Two weeks ago members of an international identity theft and forged credit card syndicate were able to boast of the $15 million they netted from for their efforts within the past year.

But now it’s the office of the Queens district attorney that’s doing the boasting after a huge bust last week in New York.

“Our investigation reveals that, in terms of just the sheer number of people indicted, this is one of the largest identity theft networks uncovered in recent history and is just possibly the tip of a much larger global credit card trafficking operation,” Queens district attorney Richard A. Brown said.

The identity theft ring members are accused of bilking 6,000 consumer and financial institutions out of $15 million, and using stolen information to make fraudulent purchases in places as far-flung as Japan, Saudi Arabia and Dubai.

But in the end, the numbers were on the side of law enforcement. They tapped more than a hundred phones and listened in on roughly a million phone conversations—250,000 of them that had to be translated from West African languages and dialects.

Because you never know who’s using your personal information–or what they’re using it for–you need the support of professionals. LifeLock helps their nearly 1.5 members protect their identities.

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Anyone who’s ever gotten a driver’s license knows how hellishly boring the state office for such services can be. Well, the semi-comatose Georgia residents waiting in line at the Cordele office of Georgia Department of Driver Services got a welcome break in the tedium when nine people were busted there for being part of an identity theft ring.

According to investigators, four of the suspects were brought to Georgia from Delaware. Once they arrived they were introduced to others who provided them with identification cards and counterfeit employment verification letters to establish them as Georgia residents.

The suspects also had authentic Texas birth certificates and Social Security cards in their possession when they were arrested.

The identity theft ring allegedly intended to acquire entire sets of identity documentation for undocumented aliens in southwest Georgia.

Officers from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, Georgia Department of Driver Services and the Crisp County Sheriff’s Office participated in the investigation that led to the arrests.

The nine people arrested included three from small towns in southwest Georgia near Cordele. Arrested were Melisa D. Howeger, 25, of Tifton, Ga.; Peggy Sue Duckworth, 60, and her daughter, Rita Charline Rodriguez, 31, both of Moultrie.

The other six were from Delaware. They are Froilan Garcia-Juarez, 38; Jenner Estuardo Garcia-Garcia, 25; Erica Ablizar Perez-Villegas, 27; Hugo Juarez-Niz, 22; Parfecto Delfino, 20; and Portino Perez, 39.

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Identity theft stories don’t get much freakier than this one from Annapolis, MD. And, making it worse, the guy responsible is out on bond and probably reprising his act.

OK, here’s the story of the identity theft crime allegedly committed by Thomas Calvin Eichelberger:

Last September Eichelberger entered into a job contract with a man we’ll call Bob (because, trust me, “Bob” doesn’t want anyone linking him to this story). Afterwards, they stopped by a gas station where Eichelberger bought Bob a cappuccino. After he drank the coffee, Bob said he started feeling lightheaded, but the two went on to have a few drinks at a local restaurant and then went back to Eichelberger’s place where they had a couple more drinks and Bob got sick.

When Bob comes to, he finds himself naked on Eichelberger’s bed while his host sits clothed in a chair looking at him. Bob hung around a little longer, found a camera under Eichelberger’s bed and got sick again. Can you guess what was on the camera? Good guess! The camera held pictures of Bob and Bob’s naked butt.

Bob went home and told his wife and mother-in-law what happened. (I have to laugh at this part of the story; can’t you just picture it!) By this time Bob was feeling lousy enough that he went to the hospital, where doctors found opiates in his blood. Bob says he doesn’t take drugs.

A month later Bob checked his credit report and—big surprise—someone had taken out a couple new credit cards in his name, but the bills were being sent to Eichelberger’s address.

This is when Bob finally, finally wises up and calls the police. The cops search Eichelberger’s home and find marijuana, cocaine and an email for Bob in which he threatens to send the nudie pics to Bob’s attorney.

Eichelberger was arrested December 1, and charged with tampering with food and drink, second-degree assault, coke and marijuana possession and two counts of identity theft.

And this is where I’d like to send out a big personal “thank you” to Baltimore County, MD for letting Eichelberger lose on a $100,000 bond.

I’m sure a lot of freaks seem like very nice people, the kind of people nice enough to buy you a cup of coffee from a gas station. In the entire world there might not be another identity story like this one, but Eichelberger is still out there, and probably hundreds more like him.

Visit LifeLock.com to learn more about their identity theft services. Enroll using LifeLock promotional code DEFENSE to get the lowest possible price and 30 days of free service.

At the end of the 30-day free period, your card will be automatically billed $9 monthly unless you cancel within that first 30-day period. You can cancel anytime without penalty by calling 1-800-LIFELOCK. This offer is for new LifeLock members only.

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I saw a news story today about a guy in Muncie, Ind. who’s been getting calls about late payments on his new Jeep Cherokee.

Yeah, I know, millions of people get calls like that every day. This guy’s calls are a little special, though, because he doesn’t own a Jeep Cherokee, but a favorite relative of his, Cory S. Kortman, just got a new Jeep Cherokee! Small world, huh?

Before long the guy who’s been getting the dunning calls put two and two together and good ol’ Cory got himself arrested last week on charges of forgery and identity deception.

Every family’s got one, right?

There are a couple things about this story that are classic.

First, the victim didn’t discover the ID theft on his own. He didn’t find a new car purchase on his credit report, or get a call from a prospective creditor like he would if he had a fraud alert on his credit file. He found out he’d been robbed when a bill collector called him–just like 82% of all identity theft victims who find out they’re victims because of an adverse action.

Secondly, he knew the perpertrator, and the perpetrator is a relative. Among identity theft victims who know for sure who ripped them off, roughly a third of them can point to a family member or friend.

Got a relative who’s always in financial trouble? Maybe a “friend” who drinks a lot or has a nasty drug addiction? A ne’er-do-well brother-in-law who’s been in trouble with the law in the past. An ex-wife with expensive taste and a vindictive streak? These are the folks who want your name, your good credit and your clean-as-a-whistle background check.

Don’t wait for these losers to come around flashing their new cars or their sparkling rings. Visit LifeLock.com and enroll using the LifeLock promotion code Defense. You’ll get 30 days of free identity theft service and then pay only $9 a month after that. It’s the lowest price and the sweetest deal available.

At the end of the 30-day free period, your card will be automatically billed $9 monthly unless you cancel within that first 30-day period. You can cancel anytime without penalty by calling 1-800-LIFELOCK. This offer is for new LifeLock members only.

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You accidentally dial the wrong number, calling an old boyfriend by mistake. You compose an e-mail complaining about your boss, and somehow send it to your boss instead of a sympathetic coworker.

No, it’s never pretty when these things happen, and, when we make mistakes like this we usually feel like idiots. Fortunately, there’s always someone just a little bit dumber to make us all feel just a little bit better about our own mistakes. Meet Peter Pardo.

Peter Pardo needed to find a guy who could help him out. So he text messaged a friend, asking if he knew anyone who could “make cards,” that is, make 150 fraudulent credit cards from the information Pardo got from all the mail he’d stolen in the Seattle area.

Poor Peter Pardo made the same mistake the rest of us have made, except he sent his text message to a detective in the Kent Police Department who had dealt with Pardo in the past.

The detective—who no doubt felt like it was an early Christmas—played along and texted back: “I know a guy I trust. Text him and tell him what u got.”

Pardo set up the meeting with the trusted friend, made the deal and was promptly busted. Police found “a massive amount” of stolen mail, a bunch of stolen credit cards and more “washed” checks.

So far, Pardo has been charged with one count of financial fraud and three counts of second-degree identity theft. Prosecutors are still trying to contact all the people whose mail, credit cards and checks were stolen, and expect to press additional charges.

LifeLock can’t do much to keep you from making dumb mistakes with your e-mail, but they can help protect you from identity theft resulting from stolen mail, credit cards and checks. Visit LifeLock.com to learn more. Use the LifeLock promotion code Defense to get the best price and 30 free days of identity theft protection.

At the end of the 30-day free period, your card will be automatically billed $9 monthly unless you cancel within that first 30-day period. You can cancel anytime without penalty by calling 1-800-LIFELOCK. This offer is for new LifeLock members only.

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