There's nothing new about the relationship between drugs and crime. Users will do just about anything to support their habit. Lisa became an expert at stealing mail and stealing identities to support her meth addiction. When we sat down to do the interview, Lisa was candid. She described in detail the first time she washed (took the ink off) a stolen check, wrote in her name, took it to the bank, and was handed $300. She said her "knees were shaking," but it was a "rush." And so began her long career as one of the city's most prolific fraud artists. She eventually learned how to tap into bank accounts and steal tens of thousands of dollars in a single day. And she did all of this by stealing people's mail. She listed the neighborhoods she frequented. They were all close to where I live.
"They never check their mail," she said.
That's me, I thought. So often I let my mail pile up in my broken mailbox. The flimsy plastic door tore off months ago and my mail often sits for days, completely exposed, in my mailbox on my front lawn. I would have been an easy target for Lisa or anyone like her.
Lisa told me while she was on meth she "had no feelings" and felt no remorse for all the lives she damaged. Eventually, what made her give up meth and mail was exhaustion. After 13 years of using meth, a drug that keeps you awake for days, she wanted to sleep. She also had several outstanding arrest warrants and knew she'd go to prison the next time she was caught.
Lisa made a deal with the district attorney's office. She told them in detail how she committed her crime, even showed them how she washes checks. In exchange for the information, she stays out of jail.
Lisa has also been off meth since April, 2007. So this should be a happy ending for her. But it's not. She is a convicted felon. She has worked five different jobs since she's been clean, but fired from all of them after employers do a background check. She says she understands her employers' dilemma. How can they ever trust someone like her? She is getting by financially with the help of her boyfriend and family. She says if it wasn't for them, she's afraid she'd return to meth and "busting checks."
When Lisa confessed all her fraud secrets to the district attorney and nearly two dozen other law enforcement officials, Damon Mosler was recording video. Throughout the interview, she seems proud she was able to outsmart police, the post office, banks and credit card companies. But she has a moment toward the end. A realization that her game is up and she can never go back. She breaks down and says, "I'm smart, I'm very smart." But she knows she used her intelligence to commit crimes, and now it's a permanent scar on her life. She already suspects she may never get a decent job. Watching the video, you can see some of Lisa's long forgotten "feelings" return.
Lisa's dream now is to work for a security company because she knows best how to catch a thief. She wants to use her knowledge for good instead of evil, she says. But she is surprisingly self-aware of her dilemma. How can you believe someone who was so good at fooling everyone? I thought about my broken mailbox and how close it is to the neighborhoods from which Lisa use to steal.
As a journalist, I found Lisa to be a sympathetic interview. She comes across as someone you want to root for. I hope she finds her way. But I wonder what great leap of faith it will take for someone to trust a thief.
Dave
January 05, 2008 at 08:59 PM
The thing is... they already have the guy from "Can't catch me".. how many slots are there for criminals to be paid for their past illegal deeds?? Maybe she should do it the other way.. write a book and sell the movie rights... if (hopefully) her deal doesn't let her get that money.. then she could use the money to pay back her victims.. with interest.
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Reality Check
January 07, 2008 at 02:33 PM
This girl is a legend in her own mind. Her methods of deception are nothing new, and though she believes she is smart, she is obviously the farthest thing from it or she wouldn't have needed to steal,....even to support her habit. Her admissions, illustrations and explanations of her methods of crime amount to about 1% of a police officers knowledge on crime tactics as they deal with countless criminals who are often more than happy to spill the beans in hopes of reduced charges or avoiding jail.
BOO HOO, the fat salary she hopes to garner as a scam lesson consultant is going to amount to a big Zero. Stay straight, get a job & quit breaking the law, then maybe you will approach the threshold and even show a shred of smart, until then, no buscuit for misbehaving!
Ron Hatton
January 15, 2008 at 04:08 AM
There is a new type of credit and debit card fraud, thanks to the advent of the new contactless payment systems.
These cards, over 50 million of which were issued last year in the United States alone, are embedded with a miniature micro-processor and an antenna that broadcasts the account information of the card holder at 13.56 MHz. These contactless pay stations use a system that is not only inexpensive to duplicate on the home hobbyist's workbench, but quite inexpensive, as well. In fact, $20 and a trip to your local Radio Shack will give you all you need to become a thief of this sort.
They call themselves "Cloners."
The reason for the name is the process they use. They set their antenna, which fits easily into purse or pocket, to "ping" for cards that are RF (Radio Frequency) Enabled. The card responds by transmitting all necessary information to charge the account. This is, after all, what it was programmed for. The laptop or PDA gathers, or "Harvests" the data received. They do this in the most public of places, and it is absolutely undetectable when occurring.
From that point, the thief will then carry the information home or to another suitable location and begin the cloning process. Another wave of the antenna over a blank card, which can be purchased for two or three cents, and they have a form of payment that is electronically indistinguishable from the original.
Sadly, Organized Crime and Terrorist organizations such as the LTTE out of Sri Lanka are using credit card fraud like this to fund their destructive activities.
Does that scare you? It should, and it did us. To respond to this threat, Wisteria House Products of Phoenix Arizona has developed the Armadillo Dollar. It is a simple, low-cost device you slide into your wallet that blocks the transmission of these radio waves.
If you decide you want to put another layer of protection between you and the wireless thief with our product, use the code "TopDog" when ordering. That'll take $5.00 off the regular $25.00 price, at least while we're introducing it to the market.
It is, quite simply, the BEST RF-Shielding product of its kind in the world.
You have my word on it.
I am Ron Hatton.
We are www.ArmadilloDollar.com and proud to be All-Americans!
