Woman deals with stolen identity

Man allegedly used her identity for shopping spree

MOSES LAKE - A Moses Lake woman offers her experience of having her financial information stolen and her identify used to help prevent a headache for someone else.

Vernica Mount, 27, Moses Lake, was getting ready to leave home Nov. 30. She said she placed her purse in her vehicle and left it unattended for a few minutes.

She came back to her vehicle to discover someone gained entry and stole the purse containing her driver's license, financial information and bank cards.

The person who allegedly stole the purse and its contents reportedly went on a shopping spree throughout Moses Lake racking up more than $1,000 in charges to her multiple accounts.

Mount spent hours and time off work to reverse the charges she did not make. She had to cancel credit cards, debit cards, bank accounts and obtain a new driver's license. She had to cancel other credit card accounts that may not have been in the purse as a precaution because she could not immediately locate them. She had to cancel automatic payments and deal with issues related to late payments. Mount said she had to cancel her library card and movie rental cards. She had to put a theft notice on her credit report and inquire her credit report regularly.

Mount has to check her accounts regularly to make sure new charges don't appear on her accounts, she said.

She said she is annoyed about how many hours she spent resolving the issue and the stress. Mount suspects her alleged perpetrator won't experience nearly as much grief as she did.

She said she doesn't know what happened to the merchandise allegedly purchased with her financial information.

Mount says she was concerned about retailers allegedly allowing someone who was not her to use her credit card and her identification. She said her financial information was used at Moses Lake businesses, grocery stores and gas stations. Mount says the suspect allegedly went to one Moses Lake business and successfully charged hundreds of dollars in merchandise on her credit card.

Mount believes the charges happened one of two ways. She believes the suspect charged the merchandise to the credit card and was not asked for identification or he may have charged the merchandise and used her identification for the credit card.

She said the smallest charge was approximately $60 while the largest charges were more than $100.

It appears store clerks mistook the 27-year-old Caucasian woman for a 30-year-old Hispanic man.

Emmanuel Ron Garcia, 30, was arrested in early December by Moses Lake Police for forgery, possession of stolen property and theft in the third degree.

Garcia was arrested at Wal-Mart after a loss prevention employee notified police of the suspect, Moses Lake Police Capt. Dave Ruffin said.

Mount said she wonders if the theft was planned out because it happened so fast, within a matter of minutes. Mount said she feels like Garcia might have been watching her or walking around her neighborhood looking for a victim or an unlocked vehicle.

Mount plans to give a verbal victim impact statement in an effort to have a judge give Garcia a stiffer sentence for his alleged crime, if he is found guilty.

According to the Grant County Superior Court Clerk's Office, Garcia pleaded not guilty. His next appearance in court is a pre-trial conference Jan. 8. The prosecutor's office is charging Garcia with two counts of forgery and two counts of possession of stolen property, according to court records.

The Columbia Basin Herald was unable to reach Garcia's defense attorney Janelle Peterson for comment.

Tips offered to prevent identity theft

COLUMBIA BASIN - The Moses Lake Police Department offers tips for citizens to prevent identity theft and theft of financial information.

Oftentimes, people don't realize they are a victim of identity or financial theft until they check their credit report history, Moses Lake Police Capt. Dave Ruffin said. Citizens should check their credit history periodically for suspicious activity and report it immediately.

He said people should be skeptical when asked to give a Social Security number or a credit card number over the phone. Ruffin said banks and other financial institutions should already have the information.

Ruffin said there are theft dangers associated with the Internet. People send out mass e-mails to individuals requesting bank information and Social Security numbers.

"The majority of these situations are fraudulent," he said about the mass e-mails.

Ruffin said when making purchases with a credit card, the last four digits or the account number should be displayed on receipts. Any additional digits should be blacked out.

He said mail theft is prevalent in Moses Lake. Ruffin urges people to mail documents containing personal information directly from the post office to avoid theft. If going on vacation, have someone gather the mail to prevent accumulation, he added.