Archive for December, 2016

“Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, joined by Ozark Police Chief Marlos Walker and Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office representatives, announced the arrests of two individuals for their role in an apparent multi-state debit card skimming scheme that bilked unsuspecting victims in Alabama and surrounding states of thousands of dollars.

On Dec. 21, Reiner Perez Rives, 34, and Eunises Llorca Meneses, 30, both of the Orlando, Florida area, were apprehended by deputies of the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office and investigators of the Attorney General’s Office.

Rives and Meneses face charges from the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office for trafficking in stolen identities, identity theft and an illegally obtained or an illegally possessed credit card.

Rives also awaits 15 counts of identity theft to be served by the Ozark Police Department. Additional charges may be filed in both jurisdictions and in surrounding states pending further review of recovered evidence and the identification of other victims.

On Dec. 13, the Ozark Police Department contacted investigators of the Alabama Attorney General’s Office seeking assistance in solving approximately eight identity theft cases that had occurred within two days.

Investigators traced five of the thefts to a local gas station where a skimming device wrapped in electrical tape was bundled with wires inside a gas pump. The two suspects were later identified after one of the victim’s debit cards was traced to an unauthorized purchase at a Bristol, Virginia, gas station.

A surveillance video of the suspect’s license plate revealed a rental car linked to Rives. Attorney General investigators, working with the Ozark Police Department, tracked Rives and Meneses to Texas.

The suspects were apprehended as they traveled back through Alabama by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office which was alerted by the Attorney General’s Office.

The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office and agents of the Attorney General’s Office seized from the suspects $6,490 in cash, 39 stolen debit card numbers with PINs and an additional 315 gift cards with an undetermined amount of personal information. Rives and Meneses are currently being held in the Baldwin County jail.”

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“There are few things in life sweeter than alighting at the airport, scanning the grim-faced travelers in the regular TSA line — doffing shoes, belts and light jackets, yanking laptops out of suitcases — and then skipping past them to the expedited TSA PreCheck line. No elaborate undressing or unpacking rituals in PreCheck. A swift pass through a metal detector, and you’re at the gate in plenty of time for the flight.

Even so, millions of Americans haven’t applied for PreCheck. Why not? The usual lame excuses: Procrastination. No time to fill out the forms. Where’s the processing center again? And that $85 fee.

Now a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign study suggests a new way to coax more people to sign up for expedited security screening: Waive the $85 fee. Make it free for frequent fliers (an average of 12 screenings or six round-trips a year).

That would save the government $34 million a year, according to the study by U. of I. computer science professor Sheldon Jacobson, along with graduate students Arash Khatibi and Ge Yu.”

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“I’ve got an admission to make: I am kind of addicted to self-improvement. I’m not sure when this phenomenon started, but it turns out that I am not the only one – it’s a $10 billion per year business.

But what I am really obsessed with is making myself a better investigator, mostly because after 15 years in this business I have realized that there are no books or courses that actually teach what I do (which is why I made one—details to follow).

And because of technology and the changing landscape of the business, what I do today is almost entirely different from what I was doing 10 years ago.

So how do you keep up your skills and bring them to the next level?

1. Follow blogs.

Of course there is Pursuit Magazine, and there are dozens of other blogs out there worth reading, but PI Buzz, PINow.com, The Ethical Investigator, Guns, Gams & Gumshoes and Private Eye Confidential are at the top of my list.

2. Read books.

3. Write.

Whether you write novels or articles about your investigative methods, writing helps you synthesize your thoughts and provide more clarity.”

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Every year, hundreds of volunteers and thousands of recipients convene at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center for the bureau, which provides assistance to those less fortunate during the holidays.

Other than some relatively minor medical emergencies – including women going into labor – there haven’t been any crises at the bureau, now in its 71st year.

“I feel blessed that we have not had any serious problems,” said Special Event Coordinator Judy Lee, with Catholic Charities Spokane.

Regardless, organizers provide training to volunteers on what to do in case of an emergency. And if anything does happen, they have a trusted security officer they know they can rely on.

Rashad Salah, 32, has worked the Christmas Bureau for several years. He says it’s one of his favorite jobs.

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