Police have arrested two suspects in a Florida-based scheme where thieves steal checkbooks from women’s vehicles then cash the checks using stolen identification of other victims, the FBI said.
They use disguises such as wigs to appear similar to photos on identification cards, such as driver’s licenses, used to cash the stolen checks.
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“When cashing the checks, the fraud participants use the drive-through teller lane farthest from the bank building, making it difficult for the teller inside the bank to make a close comparison of the fraud participant to the stolen means of identification provided as proof of identity,” FBI special agent Bruce Johnson wrote in a criminal complaint.
Police have dubbed such crimes as “Felony Lane” cases.
Johnson said that thieves target places where women will leave purses in vehicles, such as health and fitness clubs and day-care facilities. The thieves break in and steal purses containing checkbooks and identification then draft checks back and forth between break-in victims.
A Florida-based ring hit West Michigan a couple of years ago, which resulted in numerous arrests. The leader, Marcus Montell Thames, was sentenced to 115 months in federal prison early this year.
