NORWAY – Victims of identity theft can easily be thousands of dollars in the hole before they even know what hit them, according to Norway police officer Jim Ventresca.

And don’t say it can’t happen here.

Ventresca is currently investigating a case where somebody got hold of another person’s Social Security number, date of birth, address and telephone number and then applied for car loans and credit cards with the information.

“Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America. There’s 9.9 million victims each year and the number is growing by about one-half million per year,” Ventresca said. “Most victims don’t know they are being taken until the damage is done.”

Ventresca will be offering a free public seminar on identity theft from 6 to 8 p.m. March 30 at the town office.

He became more aware of the problem when he took an instruction course at a police academy. He chose to do his presentation on identity theft.

He said it is hard for small town police to deal with identity theft because they lack the resources available in cities. Investigators have to deal with multiple agencies in multiple states.

Also, he said Maine does not have an identity theft law.

He said many of the identity thieves will use computers in one state to make purchases in another state and have goods sent to yet another state.

“Investigating is easier when you have the victim do some legwork,” Ventresca said. “It’s easier for victims to deal with the credit agencies; police have to get subpoenas.”

He said a federal law – identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act – was enacted in 1998, but it’s not much help to the “smaller” fraud victim.

Ventresca said the federal investigators will not get involved unless the fraud reaches a significant amount or the thief takes advantage of multiple victims.

“If you discover someone has stolen your identity the first thing you want to do is contact the credit bureaus to put out a fraud alert,” Ventresca said.

He also advised contacting local police, who could direct a victim to credit bureaus he might not have thought of contacting.