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Apr 5, 2007 7:58 pm US/Central
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IDs Stolen From Euless Passport Information
by Jack Fink
EULESS (CBS 11 News) ―
More than 100 North Texans could soon learn they are victims of identity theft and authorities say their prime suspect is a postal worker.
Dozens of people came to the Euless post office last February as part of a very well publicized passport fair. It's now known that passport applications from the fair were stolen. The case has sparked a federal investigation and officials believe a postal employee in Houston may be to blame.
Laura Mattingly's nightmare began after she applied for a passport during the fair. Now, her application, her passport, and thousands of dollars have been stolen.
Mattingly says a woman in Los Angeles gained access to her private information and was able to withdraw $11,000 out of her bank account. The security breaches didn't end there – there were also a number of new credit card accounts opened in Mattingly's name and 26-year-old Erendira Reyes was arrested for trying to buy a car in her name.
"It's a full time job trying to get this coordinated, change over accounts, and you know, trying to educate yourself about what more you can do to prevent identity theft," Mattingly said.
The Postal Service Office of Inspector General is investigating a postal employee in Houston. The worker is accused of stealing the passport applications and all of the required documents – such as original birth certificates and driver's license copies.
The postal agency isn't commenting on its investigation, but another victim, Benny Gutierrez, told CBS 11 news that post office officials said as many as 150 applications from Euless were stolen. "I feel uncomfortable right now 'cause somebody might be using my information to do something that I'm not doing," he said.
Gutierrez and Mattingly say they were never warned by postal inspectors that their information was stolen. "My main complaint is with the post office," says Mattingly. "I think if they had notified me or anyone else that this has happened to, then I could have put steps in place to prevent this."
According to Mattingly she has repeatedly called a post office in Dallas and has yet to receive a return call. In the meantime, she says post office workers told her to file a report with the Euless Police Department and to reapply for a passport.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)