Fraud and Identity Theft Lawyer in Scottsdale, AZ

Scottsdale writes its reporting process down. The police department's identity theft page asks anyone who thinks their information was misused to fill out an affidavit, a victim's packet and a victim information packet and email or mail them in, and it links to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, the Secret Service and the Federal Trade Commission. The packet is addressed to the department's Financial Crimes Unit on East Via Linda.

Its instructions shape the accusation. The reporting person is asked to send the packet only if they want the case prosecuted and is told that court testimony will most likely be needed once a suspect is arrested. Transactions get circled or underlined on the statements, which come with full account numbers, purchase and shipping addresses, and the phone numbers involved. The affidavit asks whether they know who used the information, whether they will help prosecute and whether they authorize release to law enforcement. With no identifiable suspect, the packet says, the case goes inactive unless further leads develop.

So a Scottsdale case usually begins with one person's marked-up statements and their belief about who did it. Shipping addresses and phone numbers bridge a transaction to a name, and those are the links we test against shared phone plans, shared homes and devices several people could use.

The packet also refers certain problems to federal agencies: mail theft and false address changes to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, misuse of a Social Security number for work to the Social Security Administration, and false tax returns to the IRS.

Devices often come next. The ANAB-accredited Digital Forensics Unit lists financial fraud among the investigations it supports, and its electronics detection K9 is trained to find hidden phones, USB drives and SD cards during search warrants.

Most charges here are felonies. A.R.S. 13-2008 makes it a class 4 felony to knowingly use or possess another person's or entity's identifying information without consent, intending an unlawful purpose or a loss, even if no one lost money. Under A.R.S. 13-2009, the offense is aggravated, class 3, when it involves the information of three or more people or entities or causes someone a loss of $1,000 or more, and possessing three or more people's information outside the ordinary course of business can support an inference of an unlawful purpose. Forgery under A.R.S. 13-2002 requires intent to defraud, covers presenting a forged instrument even if it is refused, and is generally a class 4 felony; five or more forged instruments allow an inference of intent to defraud.

Card cases are counted their own way. For fraudulent use of a credit card, A.R.S. 13-2105 totals everything obtained or attempted in any consecutive six-month period, and only a total under $250 stays a class 1 misdemeanor. A misdemeanor count like that from a Scottsdale Police report can be prosecuted by the City Attorney at Scottsdale City Court on 75th Street.

Felonies take the county route. Scottsdale's prosecution page leaves state felonies to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and, in some cases, the Arizona Attorney General's Office, often when conduct spilled across county lines or state investigators built the case. We handle these matters whichever office brought the charge. Superior Court hears them downtown, in the Central Court Building at 201 W. Jefferson St. or the South Court Tower at 175 W. Madison St. Confirm the building on your current notice.

Bounced checks have a county program of their own. Under the County Attorney's Check Enforcement Program, a merchant sends a demand for payment, then submits the check, and the office acts if the evidence shows a crime, possibly by summoning the writer to criminal court or seeking a warrant. The program sits under the office's Diversion Programs heading.

Federal identity charges add a feature Arizona's lack. Under 18 U.S.C. 1028A(a)(1), someone who knowingly uses another's means of identification, without lawful authority, while committing one of the federal felonies the statute lists receives two more years of prison on top of that felony's sentence, with no probation on that count and, generally, no overlap with other terms. Nova Law Group appears in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. Fraud, forgery and identity theft convictions raise questions of trust with employers who handle money, health records or customer data. A felony conviction makes a person a prohibited possessor under A.R.S. 13-3101 until firearm rights are restored, and A.R.S. 13-603(C) requires restitution of the full economic loss the court finds. A computer tampering conviction adds forfeiture under A.R.S. 13-2316(C) of a computer or phone the person owned or used exclusively and used in the offense. Anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should get immigration advice before a plea.