BURGAW, NC (WECT) - Identity theft is a problem that can affect anyone from anywhere, and now, one family in the small town of Burgaw says they are worried they may soon become victims of such fraud.
Jon and Kristine Schleier's say it's a recent post office incident has them worried about their family's security, and they say that getting answers will be harder than they thought.
Jon works a very physical job laying concrete, and he says he earns every dollar the hard way. He says Kristine went to pick up his W-2s, when she noticed that his social security number had been exposed.
They say they've called their bank, but WECT went to local law enforcement.
"It is a little suspicious," said Detective Brennan Regner. "I would definitely look into it."
Still, Regner says there's little that police can do. "They'll initially do a report with us, then, we'll tell them to talk to the postal inspector," he said.
The NC branch of the US Postal Service said that they have vigilant workers who report any and all damages to inspection services. A spokesperson with the Postal Service told WECT that in order to process mail as quickly as possible, a few damages must have been the result.
However, the Schleiers insist that somewhere along the way, damage isn't all that happened.
"It was a very clean, obvious cut, and none of the other mail was damaged," said Jon. "We had a packet of coupons that were completely fine."
WECT also contacted Reggie Dematteis, the resident agent in charge of the local Secret Service.
He listed a few tips regarding identity theft.
One thing he said is that people really need to be more proactive with protecting their identity. Often, people don't know they're a victim of identity theft until the Secret Service gives them a phone call.
Dematteis also advised:
- When checking your credit card transaction statements, look at each individual transaction. Don't overlook anything.
- Before throwing out unwanted mail, shred it.
- If you can afford it, check your credit report more than once a year.
- Protect yourself on social media sites. Don't list private information like your address, date of birth, maiden name or school.
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