Thread: Atkins family hit by ID theft

ID theft traced to dental office
Cops say assistant got credit cards with patients' info


Jacob Langston, Orlando Sentinel, August 10, 2007
The Adkins family was hit by identity theft. They are (from left) Frank Adkins; 9-month-old Cali; Austin, 8; Blake, 6; and Virginia


Rene Stutzman | Sentinel Staff Writer
August 10, 2007
Article Tools
E-mail Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback text size: Virginia Adkins was puzzled. One day $150 disappeared from her checking account.

A short time later, something else odd happened: Target sent her a letter, congratulating her on her new line of credit, but no one in her household had applied for a Target credit card.

Adkins, 32, an Oviedo mother of three, was the victim of identity theft.



Seminole County deputies on Thursday said they solved the mystery: Adkins and at least eight other people were victims of a 21-year-old dental office assistant, who combed through medical files and personal information.

Carolina Cruz of west Orange County was arrested by Seminole County deputies Wednesday, accused of grand theft, fraud and four counts of identity theft. She was released Wednesday night on $6,000 bail and was unavailable for comment.

The victims all were patients at Blandon Dental, which has offices in Oviedo and Waterford Lakes, sheriff's Lt. Dennis Lemma said. Cruz worked at both offices, he said.

Dentist Alvaro Blandon would not comment.

Adkins said she was shocked by what happened and stunned that authorities had tracked the thief to her dentist's office.

"I would never in a million years have suspected that," she said.

Three of the victims live in Seminole County, and six in Orange County, Lemma said.

Even so, Cruz was not under investigation by Orange County deputies, Orange County Deputy Sheriff Carlos Padilla said.

Cruz used patient information to obtain credit cards, then went shopping online, according to her arrest report. She is accused of stealing about $2,500 worth of merchandise, but Lemma said that number could climb once monthly credit-card bills were delivered to victims.

The suspect used Adkins' debit card to buy $150 worth of T-shirts online from a company in Great Britain, Adkins said.

According to Cruz's arrest report, she also bought patio furniture from Target, including an outdoor fireplace. She also used the identity of another Oviedo woman to buy $1,900 worth of electronics, authorities say.

A Seminole County deputy cracked the case by tracking a Target online order to the dental office's e-mail address, Lemma said. The merchandise, though, was delivered to Cruz's home address, he said.

Rene Stutzman can be reached at 407-324-7294 or rstutzman@orlandosentinel.com.

more articles in /news/local/seminole
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc ... full.story

Yes, and people like this will be working at the DMV's and have access to Millions of peoples records if the Real ID goes through. They will not get caught until the damage is already done.

How many other people's ID did she sell??

How many other people's ID did she sell??

They didn't tell you that. I know when I went to the Dr. here the first time and filled out the papers.....I didn't put my SS# down. For the first time I argued about giving it out. They tried, well we need it for insurance purposes....sorry....cash paying person....on down the line. There just doesn't seem to be any "safe" means anymore to pay for anything.

Originally Posted by crazybird

How many other people's ID did she sell??

They didn't tell you that. I know when I went to the Dr. here the first time and filled out the papers.....I didn't put my SS# down. For the first time I argued about giving it out. They tried, well we need it for insurance purposes....sorry....cash paying person....on down the line. There just doesn't seem to be any "safe" means anymore to pay for anything.

They hope we will not think about all the damage she could have/probably did do.

Probably 10 years ago, my DIL found out a woman in the valley was getting foodstamps using her SS#. She wouldn't do anything. I would have screamed to high Heaven.

My son did get a letter from the IRS saying he owed taxes on $6K he received in wages from a company. He had worked contractually for that company several years ago. When he called the company to try to get some info, they were out of business. He couldn't find anyone who might have some of the company records.

When he told the IRS if he had made that $6K, he certainly would have known it, that was a lot of money to him. The IRS didn't care if he couldnt' prove it, didn't care what might have been the truth, they just wanted their money.

A lawyer is now working on it for him, don't know what is going on - and I have always wonder if the company didn't allow some illegal to use his SS# after he left, thinking the IRS would never check.

I wonder how safe the kids socials are in the schools. I know from experience that it's pretty easy to get into files if you are an employee of the school. Just so you know I never looked at a file unless I had to but if a dishonest employee wanted to they could get info from paperwork or files pretty easily.