MEDICAL EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY TO PATIENT ID THEFT

A medical office employee pled guilty to aggravated identity theft.  Fairon Williams, a phlebotomist at a Norfolk, Virginia medical office, conspired to obtain patients’ identities in order to open loans for cars and motorcycles, according to the Department of Justice.

The Department of Justice says the identity theft ring members would contact a local credit union and see if the patients had open accounts.  Once the thieves confirmed the accounts with the credit union, they would try to open auto loans online.  The loan checks were cashed and were not used to purchase cars or motorcycles.  In all, the Department of Justice estimates the identity theft ring cashed more than $131,000 in fraudulent checks.

The medical employee was accused of stealing 14 patients’ identities.   Williams pled guilty to aggravated identity theft and will be sentenced on August 13, 2012.  Others in the identity theft scam have already been sentenced to over 100 months in prison.

FULL STORY

Medical identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes.  Health care workers have access to patients’ personal identifying information, including dates of birth and Social Security numbers.  In the hands of criminals, patients’ identifying information can be used to open fraudulent credit accounts.  Identity theft victims may not find out that their personal information until they are denied a loan or review their credit report.

Identity theft victims have rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  Victims may request a free credit report from Equifax, Experian and Trans Union.  Also, identity theft victims have the right to dispute credit report errors.  The credit bureaus must block fraudulent information from appearing in victims’ credit reports.  Credit report errors can keep consumers from getting credit, jobs or housing.

For more information about your rights contact Fair Credit Reporting Act attorney Micah Adkins for a free case review.  1-800-263-9091, or use the online contact form below.

[contact-form] [contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” /] [contact-field label=”Address” type=”address” required=”true” /] [contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” /] [contact-field label=”Telephone Number” type=”text” required=”true” /] [contact-field label=”How can we help you?” type=”textarea” required=”true” /] [/contact-form]