COVINGTON, Ky. — A Taylor Mill man is facing more than a dozen charges in connection to an identity theft investigation so significant it's one of the largest Kenton County Police Chief Spike Jones has seen in his career.
Multiple Northern Kentucky law enforcement agencies served search warrants and aided in the arrest of John Sharp, 34, at his home last week. Officers launched a local investigation after a Florida sheriff's office contacted Kenton County about a man who complained of multiple unauthorized accounts opened in his name in Kentucky when he had never been to the state, Jones said.
"(He had) been producing false IDs, creating false statements, bank information and so forth and actually stole this person's ID in Florida," Jones said.
Investigators found Sharp had backed up victims' data to an email account. Court documents say a review of the photographs and videos contained within the account found that Sharp "knowingly possessed and used the identity of others without their consent to obtain benefits and property to make financial and credit transactions. Mr. Sharp used these identities to directly access various computer networks (i.e. financial institution sites, auto insurance sites, etc.) to obtain money, property and services (Altafiber, Value City Furniture, Progressive, etc.) for himself by fraudulent means."
Sharp was able to commit the alleged fraud by utilizing equipment to manufacture fake driver's licenses from various states including California, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Utah with his photograph and varying identities between his own name, falsified names or stolen identities of three different people, court documents read.
He is also accused of selling and providing forged documents to individuals using active driver's license numbers for different people and possessing photographs of master lists with at least 53 identities including names, dates of birth, social security numbers and addresses.
"I think for any police department, this is a significant case. I mean, we have potentially 54 victims," Jones said.
Investigators discovered Sharp created and operated an online company to fraudulently offer services to repair credit and build an individual's Credit Privacy Number (CPN).
"Our position is that was his intent all along — was to pull people in thinking that they're improving their financial well-being when, in fact, they're handing their hard-earned money over to a crook," Jones said.
Dave Hatter, a cyber security consultant with Cincinnati-based Intruist IT, said the chance of anyone falling victim to fraud at least once in their lifetime is a growing threat. Risks can lurk anywhere online, whether from individual online predators or through global data leaks.
"I think it's a huge problem. I think it's only going to grow as more of these leaks happen and more of this sensitive information that makes it easy for someone to impersonate you gets out in the public," Hatter said.
While no one can be impervious to data breaches, there are ways to defend against threats.
"The best thing you can do is to be aware," he said. "Your data has intrinsic value. You can go online and see what folks will pay on the dark web for certain types of data but your money certainly has value. So if I can get enough information about you, whether it's through a data breach or I can impersonate you from information in your Facebook account or LinkedIn account, I can go set up accounts — take out credit, potentially get insurance benefits as you — and you're on the hook for that until you can prove it wasn't you."
Hatter said his top suggestion is investing in certified identity theft protection services like LifeLock. While it will cost you upfront, it will save you even more money and headaches in the event you do fall victim.
"A lot of the things they're doing for you, you can do on your own but they're doing it at a scale with algorithms and software and they also have experts and attorneys on staff," he said. "Usually the most difficult thing is unwinding the damage done and having access to the resources from a reputable company that has attorneys can go a long way."
Jones has his own advice. He recommends checking for card skimmers at gas pumps. The illegal devices can go unnoticed if you're not looking for them.
"Those are the kinds of things to keep in the back of your head," he said. "It's sad that we have to do that, that we have to be that vigilant with our personal information but it's a fact of life that I don't think is going anywhere for a long time."
Sharp is currently charged with 16 counts between two cases connected to the investigation. One charge is for drug possession after Kenton County police allegedly found methamphetamine while searching Sharp's home.
Jones said Sharp could face more charges as investigators look into other possible victims. Jones asks that you reach out to his department if you believe you may have been victimized by Sharp.
"We certainly would like to tie more cases to Mr. Sharp if he has, in fact, been engaged in this activity with other victims," he said.
Sharp was scheduled for his preliminary hearing at the Kenton County Justice Center Tuesday but the judge continued his case to Wednesday. The courtroom bailiff announced there was "no record of a John Sharp" in the jail and did not have Sharp ready for his appearance. The Kenton County Detention Center does list Sharp as a current inmate.
Sharp is being held on a $52,500 cash bond.
