Identity

Summer vacation time is a good time to remember to protect yourself from identity theft. If your wallet or purse is stolen, thieves might use the information in your wallet/purse to take on your identity. They could buy goods, get benefits and services, open new charge accounts, take money from your bank accounts, apply for a job in your name and more. You can take many steps to protect your identity. Never carry these papers or cards with you, unless needed: Social Security card, Medicare card, health insurance card, credit cards, birth certificate, visa or passport.

Monday Nov. 1 9 p.m. on Lifetime "Identity Theft: The Michelle Brown Story" Kimberly Williams-Paisley stars as a woman who fights to clear her name and credit history after a stranger named Connie (Annabella Sciorra) steals her identity. Connie buys hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise and services in Brown's name - and then tries, through cosmetic surgery, to take on Brown's appearance. 9 p.m. on ABC Monday Night Football Longtime AFC rivals the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets meet in New York.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A Hagerstown man was jailed on $1.1 million bond last week after he was charged by Pennsylvania State Police in connection with a credit card fraud operation in which gift cards were purchased with reprogrammed credit cards and redeemed in California. Police said Florin Adrian Manea, 28, of 136 Harvard Road, was charged with four counts of access device fraud, three counts of identity theft and one count of criminal conspiracy to commit forgery, according to the criminal complaint filed by state police.

katec@herald-mail.com Winter is slow in Ron Vitkun's line of work. Although he said he doesn't do a lot of buying over the Internet, the co-owner of Yogi Bear Jellystone Resort in Williamsport admitted to spending too much time at an online auction site in the off-season. Last year his was the winning bid for a flat-screen computer monitor he had his eye on. He gave his credit-card number and sealed the deal. He sent questions via e-mail, asking for shipping information, but he didn't get a response.

Even the Federal Trade Commission concedes that people probably can't entirely prevent identity theft. But risk can be reduced if personal information is carefully managed. · Order a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus and make sure it's accurate and contains only activities authorized by you. · Place passwords on your credit card, bank and phone accounts, avoiding easily available information such as your mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your Social Security number or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - A 58-year-old man was arrested by police in Montgomery County, Md., after he attempted to identify himself as the owner of a car he is accused of stealing from a Waynesboro resident, court records said Thursday. Dean Criswell Fitz, 58, no fixed address, was charged with running up $3,187.23 on the credit card of the car's owner and withdrawing $6,200 from his bank savings account, police said. Fitz faces two counts of identity theft and 46 counts of access device fraud, according to an affidavit of probable cause on file in District Justice Larry Pentz's Waynesboro office.

A team of identity thieves headed by an illegal Chinese immigrant obtained more than $1 million worth of phony credit cards and charged merchandise to people whose account numbers they got off the Internet, police said Friday. The ring allegedly run by Jian Ping Wang, 38, of Frederick, Md., was one of the biggest in the Washington-Baltimore area, Secret Service Agent Jeff Gappert said. Wang was jailed in Frederick County, with bail set at $75,000, charged with multiple counts of credit card counterfeiting and illegally possessing equipment to produce credit cards.

Federal education officials are warning college students to watch out for identity theft amid concern that it could land young adults in huge debt. Education Department leaders today unveiled a Web site, www.ed.gov/misused, that offers advice on how to prevent identity theft - the stealing of personal information - and how to respond to it. The department has created several ways for people to report trouble, including a hot line, 1-800-MIS-USED, and an e-mail address, oig.hotline@ed.

To the editor: Recently we learned of the destruction of the shell of a Washington family home in Locust Grove in Charles Town, W.Va., and the ensuing dismay. How quickly it happened. How surprising for many. Surely there should be a process or something. Yes. A process took place regarding the decision by the Jefferson County Commission to demolish the jailhouse. As one of the citizens who started that process years ago - which led to the required historic review of that decision today - I would like to comment on true respect for history and the narrow, "practical" view of it that some still hold.

Like any newspaper, we have guidelines in place for any number of eventualities, including when we use names of people involved in crimes. The guidelines come into play for victims, witnesses and, in some cases, for those charged. Most newspapers, and other media, do not use the names of rape victims in an effort to avoid further traumatizing someone who already may have been seriously affected by what has been done to them. That's one of the easy calls. It requires no moral debate, no discussion.