WORCESTER, Mass., Aug. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- An Auburn man, who was formerly
employed by Sovereign Bank, in Worcester, was sentenced on Friday, August 12,
2005, for his role in a scheme that involved selling the personal identity
information of bank customers that allowed others to gain access to the
customers' funds.
    United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Peter Zegarac, Acting
Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Gary J. Gemme,
Chief of the Worcester Police Department, announced that DUYKHOA NGUYEN, age
29, of Auburn, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to 9
months in prison and ordered to pay $185,000 in restitution to the bank for
his role in a conspiracy to defraud Sovereign Bank.  NGUYEN pleaded guilty on
February 12, 2004 to one count of conspiracy and one count of bank fraud.
    At the earlier plea hearing the prosecutor told the Court that, had the
case proceeded to trial, the Government would have proven that NGUYEN, a
Senior Personal Banking Representative at Sovereign Bank in Worcester, agreed
to sell to another individual, customer account information, including: names,
account numbers, and dates of birth.  After NGUYEN passed the account
information along, others obtained fraudulent identification documents in the
names of the Sovereign customers.  Subsequently, at Sovereign branches in
Connecticut and Rhode Island, imposters used the fraudulent identification
documents to withdraw approximately $185,000 from several Sovereign customers'
accounts.  In exchange, NGUYEN received 10% of the money taken from the
accounts.
    "Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States
with upwards of 700,000 victims per year, according to some estimates,"
commented U.S. Attorney Sullivan.  "The U.S. Attorney's Office will continue
to partner with state and local police departments to protect our citizens
from this type of fraud."

    If you are a victim of Identity Theft
    The U.S. Department of Justice advises that if you become a victim of
identity theft, you should take three immediate steps:
    * First:  Contact your bank or credit card company if you have had your
      checks or credit cards stolen or wrongfully obtained.
    * Second: Report the matter to your local police.  Police authorities
      often will take police reports even if the crime ultimately may be
      investigated by another law enforcement agency.  In addition, a
      creditor who mistakenly believes that you are the person responsible
      for a fraudulent transaction may want to see a copy of a police report
      before correcting your credit account or credit report.
    * Third:  Report your identity theft case immediately to the appropriate
      government and private-sector organizations listed below.  Agencies
      such as these are compiling information on identity theft to identify
      theft trends and patterns, and using the information to assist law
      enforcement agencies in possible investigations.


    Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Hotline: Contact the FTC for
further information on identity theft or to report a case of identity theft.
(Toll free) 877-438-4338 or http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft
    Credit Reporting Agencies:  Place fraud alerts on your credit reports by
contacting credit bureaus.

     Equifax: (800) 525-6285 or http://www.equifax.com
     Experian: (800) 397-3742 or http://www.experian.com
     TransUnion:  (800) 916-8800 or http://www.transunion.com

    The investigation was conducted by U.S. Postal Inspection Service's
Identity Theft/Financial Crimes Task Force and the Worcester Police
Department, with the assistance of the Auburn Police Department.  It was
prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John M. Hodgens, Jr., Chief of
Sullivan's Worcester Office.

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