Identity theft case (Carol Anderson/Ryan)

[zack007attack]

Does anyone know if Rita Karla Faulkner has ever been caught? She seemed to be nothing but a terrible woman who feels toward others but greed.

[RobinW]

As far as I know, she was never caught, which is somewhat surprising, considering they had such a clear distinct mug shot of her and the nature of her crimes required her to be out in the open a lot. I don't feel bad saying this since she was such a terrible person, but she's definitely at the top of the list for ugliest females I've ever seen on UM!

I guess the bright side is that even when these con artists don't get caught, there's a good chance that appearing on UM does at least deter them from their activities. They might feel it's too risky to keep pulling their scams when there's a much larger chance they might be recognized from their exposure on national TV.

This case was particularly interesting because it was a bit ahead of its time. People are very aware of the dangers of identity theft today, but the concept wasn't as well-known back then.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by RobinW

As far as I know, she was never caught, which is somewhat surprising, considering they had such a clear distinct mug shot of her and the nature of her crimes required her to be out in the open a lot. I don't feel bad saying this since she was such a terrible person, but she's definitely at the top of the list for ugliest females I've ever seen on UM!

I guess the bright side is that even when these con artists don't get caught, there's a good chance that appearing on UM does at least deter them from their activities. They might feel it's too risky to keep pulling their scams when there's a much larger chance they might be recognized from their exposure on national TV.

This case was particularly interesting because it was a bit ahead of its time. People are very aware of the dangers of identity theft today, but the concept wasn't as well-known back then.

It's curious, those con-artist cases. Those guys always seemed to be either caught in a relatively short amount of time, or never found again. And it was always on a very counter-intuitive basis--"Bonnie Wilder" was never prosecuted (to my knowledge) for her Georgia crimes, while Jack Lutter was able to maintain a handful of marriages and families without ANY of his wives discovering his "other lives" for years!

[Kane]

Originally Posted by RobinW

I guess the bright side is that even when these con artists don't get caught, there's a good chance that appearing on UM does at least deter them from their activities. They might feel it's too risky to keep pulling their scams when there's a much larger chance they might be recognized from their exposure on national TV.

Good point. In addition, you might recall that the segment ended with Robert Stack giving some good safety tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft:

1) Never write your social security on personal checks.
2) Shred or burn old documents and credit cards.
3) If someone asks you to verify for your social security number by phone, hang up.

I follow those safety tips, especially the second one (since I have a paper shredder that shreds paper into very small pieces). Also, I remember at least one occasion when I followed the third safety tip, although it didn't involve a social security number, but another piece of sensitive information.

In fact, a person once called me claiming to be from TV Guide magazine (to which I am a subscriber) to solicit an offer. I was suspicious for two reasons: 1) TV Guide never contacts me by phone, and 2) the caller asked for my credit card number. I responded by refusing to give the caller my credit card number and hanging up the phone.

There was another incident in which someone called my office to solicit an offer. The man claimed to be calling from a company for which my office had a contract that allowed them to obtain supplies from that company free of charge. But this caller aroused my suspicion when he offered me something that cost around $500 (if I remember the price correctly). As soon as I mentioned the contract we had with the company in question, the line suddenly went dead. Coincidence? I don't think so. More than likely, I'd say he had realized that his attempt to deceive me had failed - very badly!

[1990 UM fan]

I watched this case today. I wonder if Rita is still pulling the same stunts? She'd be 71 now and possibly cashing in on social security benefits.

[SheRaaa]

Just saw this one for the first time...can't believe that Rita lady was never caught!

This is definitely one of those cases that makes you realize how much technology has changed things even since the 90s.

[lilmissd]

Yes, I have been the victim of identity theft myself to the tune of $3300, it happened this past May. I don't even know how this person(s) got my bank account #'s, as I never give them out to anyone! They lived clear across the country too. Anyway I can tell you you feel very angry and violated when it happens to you, the people who do this are greedy and selfish; they completely clean out your account and laugh all the way to the bank and get your hard earned cash! Obviously people with way too much time on their hands if all they do is spend all their time looking for ways to scam people and thinking up schemes to cheat hard working people out of their money!!

[zack007attack]

Update: according to UM's fandom/wiki website, Faulkner was eventually apprehended and spent time in prison but the full details regarding her capture/trial/release have yet to me made publically available. From doing a google search, I found out some interesting info regarding her life after prison, though. Here's a yelp link mentioning her business practices:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/villa-loma-apartments-carlsbad