FLORIDA COMPUTERS STOLEN Computer Thefts Could Jeopardize IDs - News Story - WFTV Orlando:


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Computer Thefts Could Jeopardize IDs

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. -- Dozens of families in Volusia County had their personal information stolen in an unusual way. Crooks broke into a computer repair shop in Orange City on Wednesday morning. The store's owner isn't sure people's computers are even covered by his insurance.

Jonathan Lauer's been in the computer business for 12 years, but in one night and about 12 minutes his business, Instant IT, was destroyed.

"We come in today and pretty much everything on the bench, laptops are missing," he said.

At least 30 laptops and other merchandise totaling $50,000 was ripped from the shelves. There are four cameras in the store, but the crooks knew exactly where to go to make the cameras worthless.

"They took the hard drive out with all the video surveillance on it, left everything else," Lauer said.

The computers were there for repair, many contained family photos, tax returns and other personal information. Wanda Wilson was having her small business laptop re-keyed.

"I'm in shock, this is just a real shock," she said.

It gets worse. Instant IT might not have theft insurance.

"Now that I have a problem," Lauer said. "We're supposedly covered for theft and they're telling us we're not."

Lauer's looking into a package deal where all of his customers can get a free credit check. He said he will do what he can to help his loyal customers, because he plans to make it at least another 12 years.

"I'm a customer. I'll be a customer from here on," Wilson said.

Eyewitness News did some checking and found several homeowner policies will cover personal laptop computers if the computer was in the repair shop at the time of the theft.