Heritage Neighborhood Association

2004-April Meeting Minutes

Identity Theft Prevention

Posted minutes from April 6, 2004 joint Sifton & Heritage Neighborhood Association Meeting

Heritage Neighborhood Association ¡V Hosted Meeting
Kathy Murphy, President
Joe Pedron, Vice President
Robin Pedron, Secretary

Sifton Neighborhood Association
Steve Hamilton, President
Lamont Shandlin, Vice President (not in attendance)
Alan Hoff, Treasurer

The meeting was called to order by Kathy Murphy, President of the Heritage Neighborhood Association (HNA).

The first business was to announce that Richard Wilhelm, Treasurer for HNA had resigned his position and a new candidate had been found to take his place. Karen Eitschberger was voted new Treasurer for the Heritage Neighborhood Association. Welcome, Karen!

Two guests were present at the meeting. Sergeant Craig Hogman introduced himself as the HNA liaison with the Clark County Sheriff¡¦s Department. He is based out of the Central Precinct Office located at the corner of NE 149th Street and Hwy 503 (NE 117th Avenue). For your information, dayshift officers on duty are a maximum of 6, up to 7 at night. He will be attending our association meetings and can be reached at the following:
Phone (360) 397-6195
Cell: (360) 253-0286
Voice Mail: (360) 397-6008 x5432
Email: craig.hogman@clark.wa.gov

Neighborhood issues were discussed and a crime stat sheet was provided that showed crimes and offenses that occurred/were reported within 365 days from 4/5/04. Other information discussed:

„h Vehicle prowls are on the rise in Heritage and Sifton, most occurring at night and much activity in the 8200 block between 139th and 149th Avenues (Sifton). Most common vehicles targeted are Hondas and Toyota trucks. Items being taken include hoods, tires, dashboard parts, airbags.
„h False alarm fines will be increased April 15th from $50 to $100 and up. Older alarm systems break down, false alarms result in tying up Officers¡¦ time and resources. Clark County Commissioners approved this increase.
„h Quiet time is from dusk until 7:00 a.m. No heavy equipment or lawnmowers before 7 am unless farm equipment.
„h Traffic: Motorized scooter aren¡¦t regulated so please don¡¦t call the Sheriff¡¦s office to complain. ATV¡¦s are regulated so okay to call Sheriff¡¦s office with problems (speeders, minors using them, etc.).

Detective Tom Mitchum of the Clark County Sheriff Fraud and Forgery Unit presented on Identity Theft. He provided a handout that is also available on line at:
www.consumer.gov/idtheft/recovering_idt.html

The presentation and discussion was most informative. Highlights included:
„h Identity theft is on the rise at an alarming rate, it happens fast and is very difficult to catch. While punishments are increasing and more laws are coming on line to help victims, much more is needed.
„h Social security number is like gold to an identify theft. If they get your name and date of birth, the avenues open to them are unlimited.
„h Recent data shows that most frequent places for prowlers looking to break into vehicles are at health clubs and ski locations. Expensive vehicles increase the odds of being targeted because they demonstrate wealth.
„h Thieves take just a few credit cards, leaving the money behind and nothing suspicious looking. The victim doesn¡¦t know that their cards have been taken. Meanwhile the thieves are out using the card while the victim is enjoying themselves in the club or on the slopes.
„h Community mailboxes are also easy targets. These locked mailboxes are being picked open and instead of just one person¡¦s mail being stolen, thieves are able to take many times that in one instance. Do not mail outgoing mail from your mailbox. Take it to a post office or USPS outgoing mail drop box and mail it from there. If mailing from an outgoing mail drop box, make sure your mail goes all the way in and there isn¡¦t mail in that box piled so high that your mail is reachable by reaching in. Best option is to rent a post office box and have all your mail go there.
„h Do you know what¡¦s in your wallet or purse should it get stolen? Do you leave things in your car?
„h The only way to protect your credit is to review your credit reports at lease twice a year to see who¡¦s been checking out your credit and also to make sure you don¡¦t have any suspicious activity showing up. You can put a fraud alert warning on your credit reports. While currently there is a fee to obtain your reports, and there are 3 credit reporting agencies, legislation is currently under way to make it free to consumers to get their reports.
„h Shredding your information simply isn¡¦t enough because they rummage through trash and piece the information back together. There are now cross-shredders available that shred both horizontal and vertical simultaneously making it harder to piece information back together.
„h There are many ways thieves are stealing information. Cameras on or near ATM machines, they can change your mailing address on-line to another location, cell phones now have imbedded cameras that can take photos of your credit/debit card numbers, fraudulent emails and phone callers requesting your personal information (don¡¦t give it out!).
„h Debit cards are like a thief having your entire checkbook. Credit cards should never be left out of your site, such as giving it to a waiter at a restaurant. Thieves pay servers who provide credit card numbers and simple scanners are available for them to be able to do this. You can take the card to the register yourself.
„h There are also devices such as card traps that trap your card and you can¡¦t get it back from the machine. Also, notice if there is an object nearby the ATM that you¡¦re about to use, such as a brochure holder. There may be a camera inside it recording and transmitting your information to a thief.
„h Cashier¡¦s checks can be counterfeited. When buying or selling a car, go to the bank with the buyer or seller to confirm the money exchange.

Detective Mitchum can be reached at (360) 397-2042, 708 W. 13th Street, Vancouver, WA 98666

Next meeting will be joint with Sifton and Heritage Neighborhood Associations