Woman faces identity theft allegations

Alan Mauldin

December 22, 2008 09:56 pm

— MOULTRIE — A Colquitt County woman who allegedly used a fraudulent identification for employment could have likely used the stolen Social Security number for years, but her credit card debt unraveled the scheme, a Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said.
Brenda Lizeth Perales, 23, 150 Railroad St., Berlin, was charged with identification fraud after the woman whose Social Security she used was alerted by hearing from credit card companies and notified police in her home town, said sheriff’s investigator Shawn Bostick.
“She started getting collection notices on credit cards,” Bostick said. “The purchases were made in South Georgia and she doesn’t know anything about them.”
Perales was using the woman’s name, Sonya Barientos, but in the past had been arrested by the Berlin Police Department under the name Perales, Bostick said.
The Social Security card was in Barientos’ birth parents’ name, and she had never used it, thus Perales was not at risk of discovery until she racked up the credit card debt, he said.
Perales had obtained a Georgia driver’s license using the valid Social Security number, and had also gained employment at BCT Cotton Gin using it, Bostick said.
“She indicated she bought it from a guy in Texas when she lived there some time ago,” he said. “She may have been able to use it a while.”
Perales could face additional charges in other jurisdictions, he said.
In a separate arrest, Juan Seranno Gonzalez, 46, 864 Colquitt Highway, Bainbridge, was charged with distribution of false identification documents.
Bostick said that identify fraud is one of the fastest-growing crimes local law enforcement is seeing.
The Federal Trade Commission estimates that as many as nine million Americans are victims of identity theft each year, with identities being used to rent a residence, set up utility and phone accounts or obtain credit cards.
Identity theft is normally discovered when the victim checks credit records or is contacted by a debt collector.
Additional information about identity theft is available at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/about-identity-theft.html.