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LEHI — A Lehi woman is warning others after her bank account was cleaned out by an identity thief who impersonated her at several Utah County banks. The thief hit up a handful of Altabank branches this week, withdrawing more than $12,000 in cash.
Moneka Pace is what you'd call cautious — well, in her words, paranoid.
"I'm so paranoid about it. I hate to be obsessive, but that's kind of where it's driven me," she said, sitting at her kitchen table with her laptop in front of her Thursday evening.
She finds herself constantly logging into her bank account to check the transactions and balance, after $12,200 disappeared from her savings account on Tuesday.
Pace found out that someone impersonated her at the drive-thrus at the Altabank branches in Lehi, American Fork and Pleasant Grove. The female fraudster was finally stopped at the Altabank in Alpine.
"I was surprised at how easy … how easily it was done," Pace said.
Especially because she'd already taken every step to prevent this from happening, after what happened to her last year.
Ten months ago, Pace's car was broken into and a burglar stole her purse before draining her health savings account by purchasing gift cards at pharmacies. Pace wasn't the only victim. Police told her at the time it was part of a multi-county smash-and-grab ring.
She canceled all of her cards and registered her ID as stolen with the DMV, which reissued her a new driver's license.
"I thought it was done and over with," Pace explained. "I'm going, 'Really, did this just happen again? Am I really doing this all over again?'"
I thought it was done and over with. I'm going, 'Really, did this just happen again? Am I really doing this all over again?
–Moneka Pace
She's back in the same spot, nearly a year later.
"They had been using my stolen ID and my stolen debit card, which both had been canceled and reported stolen," Pace said.
Altabank explains that identity thieves in cases like this one are growing more sophisticated in their tactics. Chief Marketing Officer Stan Sorensen said these people typically do their homework by researching the person they're impersonating as much as possible.
Whoever posed as Pace at the four drive-thrus Tuesday, Sorensen indicated, knew enough about Pace to pass as her and withdraw anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 at three of the locations.
"She was able to convince a couple of our tellers that she really was the person whose ID she presented," he said.
At the thief's fourth stop, in Alpine, Sorensen said an experienced bank teller knew something wasn't adding up.
"She actually said to the suspect, 'You're going to need to come inside so that we can finish this transaction,'" Sorensen said. "And that was enough to scare this suspect away."
Each branch called police in the respective cities and filed reports.
Sorensen said Pace did everything right after her bank card was stolen, including calling the bank right away, putting a watch on the account, canceling the card and requesting a replacement. He said the bank offers additional safety checks for customers, including requiring a passphrase that only the bank and customer know.
It's important to frequently check bank account balances and transactions, Sorenson explained, and keep an eye out for anything strange.
Altabank is replacing the money, which means the bank is out that $12,200 instead of Pace.
While Pace is relieved to be receiving her funds back, she's sharing a message to help protect others: You can never be too paranoid when it comes to your money and your identity.
"Just put all your measures in place," she said. "They could still have your information and be out to do more harm."
