Because of what they do, mortgage loan processors have access to a lot of personal information — names, birthdates, Social Security numbers and more.
The information is vital to securing a mortgage loan for a client. But in the wrong hands, it can be used in nefarious ways.
Federal prosecutors in Alabama say a mortgage loan processor in Lincoln, Ala., used access codes to tap into credit bureaus to steal identities. He then used those identities to get credit cards, prosecutors allege.
Simp Robert Goddard, 38, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of the unauthorized use of people’s names and personal information, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Birmingham said in a written statement.
Goddard then took that information and applied for credit cards, buying goods and services totaling more than $20,000, according to the statement.
If convicted Goddard faces up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.
“Identity theft and the financial problems created by such conduct are serious crimes,” Alice H. Martin, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, said in the statement.
Goddard could not be reached to comment.
Prosecutors say Goddard ran his alleged scheme between January and May of 2004 while working as a mortgage loan processor, which gave him the ability to tap into credit bureau data bases.
They say he used a home computer to create fake identities with the information he stole from credit bureaus.
The indictment charges that Goddard “made unauthorized use of other people’s names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers in order to obtain credit cards which he then used to purchase goods and services totaling more than $20,000.”
A second count charges him with using cards that were either lost, stolen or “fraudulently obtained” to make purchases of more than $1,000.
Goddard obtained four credit cards from Shell Oil Co. and one from Fleet Platinum Visa, according to the indictment.
The U.S. Secret Service and local authorities also investigated.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft crimes totaled $52.6 billion last year.
“Identity theft victims may spend years — and large sums of money — restoring their credit histories and their good names,” the FTC said in a recent statement. “Some consumers have been denied jobs or insurance or been arrested for crimes they did not commit.”
