FOREST LAKE, Minn. - Meetings at the library aren't usually sell outs but on Thursday night in Forest lake, the line went out the door to get in.
That's because folks are concerned and they wanted to hear from police about what is being done to investigate a recent rash of identity thefts.
Identity theft hit this community with a bang when ten women, who all live in the same neighborhood, most on the same street had their identities stolen in the last few weeks.
"Somewhere there is the same information maybe tax information, mortgages, hopefully we will find out but we don't know right now," Forest Lake Police Detective Darren McDonald said Thursday night when asked how these women were all victims.
What they do know is the thieves got social security numbers and opened credit cards at big box retailers and went on a spending spree.
"Sam's Club, Wal Mart and Sam Club Personal Account," were just three of the credits taken out in Barb Stanley's name.
Barb said she started getting letters about accounts she wasn't active on when she began to get nervous.
"I called the company to learn three cards were opened in my name on the same day and they were all maxed-out," Stanley said.
The crooks, who detectives believe are working out of the cities of Chicago and Dallas used big box stores for credit because those cards are often the easiest to get without much of a background check.
So far they have spent 87 thousand dollars.
Detective McDonald said they have nearly ruled out mail thieves but still can't find the missing like that leads to how such a small area got hit so big.
"Maybe a database, just because the similarity of the victims and the locations in the neighborhood," Det. McDonald said.
The same suspects could be linked to similar crimes in Sun Prairie and Madison, Wisconsin.
The F.B.I is also looking into this case.
Police advised all of the people present to get a free credit report to check to see if they had been victimized as well.
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