Just hours after police found numerous unlocked vehicles were entered on Herman Avenue and nearby Allen O’Neill Drive, a Herman Avenue resident was contacted by a Target store in New York City on Friday and asked if she could confirm that she was applying for a store credit card.
That was how the Darien woman who answered the phone found out that she was still being victimized from a case of identity theft that happened in December. The fact that vehicles in her neighborhood had just been entered — a situation that sometimes leads to identity theft — turned out to be a complete coincidence. The woman’s car had not been entered.
The woman went to Darien Police Headquarters and told them about the incident later that morning. Here’s what else police said about the matter — including accusations, not proven in court, against an unnamed person who was arrested:
Last December, an individual withdrew $5,000 from the woman’s bank account, then tried to withdraw $15,000 more. Before the bank processed that second transaction, the bank called the woman to verify that she wanted the money out of her account.
The woman told the bank that the transaction was fraudulent. New York City police from the 90th Precinct in Brooklyn were notified and arrested the person trying to cash the check.
Police found a fraudulent debit card programmed with the Darien victim’s information but with the suspect’s picture. Also on the person was a phony Connecticut driver’s license with the Darien victim’s information but the suspect’s picture.
At 9:21 a.m. on Friday, someone from Target called to confirm that the victim wanted the store credit card, and the victim said she hadn’t applied for it. A Target employee told the victim that the application had been made in the Flushing section of Queens in New York City.
The Darien victim contacted New York City police, who told her she should file a complaint with her local police department, which the woman did about a couple of hours later.
Police are continuing to investigate the matter.