually grabbed the card and ran out of the store. The employee who had been assisting Brown saw her get into a white Ford Escape and drive away.
An All Points Bulletin was issued with a description of Brown and her vehicle, and officers soon stopped her as part of a routine traffic stop. Neither Brown nor her passenger, Marcella Miles, had valid Illinois driver’s licenses. The officers noted that Brown matched the description of the woman in the APB who had tried to use a fraudulent credit card at Enterprise.
Officers searched the vehicle and found three credit cards, none of which belonged to Brown or Miles. The investigation revealed that Miles had information on 30 different credit card numbers, including the names, addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers of the cards’ true owners.
Brown also had a stolen Illinois driver’s license to go with the credit card she had attempted to use. She is also charged with suspension of driver’s license for traffic and four felony counts of identity theft.
Miles was charged with 30 felony counts of identity theft.
In this case, the employees at Enterprise should be commended. By asking more questions than normal, they helped law enforcement authorities find and arrest two identity thieves.
If you are a business owner, you should do more than simply ask for a driver’s license. If you suspect that someone may not be who they say they are, you should ask for more than one photo ID, and question them about the information listed on the ID. Try to get as much information as possible about the person, including what they are wearing and any distinguishing characteristics about the person, such as tattoos or scars.
If the person becomes agitated or nervous, it might be a good idea to call the police. Although as a business owner, you cannot detain a person, you can give police the identifying information you’ve collected so that they can investigate.
Some might say that this type of questioning by business owners is a bit harsh, but you’ll find that 99 percent of your customers won’t have to experience it. And those who do, well, chances are, there’s good reason to suspect them.
Remember: by asking a few extra questions and being observant about your customers, you can help stop crimes like identity theft and credit card fraud.
