During the first half of 1999, Michael Allen Stonehouse walked into Bank One in Lakewood, Colorado and walked out of the bank with a $5000 loan. Approximately one month later he walked into another Bank One branch and this time he walked away with a new $10,000 loan. When Bank One approved Mr. Stonehouse for these two loans it was not for his good credit, but for the credit history of Robert Martin and Michael Leapley. Both individuals would soon realize that they have become victims to an ever growing crime epidemic know as Identity theft.
             Michael Stonehouse was unaware that Lakewood Police were investigating him for various crimes related to identity theft including racketeering, conspiracy and forgery. He was eventually arrested at another Bank One by Lakewood police officers. It was later determined that Stonehouse was involved with two other individuals in an elaborate identity theft crime ring working out of the metro Denver area. All three were employees of Equinox, a marketing company for health products. Out of their Denver office, they were able to retrieve personal information from the customer files of Equinox and eventually steal more than $87,000 in money and merchandise from unsuspecting victims.
             Identity theft occurs when an individual captures personal information about you and then uses it to commit fraud, steal your money, create new accounts or fraudulently charge items to your existing accounts. Identity theft occurs in varying degrees in countries around the world. In recent years it has become even more common in the United States and in our own communities. Although a large percentage of identity theft is committed by a family relative or friend of the victim, the crime is increasingly being committed by professionals who belong to nationwide and even international crime rings.
             Identity theft criminals utilize both high tech and low tech methods of obtaining pe
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