NEWS - CDF firefighters fighting credit card crooks

News 8:

ID Thieves Targeting North County Firefighters

Last Updated:

06-20-07 at 6:18PM

Putting out financial fires when your identity's been stolen is easier said than done, and North County firefighters are learning that the hard way. ID theft seems to be sweeping through the fire department, and now firefighters are searching for a source so they can stop it.

CDF firefighters are used to being on the attack, but they never saw this fight coming. In January, someone got a hold of Randy Scales' credit card number and tried to spend thousands of dollars.

"It's a bad feeling to know people are getting a hold of these numbers," Scales said.

In the past seven months, credit card crooks have victimized 40 area firefighters -- that's almost eight percent of the force and more than double the three percent national average for identity theft.

Now, along with defending structures, state firefighters have been told to guard their credit closely.

"We always hope that it's somebody within our own organization giving obviously," Scales said.

Scales says they just don't know who is responsible. The state's personnel department claims they aren't to blame.

"We haven't been able to prove that the state is involved or if the state isn't involved," Scales said.

Firefighters thought the security breach could have been coming from an online store where many firefighters buy their uniforms, but that hunch turned out to be a dead end.

In the meanwhile, the charges keep coming, with losses ranging from $300 up to $3,000, totaling more than $30,000, spent on all sorts of random products.

"Everything from online gaming to dating services to 1-800-Flowers," Scales said.

Although credit card companies are reimbursing the losses, this is frustrating for firefighters.

"To me until we can pin down who and where this is coming from, everyone is subject to investigation," Scales said.