Identity theft in Las Vegas raises terror concerns
LAS VEGAS -- The burglars may be common thieves or specialists in identity theft. Or, in the most harrowing but plausible of scenarios, they could be terrorists.
None of these prospects can be ruled out as investigators probe a bizarre break-in last week at a Department of Motor Vehicles office in the suburb of North Las Vegas that is being treated as a possible homeland security threat.
Burglars rammed a vehicle through a back wall at the DMV early on March 7 and drove off with 1,700 blank Nevada licenses, the equipment needed to make licenses, and a computer hard drive that contained the Social Security numbers and other personal information of more than 8,000 people who had obtained licenses there since November.
''Think of the ripple effect this could have," said Tim Mohr, director of investigations for BDO Seidman LLC, an accounting firm based in New York. ''Say it's a terrorist cell that ends up with this information. They can use it to rent cars or trucks. They don't run a driver's license when you rent a vehicle, they just ask to see it. The ripple effect is that it doesn't just affect Nevadans."
In order to enter the United States from Mexico or Canada, all that is required is a valid US driver's license.
The blank licenses stolen have the security features used to authenticate them, Mohr noted.
Nevada officials were slow to realize the extent of the theft because they did not believe the hard drive contained any personal data. But five days after the burglary, DMV director Ginny Lewis announced that the vendor,
Officials at Digimarc, which contracts with more than 30 states to produce driver's licenses, declined to comment.
''It is a very serious situation," said Lewis, who said that state and federal departments of homeland security have been alerted. She has also asked the US Secret Service in Las Vegas to help in the probe. ''We're very sorry this happened. The potential problems here are significant."
Concerned primarily with the potential for identity theft, Lewis said the state is invalidating the driver's license numbers of the 8,738 people whose information was in the computer and sending new licenses to each of them via certified mail. In addition, the old numbers were entered into a national security database and will be flagged if they come up during traffic stops or in other checks. In addition, the three major credit reporting bureaus received notice to be on alert in the event of unusual credit activity involving people whose personal information was stolen.
As of earlier this week, there were no reports of misuse of the information, said Paul Masto, assistant special agent in charge of the US Secret Service in Las Vegas. Masto said the intruders clearly cased the office carefully before the incident.
''This was a well-planned heist by folks who knew when to go and where to go," said Masto, who said there are a few fresh leads to follow.
''We think this is more a street crime rather than terrorism, but we don't know for sure. We think this will turn into a more of a cybercrime, where they wanted to manufacture phony driver's licenses and . . . documents to establish a false ID and then buy houses and boats and cars with other people's information."
Still, the state's homeland security officials are concerned.
''Anybody can use an ID card of any sort to get into various locations, like the airports," said Gwendolyn Hadd, an analyst with the Nevada Department of Homeland Security. ''I don't know the sophistication of the people who stole the stuff, but yeah, anytime somebody steals something like this, it could be a big problem."
Other specialists believe the threat is not that big. Richard Muller, a homeland security specialist at the University of California at Berkeley who advises the Department of Defense on intelligence and terrorism threats, shrugged at the incident.
''When I consider some of the issues I worry about, some driver's licenses aren't high on the list," Muller said. ''It's so easy to forge driver's licenses these days. If you want to know how to get a phony driver's license, all you have to do is ask a teenager."
Meanwhile, Lewis said she hopes this incident is a wake-up call for DMVs and other offices where sensitive information is stored.
''I've racked my brains trying to see if we could have done something differently," said Lewis, who said that personal data will be deleted daily from now on. ''But who would've thought someone would take a truck and drive it in the back of an alarmed building? It's a hard lesson to learn."
