NEVADA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM LICENSE BUREAU RECOVEREDreviewjournal.com -- News: MARCH BREAK-IN: Stolen DMV materials foundMARCH BREAK-IN: Stolen DMV materials found

Tip leads to rooftop stash of computer, license data

By OMAR SOFRADZIJA
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Acting on a tip, Las Vegas police found a computer containing data for 8,738 license and ID card holders, along with other license-making supplies, on the roof of this building under construction at 7285 S. Industrial Road. The materials were taken March 7 from a Department of Motor Vehicles office.
Photo by Craig L. Moran.

Personal data on thousands of Nevadans, missing since a brazen smash-and-grab at a state driver's license bureau in March, reappeared just as suddenly this week in neatly packed boxes atop a Las Vegas building.

Acting on a tip, Las Vegas police Wednesday morning found a computer containing data for 8,738 license and ID card holders, along with other license-making tools and supplies, on the roof of a building under construction at 7285 S. Industrial Road, near Warm Springs Road.

The booty, which included 1,700 blank licenses and laminated covers, a digital license camera and a printer, was taken March 7 from a Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles bureau at 4110 Donovan Way, near Interstate 15 and Craig Road.

Burglars rammed a truck through a ceiling-to-floor window to pull off what was the largest identity theft in the motor vehicles department's history.

No arrests had been made in the case as of Thursday afternoon in the ongoing investigation. Exactly how the equipment ended up on the rooftop remained a mystery, though authorities had their theories.

"It was apparently all neatly boxed up and complete," said Kevin Malone, a spokesman for the motor vehicles department. "Probably what happened, after the theft there was so much publicity, the things were too hot to touch. It was too hot to do anything with it."

Tim Bedwell, a spokesman for North Las Vegas police, which investigated the initial break-in, agrees. "There was such a massive outpouring of press, if I had the stuff, I would have dumped it," he said.

An unspecified tip led police to the building.

"This didn't magically fall out of the sky. There were two events that happened: a break-in and a tip," Paul Masto, assistant special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service's Las Vegas field office, said in a prepared statement.

"Between those two events was a lot of work that included search warrants, polygraph tests, interviews and stakeouts. That heated up the stolen goods until they were glowing red," said the statement from Masto, who also headed a regional identity theft task force assigned to look into the burglary.

Police are left to determine if burglars downloaded any data.

"We're at the point now where we've got it, and now we need to determine what evidence we can get from it, and whether any information was compromised from the computer and, if so, what information," Bedwell said.

It will take up to 10 days to determine if any data was accessed after the break-in.

"We'll send each victim a letter explaining the results of that examination," Malone said. "We won't know for at least another week."

Masto was unavailable for additional comment, and his office did not return a call Thursday afternoon. Las Vegas police, who made the actual computer find, referred questions to North Las Vegas police.

Bedwell would not say if police were close to making an arrest in the case.

"Let's give it some time to see what we can gather from the equipment," he said.

Added Malone: "It looks like there are some pretty good leads."

Until police can determine whether data was taken from the computer, people who received licenses or IDs from the Donovan bureau between Nov. 25 and March 4 are still considered at risk for identity theft.

Data in the stolen computer included digital images of drivers' faces, physical descriptions, home addresses, Social Security numbers, license signatures and any other information typically found on a license or a state-issued ID card.

Originally, authorities had said no data was compromised before reversing that position four days after the break-in. That led to criticism of authorities, who were also accused of moving slowly to assist victims in the case.

Among those critics was Alexis Lamb, whose identity was among those stolen. Lamb said she has since been victimized by identity thieves who have used her Social Security number to access her credit report and run up hundreds of dollars in cellular phone bills.

She cannot conclusively link those incidents to the break-in, but she's suspicious.

"I haven't lost my wallet. I shred everything. I don't give my information out to anybody," she said. "I haven't had anything stolen from me except the information from the DMV. So I don't know who got my information.

"It's been a very expensive thing. Nobody's offered to give me a dime. Nobody's said, 'Here's a 37-cent stamp. Sorry for your luck.' "

Bedwell said he isn't aware of any reports of additional identity theft crimes related to the heist.

Victims should continue to be vigilant in monitoring their credit, he said, even if police eventually determine the computers were not tampered with.

"This doesn't really change anything for the people whose information was in that database," Bedwell said. "If we find out nobody's information was compromised, and none of us need to act, we still need to protect our identities from theft. It's the nation's fastest-growing crime."

Malone also suggested that victims retain security alert status on their credit reports, regardless of whether their data was compromised or not.

Authorities have cited a staggering list of transactions that can be performed if stolen personal data is mated to blank licenses, including opening and emptying bank accounts, cashing bad checks, buying homes and cars, opening lines of credit, purchasing plane tickets and passing security checkpoints.

The consequence could ruin the financial lives of those involved, who risk having bank accounts drained and credit ratings ruined. Each year, more than 5,000 people in Southern Nevada and 27 million people nationwide are victims of identity theft.

State officials said they have changed procedures to protect driver data. The hard drives of license-making computer equipment are now wiped clean on a nightly basis, and equipment is stored in different parts of bureaus in hopes of eluding burglars.

In the Donovan break-in, thieves apparently went straight for areas where the equipment was stored and did not appear to have to search the facility.

Malone said, "We're doing what we can to ensure it won't happen again."