Darien Identity Theft 2016

Public Safety

Credit Cards Stolen from Darien Woman at Restaurant, Charges Racked Up

By David Gurliacci | October 4, 2016

Four credit cards were stolen from a Darien woman having lunch with her son last week at Panera Bread, and within an hour $1,421 was charged to her accounts, police said. Darien police gave this account:

At about 1:30, the 48-year-old woman left her seat to get her food at the counter of the 1063 Post Road restaurant. Her son, who had just gone through oral surgery, remained seated but was very groggy. She had left her credit cards in her wallet which was in her purse, which was slung on the back of her chair at a booth in the back of the restaurant. At about 2:20 p.m., she went elsewhere in Darien and got out her wallet to use a credit card.

Public Safety

Someone Opens Credit Card Account in Darien Woman’s Name, Buys Expensive Purse

By David Gurliacci | March 21, 2016

A 43-year-old Darien woman received an email receipt from the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Stamford for $228.64 — the cost of an MMJ brand handbag the store said she bought. She hadn’t bought it. And the last four digits of the credit card account number mentioned in the email was not a number that corresponded to any of her accounts. The purchase occurred at the store on Sunday, March 13, and the woman reported the matter to police the next day. It appears that the identity theft was accomplished when the thief had the woman’s name, email address and apparently enough personal information to open the credit card account.