Identity Theft, Could You Already Be A Victim?
A concern for many North Americans has now come to Costa Rica: Identity Theft.

Police are behind a group that is using false identification to make purchases at local appliance and electronics retail stores, leaving the real person with the debt. Unless a complaint is made to police and the store decides to absorb the loss, which is not legally bound to do so.

Such is the latest case of Rafael Barrantes, a professor, who went to the Magisterio Nacional store to buy a washing machine on credit. Barrantes was surprised to be told that the week earlier he had already made a purchase for more than ¢1 million colones (us$2.000), purchasing a flat screen television and stereo system, on credit.

Police say the impostor used a fake "cedula" - the main piece of identification in Costa Rica - with all of Barrantes' personal details, except for the picture which was of the impostor.

Along with the cedula, the impostor, produced a "constancia de salario"  and an "orden patronal" - verified proof of salary and employment -  all tied to the false cedula.

But the shopping spree didn't stop there. Another ¢800.000 colones (us$1.600) was spent (on credit) at the Artelec, on the best washing machine in the store. This time, however, the credit department at the store wasn't fooled and immediately called the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ). The impostor got away before police arrive, leaving the false documentation behind for the authorities.

Identity theft can happen to anyone, at any time and is not limited to only Costa Ricans. Foreign residents are also at risk. The theft of a "cedula de residencia" - residency cedula - can allow impostors to act in the name of the foreigner. An altered passport can be used to travel to the United States, Canada or Europe, for example.

In Costa Rica Identity theft can be simple, where the impostor has to simply obtain one piece of identification - the cedula in the case of Costa Ricans or  the residency cedula or passport for foreigners.

With the only one piece of identification, it then becomes easy to run a credit charge at an "importadora" - retail stores that specialize in appliances, electronics and home furnishings - without much of a fuss.

These retailers have a high margin built in to credit purchases that can earn them interest of up to 60% or more per year on even the simplest purchase like a rice cooker.

To steal someone's identity is easy and there is no need to go to great lengths. A thief doesn't have to scour the garbage dumpster, the information is closer than you may think, like a telephone bill, for example.

ICE - the local telephone company - prints the cedula number on each telephone bill that it then leaves on your lawn during their monthly delivery.

With the number, anyone can now make line at the Registro Civil, and few colones for the "timbres" (stamps), anyone can then obtain all the required information to falsify a cedula. Replacing the picture on the falsified document completes the process and now the impostor is armed and ready to go shopping.

Police can charge the person stealing the identity with fraud or deception, however, unlike in the U.S. and Canada and many European countries, there is no current legislation in Costa Rica that protects consumer rights in the case of  identity theft or restricting access to personal information.

The credit departments at the retailers do not have the mechanism to check if the identification is real or false, and rely simply on the cleverness of the credit personnel.

In the case of Barrantes, the good people at Magisterio have decided to absorb the loss and not force Don Rafael to pay and are beefing up their credit policies not to become a victim again.