ID thieves are targeting your car’s glove box.
If you’ve ever been stopped for a traffic citation, you know to have your vehicle registration and proof of insurance ready.
But authorities now caution that those documents could help a thief steal your identity, a crime for which Arizona leads the nation, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Law enforcement officials are warning drivers to remove identifying information or addressed documents when exiting the car, said Lt. Giles Tipsword of Phoenix Police’s technical investigations unit, which includes auto theft and document crimes.
A recent Dodge survey had 44 percent of respondents nationwide say they leave their automobile titles in the glove box, where a thief could change the name on the title, then sell the vehicle or legally put the keys in his or her pocket.
“I think people would be surprised to see what they’ve left in their vehicle and, potentially, what other crimes they’ve left themselves open to,” said Ann Armstrong, an Arizona Automobile Theft Authority spokeswoman. The authority is a state agency created by the Legislature in 1992 to combat auto theft in the state.
“Some people leave documents with Social Security numbers and all sorts of crazy things. In this day and age, it’s so important for people to go through and make sure there’s no identifying information in their vehicles or even in their glove box. Stolen cars and ID theft go hand in hand.”
Last year, metropolitan Phoenix ranked fourth in the nation for auto theft, with one vehicle stolen per 91 residents. Tucson was ranked 10th.
Tipsword said Phoenix police are seeing more crimes in which thieves break into a car to take documents, sometimes snagging a remote garage-door opener to pillage the vehicle owner’s home.
“Maybe you get a broken window and you think, ‘All they did was break my window,’” Tipsword said. “Maybe they just opened up your glove box and wrote down all your information. . . . The less information you have in the vehicle, the better it is for you.”
About 1,000 adults participated in the Dodge survey, and respondents were interviewed by phone from May 22-24. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
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Cars can be a great place for thieves to get crucial information about you.
Phoenix police and the Arizona Automobile Theft Authority offer the following tips:
● Take your vehicle registration, insurance cards or any other identifying information with you.
● Remove garage-door openers.
● Do not leave your purse or wallet in the glove box or under the seat.
● Routinely clean out your car to remove identifying papers and other items.
● As a backup, set up a P.O. box to receive mail on vehicles, insurance and other important documents; it safeguards your address.
http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue/2007/07/21/58012-id-thieves-targeting-your-car-s-glove-box/
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