This chilling story from the New York Post reinforces the fact that identity theft is not simply a harmless white collar crime.
“A man charged in an identity theft scheme has been accused of killing two of his victims.
An indictment unsealed Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn charges Dmitriy Yakovlev in the murder of a missing Russian-language translator. He’s also accused of killing a man whose remains were found in New Jersey in 2006.
Yakovlev and his wife were already facing charges they used a credit card with the missing translator’s name to go on shopping sprees. Last year, the FBI searched the basement of the couple’s Brooklyn home for the victim’s body, but never reported finding anything.
The indictment added charges alleging Yakovlev also stole the identities of two men who disappeared in 2003 and 2005, and that he killed one of them.
There was no immediate response to a message left with Yakovlev’s attorney.”
This tragic story underscores the urgent need for each of us to become and remain smaller targets for ID thieves.
“How do I become a smaller target” you ask?
You become a smaller target by establishing and maintaining your own financial literacy about safeguarding personal information. This ensures that you will be a smaller target for both the opportunistic amateurs and the career criminals.
Make no mistake. The financial safety habits you develop now could literally save your life in the future.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/prosecutors_identity_theft_victims_AITfK5UoqA0eBK29NhMotL#ixzz0hTWbDusQ
