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Lt. Robert Manzo showed reporters the boxes his officers found at the home of two southwest Houston men arrested for drug possession.
The boxes belong to the Lawrence Marshall Chevrolet that used to be located near Reliant Stadium. They contain sales contracts of people who bought a car there in the second half of 2006. In those contracts are important information such as the customer’s drivers license and social security number, home address, and some even have their credit report.
“And individual can take the information in every one of these files and can obtain credit very easily under the victims name and use the victim’s identity. And so we’re very concerned about that.”
While there’s little evidence that the suspects themselves have used the stolen information, police don’t know if they sold any of it to other would-be criminals. That’s why they want anyone who bought a car at that particular Lawrence Marshall Chevrolet in mid to late 2006 to check their accounts.
“Immediately obtain a copy of their credit report and examine it for any possible fraudulent entries.”
Even if you don’t notice anything unusual on your credit report, Manzo says you should have a fraud alert placed on your credit file should.
As for the suspects, just being in possession of someone’s identifying information it is a crime — whether it’s used or not.
Bill Stamps. KUHF Houston Public Radio News.