Even in Green River, Wyoming, identify theft protection is probably a good idea. The funny thing is that most folks really don’t have much of a clue about what they can do to protect their identities, and how identity theft usually takes place.
Sure, there are dumpster divers. Yes, there are brilliant computer hackers who hide outside your house with their laptops, breaking into every computer in every house in the neighborhood, collecting social security numbers, passwords and other important information.
Unfortunately, a good number of identity theft cases don’t involve laptops or criminals spying on your home. They involve family members. They involve someone who you should be able to trust, who has access to all of your personally identifying information. It could be a spouse, a child, or even a great uncle who decides to go snooping through your underwear drawer while you’re putting the finishing touches on the Thanksgiving turkey and finds a credit card.
That’s exactly what happened in Green River. As it turns out, the son of the Sweetwater County coroner was recently sentenced for between two and seven years in prison for charges related to identity theft.
The man, 27 year-old Matthew Harl Majhanovich pleaded guilty to the charges of credit card fraud and check fraud. Majhanovich admitted that he used his father’s credit card. Unfortunately, the card was actually issued by Sweetwater County, to Dale Majhanovich for use in his occupation as the coroner of that county.
On top of the fraudulent credit card use, Matthew Majhanovich also admitted that he wrote as much as $1,000 in checks on an account that he knew to be closed.
The judge also ordered Majhanovich to pay more than $11,000 in restitution, on top of court costs. He has already served 28 days in jail, and that jail time will be applied to his prison term.
Photo via jurvetson
