2008 Woodie Awards
Identity theft seen on PSUC campus
Use of stolen cardinal cash cards bring charges
Megan Munroe
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: News
Originally published: 11/29/07 at 6:41 PM EST
Last update: 11/29/07 at 6:41 PM EST
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Think twice before you use the next Cardinal Card you find left in a dining hall booth to score some snacks out of a vending machine, or to treat your friends to free wings and sodas at WOW - you could find yourself in court, answering to misdemeanor charges of identity theft or larceny.
That's just the situation four Plattsburgh State students have unexpectedly found themselves in this semester, University Police investigator Seth Silver said.
"The way the law looks at it, that's a debit card. You put money on it, you can spend the money at different vendors so technically it's a debit card," he said. "If you portray yourself as another person by using their ID card or number, legally it falls under identity theft. This isn't just a joke or messing around, it's serious."
So serious, Silver said, that two students face charges of larceny, and another two face identity theft charges. All are misdemeanor charges and carry a maximum sentence of $1,000 fine and a year in jail.
Silver said he was unsure of what sentences the students, who were charged in separate incidents throughout the semester, can expect to receive.
"To say that a student would get that is a far shot - it's unlikely that they'd get sentenced to the maximum, but it could happen," he said. "Also it's something you have to explain to your future employer, so you have to worry about that down the road, too."
Silver said he was looking to educate people and get the word out about the seriousness of these crimes, not to give anyone a criminal record.
"It is what it is," he said. "Every case is treated differently, there are different circumstances. We're looking to do what we have to do by law."
Identity theft and larceny charges often go "hand-in-hand," Silver said, and were the students involved to have charged $500 or more without permission to another student's Cardinal Card, they would face felony larceny charges.
"The main point is, it's no different from a debit card," he said. "Whether you're buying your friends a large cheese pie at Bono's with someone else's Cardinal Cash, or you're going to JC Penney and charging purchases to a stolen credit card - it's the same principle."
Silver said there are personal safety tips on the University Police web site to help guard against identity theft, and he recommended ftc.gov, a comprehensive Web site covering all types of identity theft.
"I just want to get the word out," he said. "It's not just a joke."
That's just the situation four Plattsburgh State students have unexpectedly found themselves in this semester, University Police investigator Seth Silver said.
"The way the law looks at it, that's a debit card. You put money on it, you can spend the money at different vendors so technically it's a debit card," he said. "If you portray yourself as another person by using their ID card or number, legally it falls under identity theft. This isn't just a joke or messing around, it's serious."
So serious, Silver said, that two students face charges of larceny, and another two face identity theft charges. All are misdemeanor charges and carry a maximum sentence of $1,000 fine and a year in jail.
Silver said he was unsure of what sentences the students, who were charged in separate incidents throughout the semester, can expect to receive.
"To say that a student would get that is a far shot - it's unlikely that they'd get sentenced to the maximum, but it could happen," he said. "Also it's something you have to explain to your future employer, so you have to worry about that down the road, too."
Silver said he was looking to educate people and get the word out about the seriousness of these crimes, not to give anyone a criminal record.
"It is what it is," he said. "Every case is treated differently, there are different circumstances. We're looking to do what we have to do by law."
Identity theft and larceny charges often go "hand-in-hand," Silver said, and were the students involved to have charged $500 or more without permission to another student's Cardinal Card, they would face felony larceny charges.
"The main point is, it's no different from a debit card," he said. "Whether you're buying your friends a large cheese pie at Bono's with someone else's Cardinal Cash, or you're going to JC Penney and charging purchases to a stolen credit card - it's the same principle."
Silver said there are personal safety tips on the University Police web site to help guard against identity theft, and he recommended ftc.gov, a comprehensive Web site covering all types of identity theft.
"I just want to get the word out," he said. "It's not just a joke."
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