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Identity theft goes portable with new camera phones
By Ashley Marriott, Jayplay writer
You and about 20 people are standing in line at a department store. You've been standing there for 15 minutes and the line hasn't moved an inch. You pull your credit card out of your wallet so you don't waste any time digging around later. And to top it all off, could that guy behind you on the phone stand any closer? You can practically hear both sides of his conversation. Can't they hurry up already? The cashier yells "Next!" and you rush up to the register, make your purchase and walk out the door home-free.
Except you were just a victim of identity theft. What you weren't aware of was that the guy behind you in line wasn't really making a call; he was taking pictures of your credit card so he could do a little bit of shopping of his own.
Patro says he noticed a group of people standing 15 to 20 feet away from the phone booth he was using. He thought they were taking pictures of a nearby family, but they were actually filming Patro as he punched his password onto the keypad. The group then sold his number to numerous drug dealers in South America. The dealers ran up a phone bill of several thousand dollars.
Tim Phillips, sergeant of the Baxter County, Ark. police department, says that the use of camera phones by criminals has increased identity theft by 20 percent in some areas of the country. Phillips is the author of the recent article "Phones are criminal's paradise" in Central Arkansas' The Baxter Bulletin Online. The article has faced a lot of criticism. Several Web sites, including techdirt.com, say that camera phone identity theft isn't possible because the criminal would have to stand too close to the card holder to capture the numbers.
But for Tom Patro, camera identity theft is all too real. Patro, vice president of sales at Working Spaces in Kansas City, Mo., was at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago two years ago on business. He needed to call home so he pulled out his MCI phone card, punched in his password, made the call and went on his way.
Several days later Patro received a call from MCI asking him when he last used his calling card. After Patro told the representative he hadn't used the card since Chicago, he was informed that he was a victim of identity theft.
photo: Megan True
Phillips says his friend was in a similar situation. The friend was standing in a long line at a Radio Shack in the Kansas City area, so he removed his credit card from his wallet while he waited to save time. He became impatient and found himself casually glancing at the card. That's when the person standing behind him took pictures of his card.
Phillips says that he doesn't want to make people paranoid, he just wants to make people aware of their surroundings. "Not every one that has this type of cell phone is a criminal. I do find it sad that some criminals use whatever means available to commit forgery and theft. Whatever happened to an honest day's work?" Phillips says.
Ted Frederickson, professor of journalism, says the only thing criminal about Patro's situation was that the people sold the phone card number and used it for personal use; the actual act of taking pictures of people in public without consent is perfectly legal according to privacy law. But Frederickson, who teaches a class in journalism ethics, says that it is unethical to secretly take pictures of people. He says cell phone ads are partially to blame for an increase of this practice in society. He says that there are many ads on television that show people taking secret pictures with their camera phones, telling America that it is OK.
always watching us, and now we have to be afraid of each phones. What's next, little microphones that we use to pick up peo-
— Ashley Marriott can be reached at amarriott@kansan.com.
Don't be the next victim of identity theft:
>Do not remove your credit card from your wallet or purse until you are ready to use it.
> Avoid handing your credit card face up to the cashier. Hand it face down, covering your signature on the back with the palm of your hand or thumb.
> Do not sign your receipt where others can easily read it.
> If someone is standing a little too close to you while using a cell phone, it is better to politely ask him or her to kindly allow more space than to become a victim of identity theft.
>Casinos, professional stadiums, concert halls and large amusement parks are a criminal's feeding grounds. Be careful there.
— Tim Phillips, Baxter County, Ark., police department
2.26.04 Jayplay
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