There's Credit Card Fraud and Then There's Credit Card Fraud

Criminals have to have endless reserves of chutzpah, but this case of identity theft is rather incredible. Michael Guerrier of Queens had used the identity of an Upper West Side man to get credit cards and made a couple small purchases over a few months, which went undetected. Then he moved in for the kill by trying to buy a $600,000 house under the stolen identity! Guerrier created a fake driver's license, met with real estate agents, and got approved for a home loan to buy a Bushwick residence. In the meantime, the victim was trying to figure out what the odd purchases on his card were, only to be "floored to learn he was approved for a home loan." The Post reports that it took the police about 30 days to figure out Guerrier was behind the scam after the victim reported it.

How Guerrier managed to get enough information about the victim isn't elaborated on - like, did he get the information from the garbage? Here is the FTC on how to protect yourself from credit fraud.