The Hall of Shame

News 3 Investigator Mitch Truswell has launced the "Hall of Shame." Its a list of some of the common types of scams out there, including examples you can look at. Crimetracker 3 will be helping build the list.

Scammers reving up email, text efforts

As we showed you during our "Family Focus" piece at 6pm Friday, crooks are working to bend anything to their advantage. Lt. Bob Sebby with Metro's Fraud unit says his officers handled about $60 million in fraud cases last year, and he reminds us that many people do not even report their losses, so the problem is probably much bigger.
Every day, I walk into work and have at least one message from a viewer about a new scam. Thankfully, most of the messages are from people who recognized the scam and just want to make sure no one else falls for it. Like this morning, "Paul" called. He has received text messages claiming to be from three different banks that needed to verify his account information. He didn't even have an account at two of the banks. Paul called the number from his text, and followed the voice prompts. After putting in random numbers for his "account number," the system asked Paul for his Social Security number and other personal identifying information. That's a classic tip-off: your financial institution will never ask for your SSN over the phone or in an email. (I have been asked for my SSN over the phone, but only during phone calls that I initiated.)
There are lots of "experts" out there predicting that the number of people running scams will only increase during our current "economic meltdown." I'll just hope that common sense doesn't melt down as well.

There's more to it than shredding

Las Vegas Metro Police and Opportunity Village are extending their shredding event due to huge demand. (See the entry below).
But shredding documents is just one of the steps you need to take to protect your identity. Here are some more, courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service.

Review your consumer credit reports annually.

Shred and destroy unwanted documents that contain personal information.

Deposit mail in U.S. Postal Service collection boxes.

Don’t leave mail in your mailbox overnight or on weekends.

Last year we did a series of stories with Metro's fraud unit on credit/debit card theft and ATM/credit card skimming. Sgt. Bob Sebby suggested that you either swipe your card yourself, or make sure it is done where you can see it. That way, you can make sure the person doesn't also put your card through a skimmer, which is a device to copy the data on your card.

Federal Trade Commission: ID Theft

Dept. of Justice: ID Theft

NV Attorney General: ID Theft

More Shredding

The shredding event thrown by Metro and Opportunity Village on Tuesday was so successful, the bins were overflowing less than an hour in.

To meet the huge demand, Opportunity Village is offering drop-off service.

You'll need to take your items to their location at 451 East Lake Mead Parkway in Henderson, between 8:30am and 4pm, this Wednesday thru Friday.


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Manhunt Monday - Martin Ochoa

Martin Rafael Ochoa is a Hispanic male adult, 22 years of age, standing 6'0" tall and weighing approximately 180 lbs. with brown hair and brown eyes. His last known address was in the 4900 Block of East Saint Louis in Las Vegas.
On August 30 , 2008, Martin Ochoa and another man went th ent to the parking lot of a local business to retrieve a stolen vehicle which had been parked at that location. After returning with the stolen vehicle to a local residence they removed various parts from the car, along with numerous pieces of personal property which had been inside of the vehicle at the
time it was stolen.
After removing the parts and property which they wanted from the vehicle, they began to drive to a location where the car was to be dumped.
During that drive an alert Metro patrol officer saw the vehicle. However before he could conduct a vehicle stop Ochoa and his accomplice managed to elude the officer long enough to stop the car and begin walking away on foot. The officer stopped the two suspect, and arrested them on numerous charges. Following his release from jail on bail, Ochoa failed to show up at his scheduled court appearance, and is currently wanted on one count each of the following felony crimes:
• Auto Burglary,
• Possession of a Stolen Vehicle,
• Grand Larceny,
• Possession of Stolen Property, and
• Conspiracy to Possess Stolen Property
Prior to this event, Ochoa had been arrest for taking a vehicle without owners consent and obstructing a Police Officer.
Anyone with information concerning the location of Martin Rafael Ochoa is urged to contact the L.V.M.P.D. Fugitive detail at 828-3578 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555

Ideas wanted

So folks, we're in a little slow patch here at "Crimetracer 3." We just wrapped up Stalking Awareness Month. Last Friday, we had a good report on a recent rise in burglaries from parked autos.
This doesn't happen often, but I'll admit it: I need help. By Friday, I need to come up with a story that will help our viewers avoid some kind of criminal element. It helps if the problem is something that happens relatively often, that we have not done a story on recently, and that is not random. We're looking for a story where people can take steps to make themselves safer. If you have a suggestion, please sent it to ewiener@kvbc.com

Shredding Event at First Tuesday

LVMPD and Opportunity Village are joining forces to help protect the public from identity theft. On the first Tuesday of every month, each LVMPD Area Command hosts a “First Tuesday” program for the public. The First Tuesday programs always start at 7 p.m. and include a free lecture about a crime prevention topic.
On February 3, the First Tuesday topic will be Consumer Protection: ID Theft and Internet Safety. As part of the program, LVMPD has partnered with Opportunity Village to provide attendees with free document destruction. People who attend the February 3rd First Tuesday meeting at their local Area Command are welcome to bring documents for destruction. The documents will be placed in a secure bin and then destroyed by Opportunity Village.
Documents will be accepted at each Area Command on Tuesday, February 3, between 4 pm and 8 pm ONLY. No documents will be accepted before or after this date and time. Anyone who shows up with documents for destruction outside of the assigned time frame will be turned away.
This is a one night only event, associated with the February 3 First Tuesday program. Metro cannot accept documents for destruction.

Bolden Area Command
1851 Stella Lake
(off Martin Luther King just north of Vegas Drive)

Convention Center Area Command
750 Sierra Vista
(at Swenson)

Downtown Area Command
621 North 9th St.

Enterprise Area Command
6975 W. Windmill Lane
(at Rainbow)

Northeast Area Command
831 N. Mojave
(at Charleston)

Northwest Area Command
9850 W. Cheyenne
(just west of Grand Canyon)

South Central Area Command
4860 Las Vegas Blvd. South
(at Las Vegas Boulevard South and Russell)

Southeast Area Command
3675 E. Harmon Ave.
(At Pearl and Harmon)