dentity theft: it can happen to you
Student has her coin purse taken while at the bookstore
Karen Hill
T he C lackamas P rint
Like hundreds of other students,
iana Reynolds purchased her books at
ie campus bookstore on the first day of
;hool, but for Reynolds, it cost her
I ore than just the price of her purchase.
On Sept. 29, at 1:50 p.m. Reynolds
ined the thousands of other victims
ho fall prey to the fastest-growing
■rime in America—identity theft.
( These thieves steal purses, take
allets, rummage through personal
ail, dig through garbage, or hack
to online databases to obtain names,
credit card information, social securi
ty numbers and other identifying
records to commit fraud and other
crimes against innocent victims.
For Reynolds, the theft happened in
a matter of seconds. While paying for
her books, she set down her small coin
purse on the counter. The coin purse
contained her driver’s license, food
stamp card, financial aid checks, library
card and a small amount of cash.
“[The cashier] was rattled. It was
time for her break,” said Reynolds.
When Reynolds left the store, she
immediately realized she had left her
coin purse on the counter and prompt
ly reentered the store. Unfortunately,
it was too late.
Thinking it may have been turned
in to Lost and Found, Reynolds went
directly there. She discovered it had
not been turned in, and set out to can
cel her financial aid checks.
Financial aid was able to stop pay
ment on the checks but could not
issue her the new ones until she had a
valid ID, which had also been stolen.
Reynolds filed a police report, and
acted as quickly as she could, but not
quite quick enough.
“They found a man had used my
food stamp card at 7-Eleven. He got
EARL ENGLAND C lackamas P rint
piane Reynolds and a bookstore employee reinact the day her coin purse was taken,
n a matter of seconds, she became a victim to the thieves who stole her identity.
ifl
all the cash off of that,” said
Reynolds.
The amount on the card was
$61.75, none of which Reynolds was
able to get refunded.
Later, Reynolds found an unusual
message on her answering machine.
The recording informed her that she
had six overdue items at the
Clackamas County Library.
“Well, I haven’t gone there for a
long time, so it wasn’t me,” she said.
A visit to the library produced a
mile long list of CDs and VHS tapes,
checked out in her name, “...plus a
canvas bag to carry all their loot!”
added Reynolds.
Fortunately, since the card was
reported stolen, she was not liable for
these charges.
“I figure altogether, I’m out less
than $200,” said Reynolds.
There were also attempts'made to
cash the financial aid checks, but
because they had been cancelled, the
thief was unsuccessful.
As for Reynolds’ ID, she said the
police caught a 19-year-old girl
attempting to use it to cash a check.
The bank didn’t quite fall for it, given
the ID listed the cardholder’s age as
58. The girl was taken into custody
for forgery and identity theft,
Reynolds said.
“It all happened so fast,” said
Reynolds. “The police were great and
told me who to call...it can be very
confusing.”
Many students may not have been
aware of the incredible rate that these,
thefts happen, which was unfortunately
confirmed by Reynolds’ own experi
ence.
Clackamas Federal Credit Union
presented a seminar called “Identity
Theft” on Oct. 30 to help students
become aware of the dangers of this
crime, the best methods of prevention
and what to do when you find your
self to be a victim.
“The [incidents] are actually much
greater than anyone thought, because
a lot of people are the victims of iden
tity theft and don’t report it,” said
Mary Greco, Clackamas Federal
Credit Union employee.
Greco suggests that every person
order an annual copy of their credit
report and insure its accuracy. Credit
reports are available through websites
such as Equifax.com, Transunion.com
and Experian.com.
Greco also recommends not giv
ing out personal information on the
phone, in the mail or over the Internet,
“unless you have initiated the contact
and know who you’re dealing with,”
said Greco.
“The good news is [that] the aver
age person in an identity theft normal
ly doesn’t lose more than $400,” said
Greco. “But there are some people
that lose everything.”
Acting quickly in these types of
situations is vitally important, as
Reynolds discovered with the aid of
campus officials.
“I want people to know there are
good people here,” said Reynolds,
speaking of financial aid and campus
security. “They were right on top of it.”
Yictosufldentity Theft; ~
♦Contact fraud depart
ment of all three major
credit bureaus; ask for a
fraud alert to be placed on
your account.
♦Close any accounts you
believe may have been
tampered with.
♦File a police report and
keep a copy to give your
creditors* ,
Information
provided
by
Clackamas Federal Credit Union
Id cement ashtrays butted out
Jesse Lamond
T he C lackamas P rint
M Last Wednesday students and
■ollege staff may have been con-
■used and/or surprised to see a
^multitude of shiny new.ciga-
■ette disposal devices that
lad seemingly sprung up
ivernight.
The hard-to-miss, yellow-
ind-black
ashtrays
are
ntended to phase out and
eventually replace the aging
one re te-and-sand-ash
ubes that at present sparse-
y litter the campus.
The concrete tubes are
Parting to crack and tend to
ill with water when it
ains. The unmovable
ubes'are not easy to clean
>ut and must have the
land sifted to collect
¡arbage. These delapi-
lated cylinders are also a
ire hazard according to
ohn Wilberg, day team
eader of custodial.
“An
open-face,
land-style urn will
>urn,” said Wilberg.
‘The [new] ash trays
ire designed not to let
ires occur.”
There are more of
:he new beacon
:ans than the old
Concrete installa-
lions, a lot more.
Campus Services
did not have the
actual number of
new units because
they are still in the
process of setting them out.
janitorial staff time to deal with.
“We’ll see where the cigarettes
So far, student and faculty
congregate and we’ll put new ones
responses to the new receptacles
there
for
that,” ___________
have been mixed
Wilberg said.
but colorful.
According
to
“They’re
not
Campus Services,
very attractive, but
the new $80 ash
I guess they are
trays can simply be
better than a gazil
hefted and dumped
lion butts squished
out like a waste
all
over
the
ground,”
said
basket. Ease of
maintenance for
Mollie Frey, visual
these new devices •
arts
secretary,
will, in theory,
examining one of
save the custodial
the miniature light
staff time that can
houses plopped out
Mollie Frey
then be spent
side her window.
Visual Arts secretary
maintaining other
“Now if they’ll
aspects of the col
just use them,”
lege property.
she added.
The college administra
Her slight skepticism of students
actually using the new gadgets was
tion does not plan on hiring
any additional custodial staff voiced by several other students and
teachers in Streeter Hall.
to service the new campus
David Andersen, art department
facilities that are being con
chair, said that the Art Center grav
structed, so some streamlining
el pit was already “the world’s
of the current staff routines
largest cigarette butt repository.”
and workload management
“Maybe now some people can
was in order.
According to Bill Leach of get a clue,” he said.
Other students and staff have
Campus Services, the four-foot,
labeled the additions on campus as
yellow-tipped Rubbermaid ash
“pandering to addicts” and refer to
cans were purchased from their
them by such descriptive terms as
supplies vendor in an attempt
“UFO transponders,” “phallic sym
to lessen the campus custodial
bols” and “giant suppositories.”
staff’s workload.
It remains to be seen if the hard-
Leach also said that the
to-miss butt holders are properly
choice to update where smok
used. Spent cigarettes still show up
ers park their butts was a
in the rocky flowerbed around the Art
“resource issue for [custodi
Center and on the sidewalks between
al staff].” Dealing with cig
Clackamas’ main buildings. With any
arette butts left by careless
luck, the new ashtrays will keep our
people all over the ground is
pleasant campus less trashy.
a considerable issue that takes the
“They're not
very attractive,
but [they're]
better than a
gazillion butts
squished [on]
the ground.”
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JESSE LAMOND