Experts are warning people not to use their vehicles as a storage locker.
Some may think they are careful protecting personal information, but Local 10 News Investigator Jeff Weinsier made a startling discovery in a bizarre place that could put anyone’s identity at risk without realizing.
Inside a South Florida junkyard, Weinsier found bank statements, retirement statements, insurance statements, all with account numbers, one with a password and a PIN.
There were cancelled checks, paychecks, routing numbers, people’s addresses, their signatures, it was a gold mine of personal information.
At this junk yard, people can pay an entry fee and scan the lot, unsupervised, for parts they need off of the wrecked cars.
The inside of many of those cars were littered with personal documents.
In one of them, Paul Castillo’s driver’s license and an IRIS form with his social security number.
Weinsier visited Castillo to return his items.
“Wow, it’s incredible,” he said. “I didn’t expect it to be in the vehicle. I was involved in a car accident and at that moment, I was more worried about myself and the people who was involved in it and didn’t worry about what i had inside the vehicle.”
After being released from the hospital, Castillo was told his car was totaled. He claims he never saw it again.
“When I asked about the vehicle, I was told it went to auction,” he said. “It never crossed my mind that stuff was in the vehicle.”
Detective Marcos Rodriguez has been with the Miami-Dade Police Department for 26 years, with 20 of them spent working in economic crimes.
“With this, I can take out loans and take out credit cards, I can do all that,” he said. “This combination here is definitely an issue.
“These individuals that commit these type of frauds, they have days, hours, that’s all they do. That’s their job. I come here and do my job. That is their job.”
David Putman works for Lifelock, a company in the identify theft business. They monitor theft and threats to their customers accounts.
“What you showed me, what you are investigating, is a new one for me,” said Putman. “There is a whole ecosystem. Someone has to find the raw material, you found raw material, now you have to unload that raw material. Those items may be $50 to $100 on the dark web.”
There are no laws, rules or regulations that require a tow or insurance company, or an auction house or salvage company, to remove, destroy or return person items.
It’s basically up to the owner.
“All I keep in my vehicle is my registration and insurance card,” said Det. Rodriguez.
An assistant manager at the junkyard where Local 10 News found Castillo’s information said they do what they can to remove items, but there are so many cars its difficult to get to them all.
“I have seen, once you have become a victim of identity theft, you are basically a victim for life,” said Det. Rodriguez. “Because your information is out there.”
It a lesson that Castillo is thankful it didn’t cost him more to learn.
“No more information about me in the vehicle, for sure,” he said. “I’m really grateful to the lord it fell in great hands. It is a lesson learned.”
