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Today's generation of personal identity thieves are born and raised on computers, and the scams can involve thousands of victims and millions of dollars. They use high-tech equipment that "skims" information off credit and ATM cards - sometimes right under the victim's nose.
"It's not profitable for a thief to break into your home and steal a television when he can steal your personal identifying information and open an account in your name and buy 100 flat-screen TVs and sell them on the Internet," said sheriff's Lt. Ron Williams with the state-funded Southern California High Tech Task Force.
The task force is local law enforcement's high-tech answer to the new breed of criminal. The group includes crime fighting agencies such as the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and District Attorney's Office, the FBI, and other local police forces.
"These individuals are smart enough to operate with a business plan in mind versus the dumpster driver," Williams said.
"Depending on the size of the skimming device, a crook could hide it in his pocket and swipe all of the information encoded on the magnetic strip and transfer it onto a blank card."
Gas pumps and retail shops are popular hunting grounds for the criminals, where in a matter of a few minutes, victims' financial records are compromised. Often, entire legitimate signature pads on card-reading devices are switched with preprogrammed fakes set up to steal financial data.
Some thieves use short-range, wireless connectivity devices to steal personal information. That way, criminals don't have to install the skimming devices and return to the scene of the crime to pick up their spoils.
"Now they use Bluetooth and can sit across the street in their car and download the information onto a computer," Williams said. "They install devices all over the county - anywhere, anytime and operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week including holidays. One suspect told us he would pull up his truck and install the skimming device before he filled up his tank of gas."
Some devices are homemade, some the size of a thumbnail, others available through businesses that sell to legitimate retailers.
Legislation does not exist to monitor the sale of these devices, authorities said.
Last week, the sheriff's task force team - housed on the third floor of the Chatsworth Superior Courthouse - busted three suspects including a Santa Clarita man. The trio was accused of running a prolific identity theft ring that bilked consumers out of nearly $3 million over a two-year period.
Cesar Echeverria, 28, of Santa Clarita; Albert Gonzalez, 39, of Lancaster; and Josue Albizuras, 42, of Los Angeles, are accused of stealing credit and debit card information at gas pumps and ATMs in and around Santa Clarita Valley. They have entered not-guilty pleas in answer to two dozen charges.
Playing catchup
Pickpockets aren't looking for cash in wallets nowadays, Williams said. It's the information they're after.
"They'll steal your wallet or purse to obtain your social security number or credit card number," Williams said. "Then, they manufacture credit cards or open accounts in the victims' names."
Williams said his task force is always playing catch-up with thieves.
"It's like building a 10-foot wall, and they come back with an 11-foot ladder," Williams said.
Insider or employee theft is common with personal identity theft. And victims come in all sizes and shapes. However, a demographic study by the Sheriff's Department indicates a majority of victims - men and women equally - are between 18 and 49 years old.
However, last year saw the first dramatic decline in identity theft crimes: nearly 15 percent, or 1,000 cases, Williams said.
The Santa Clarita Valley mirrors the countywide statistics.
"Over the past three years, identity theft has dropped in Los Angeles County and Southern California," said sheriff's Detective Duane Decker. "It rises and falls in certain small cities due to the migration of the crime. Once local businesses and law enforcement learns what's going on, we shut them down pretty effectively."
The sheriff's task force team has shifted its priorities in catching ID thieves. Instead of only going after individual crooks, it also targets loosely-knit groups involved in organized crime.
"When we take down the top, it dismantles the entire group," Williams said. "You take down the major players, he's in jail and it's a big hit. We are cautiously optimistic that we have the right formula to deal with some of the emerging threats in ID theft."
