L.A. Robbery Epidemic Targets Trendy Melrose Ave.
For the eighth time in two weeks, robbers again struck Los Angeles’ trendy Melrose Avenue shopping district. During Wednesday’s evening rush hour, three young men jumped out of a silver Chevy Malibu to snatch the purse of a woman strolling along Genesee Avenue near Fairfax High School, said a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department. No […]
Protect Yourself from Internet Identity Theft
Identity theft can turn your life into a nightmare. Just this week laptop thefts at brewing giant Anheuser-Busch has placed the personal data of 150,000 people nationwide and 55,000 Californians at risk. Unfortunately the risk of identity theft isn’t relegated to corporate and government computers. Computer phishing scams that solicit personal information through bogus emails […]
Con Men ‘Phish’ for Identity Info
The old-fashioned con man hasn’t disappeared, he’s just gone phishing. Phishing scams where people receive an apparently legitimate email asking for personal information allow con men to troll for marks without ever leaving their computers. That personal information can allow phishers to steal your identity, run up charge accounts, open credit cards in your name, […]
Modesto, CA Tops List of Auto Theft Hot Spots
California is a hot spot for car thieves. In number of vehicle thefts, California was No. 1 in a report just released by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Of the top five cities for auto theft, four are in California. Las Vegas (#2 on the NICB list) was the only non-California city to make the […]
Pros Strip Car in Record Time
It took just 6 1/2 minutes to totally disassemble a 1988 Chevy pickup truck into a salable pile of parts. In a demonstration for law enforcement officers, six special agents from the National Insurance Crime Bureau demonstrated the speed with which a skilled team of thieves can break into a vehicle, harvest its parts and […]
Robbery - Hard to Tell Thieves from Everyone Else
In movies, thieves are often portrayed as sly and conniving, or hardened and violent. In real life though, there are other types of thieves who do their best to look unassuming and use their cleverness to steal from their victims. Take for example Doris Payne, who spent parts of five decades robbing jewelry stores of high-priced […]
Protect Yourself from Internet Identity Theft
In our June 25 post we noted that the majority of identity thefts result from stolen wallets and purses, stolen mail or from information exchanged during a phone or male-order sale. Internet access accounts for only 14% of ID thefts, according to a recent study by financial consulting firm Javelin Strategy & Research of Pleasanton, […]
Stolen Wallets Are Greatest Cause of ID Theft
Identity theft is a nightmare that can take months or even years to clear up. When thieves stole Gina Titus’ wallet she wasn’t prepared for the depth of the trouble it caused. “They used the checking account and credit cards before I could cancel them,” the San Francisco PR account executive complained. “Then several months later […]
Thrill-Seekers Beware; Shoplifting Is a Crime
For many teens it starts out as a lark. See if you can sneak a new CD, pack of baseball cards or t-shirt out of the store. Maybe your friend dares you. Maybe you just see something you want but don’t have the cash in your pocket. Maybe the thrill of getting away with something illegal […]
Gay Marriage Ruling: How Will It Impact Criminal Law
Recently, the California Supreme Court ruled that denying marriage to same-sex couples was against the constitution of the State of California, thus legalizing gay marriage throughout the state (at least for now). While this will have great repercussions on the law in general, especially civil law, there are a great many areas in criminal law […]
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