A Clever but Smug & Misguided Identity-Stealing Couple now face prison sentences
Photo by: Pasotraspaso
Edward Anderton, 25, and Jocelyn Kirsch, 22, were arrested by state law enforcement officials of Pennsylvania last November and charged with perpetrating fraud.
On 12 May 2008 the local charges placed at that time was put down and replaced with federal charges. The couple is now charged with money laundering and fraud including one of aggravated identity theft.
Authorities allege they rode their luck for nearly one year and made purchases worth $119,000 using stolen credit cards and by using cards made in the name of their friends and acquaintances.
It is said, they were able to make such cards after stealing documents like financial statements, utility bills and checks from other people’s homes. They would have added $112,600 more to their kitty had the police not caught up with them.
The duo are said to have purchased electronic goods like laptop computers and iPods using stolen credit cards. With the help of accounts in eBay and PayPal, they later endeavored to sell these items online thus making a seedy profit. To top it all, it is alleged they sometimes did not bother delivering these goods after collecting payments from online buyers.
Anderton and Kirsch are said to have committed fraud to provide for a luxurious lifestyle that included frequent vacations and trips to places like Hawaii, Paris and Melbourne.
But, now they are faced with the prospect of cooling their
Photo by: Monoglot
heels for a minimum of two years, although prosecutors have said they will be gunning for five.
They stole credit cards usually by snatching purses off women strolling in the City Centre late at night. Using contact numbers found in the purse, they would call on owners and tell them either that the police have found their bag or that it was all a mistake and the bag would be returned to them shortly. With such reassurances, they made victims delay reporting their lost cards. During this time, they go on a shopping spree using the stolen credit card. Presumably, they continue to use the card till the owner lodges a complaint or informs loss of card to the company.
They have been alleged to use different methods to glean personal details of their friends to make the cards:
- One way was to visit friends in their homes. While there, they are said to pick up financial statements or bills on the sly. Or they are said to break into their homes later to steal documents and personal mail.
- On one instance, Anderton is said to have posed as an HR manager to a job applicant who had applied to the firm he was employed with. He later supposedly called the applicant and collected personal details claiming it to be a part of the screening process.
- Anderton is also suspected with breaking into private lockers of fellow-members of the fitness centre he patronized in order to steal their identities.
The couple transferred the money received from online sales into bank accounts. Then, they withdrew funds from these accounts using an ATM, going there heavily disguised under wigs, masks and dark shades.
As revealed in the report, it was the wigs that eventually led the police to the couple. A check used by Kirsch to pay for a trip to her saloon bounced, and was traced by the police to the cocky couple.
Local FBI agent Janice Fedarcyk lent a word of caution to the media on the entire episode:
“No one takes pleasure in seeing two bright young people with promising futures ending up in this place and at this point. But let’s be careful not to glamorize their crime because of their youth and their status in society.”
I will second that.
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