While thieves are still getting information that way, new research indicates the majority of ID theft cases involve private data stolen on the job by employees.

In this KOMO 4 Consumer investigation, convicted identity thieves who operated in the Puget Sound area, reveal first-hand, the secrets of ID Theft Insiders.

For example:

• A state driver's license worker was sentenced this month, for stealing and selling private information.

• An HR worker at Starbucks was indicted in April, accused of stealing employee identities and selling them for $150 a pop -- a total of $1.5 million in bank fraud.

• A health technician at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance was convicted in August 2004 after pleading guilty to stealing a patient's identification and racking up thousands of dollars of credit card debt in the dying patient's name.

Here are more examples: In January of this year, an Army specialist from Fort Lewis was charged with identity theft against fellow soldiers. Police in California say he may have taken the personal information while he was working at Madigan Army Medical Center.

Last November, a former Washington National Air Guard clerk was indicted by a federal grand jury in Seattle for using the names and Social Security numbers of former and current military personnel.

In August, a man was sentenced for stealing and selling information on the dependants of individual taxpayers while working for the Internal Revenue Service.

While you guard your mail and shred sensitive material at home to protect your identity, trusted insiders are stealing personal profiles for profit.

'We all had the same link back to this hospital.'

"I just couldn't believe it had happened to me," said Guy Rosbrook, whose identity was stolen in late January.

A thief hit his bank account for $9,000 in January. Rosbrook said in dealing with police, he learned the suspect had stolen from several other victims in different parts of the Puget Sound region.

"A group of us had been victims of a very similar crime committed the same way," he explained. "And we all had a same link back to this hospital."

Police arrested a man they suspect had inside information.

New research shows identity thieves are moving from the streets to the workplace.

'I worked at a Private Mailbox Company'

In what police tell me are rare television interviews - two convicted identity thieves agreed to share insider secrets of a crime they say is almost always driven by drugs -- primarily methamphetamine.

Ironically, they asked us to shield their identities to protect their employers and avoid retaliation.

"There was (sic) a couple of people that I associated with that worked for banks," said "James". (We're not using his real name.) He did time in federal prison and just completed home detention 6 months ago.

He says drug users easily recognize when they, or someone they associate with, are in a position that gives them access to people's personal information. People who have access to banks are high on the list. Part of our conversation went as follows:

Connie: "So you would go into a bank?"
James: "Right."
Connie: "With a fraudulent check?"
James "Correct."
Connie: "Using someone else's ID?
James "Correct."
Connie: "But you knew the teller to go to?"
James: "Absolutely."

He says the teller cohort treats it like a normal transaction and thieves know the maximum amount to stay under the radar. The tellers are paid in either cash or drugs, to cash bad checks and steal customer information.

"Later in the day when they got off their shift, you'd give them their cut," he said.

"Isaac", also a fictitious name, has been convicted and sentenced for identity theft twice. He was released from a federal prison in California 8 months ago.

He told me one of the jobs he had while he was using drugs was at a private mailbox company. When he was stealing, he says no one noticed a thing.

"Got a lot of information there," he said. "I was the one handling the mail."

He told me he would hold back certain mail, such as bank and credit card statements. He said he was ultimately terminated from the job but it was because of his methamphetamine use, not the theft.

Isaac said he also worked for a time at a local pizza delivery service.

"At the end of the night when all the drivers would come in and cash out their tills, I would actually take pictures of all the personal checks that were written. So I would have their drivers license number and their check information,",he said referring to the pizza customers.

Between 51% and 70% of ID Thefts are Inside Jobs

Judith Collins, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized identity theft expert. She's an Associate Professor at Michigan State University's School of Criminal Justice, where she directs the Identity Theft and Crime Research Lab.

Her fourth and latest book "Prevent Identity Theft in Your Business" targets employers.

"We now do know, that between 51 and 70 percent of the identities are inside jobs," she said.

Dr. Collins analyzed more than a thousand police reports from across the country. Her findings, which profile identity theft predators, support other studies by the federal government.

"The majority of identity thefts in our research and nationwide occur first and foremost in financial institutions and secondly in health care institutions," she said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Barbosa estimates at least 50% of the ID theft cases he investigates involve sensitive personal information that came from inside the workplace.

"We saw it in this case," he said, referring to a nearly 2 year investigation wrapped up last April. "We saw a lot of insider documents that clearly came from inside a bank."

Barbosa just helped nail 11 identity thieves who stole names and account information from more than 200 people and drained nearly a million dollars from local banks by opening up credit card account in the victims' names.

"They find somebody who's willing to give the information up and they offer them a certain amount of money per profile," he said.

'These are people who don't have a criminal history.'

Convicted ID thieves James and Isaac call it honor among thieves. He says fellow drug users gain each other's trust and share information, as well as their addiction. And when meth is involved, they'll do anything to get the drug.

"Whether they worked for a phone company, whether they worked at a hospital, whether they worked as plumbers or pizza delivery men," James said.

"These are employees who've been hired," said Isaac. "And these are people that don't have a criminal history."

How Can You Protect Yourself?

By its very nature, theft by employees is an historical and difficult problem for all industries. Both former thieves who talked with us say it's virtually impossible for employers to control every workplace situation where your personal information is accessible.

Businesses I talked to tell me their counter-attacks include surveillance, internal audits, even anonymous hotlines for workers to blow the whistle on each other.

The Washington Bankers Association says banks in particular, are addressing other ways to improve internal security.

James and Isaac say consumers should continue to do their part:

• Use shredders that cut paper into confetti, not just strips.
• Pay cash instead of checks for take out and home food deliveries.
• Go over your monthly financial statements carefully , as soon as you get them and look for irregularities- and contact your bank immediately if your statements do not arrive when they should.

They say regardless of where you live, if you don't have a locking mailbox, it's only a matter of time until thieves target your mail.

But police, consumer experts and especially the crooks, say too many businesses are still making it easy for dishonest workers to walk off with your private personal data because of casual employee screening, careless handling of records and the over-use of your Social Security number.

Even employees are concerned. One local department store worker recently contacted me about the common practice of offering a 10 percent savings if you open a store credit card account on the spot. He says the customer information is taken in public view and earshot, and the clerks often repeat the information on the phone when they call for authorization. He further complains about haphazard handling of the applications at the cash register.

Identity thieves say consumers, patients and employee should be more vocal about businesses protecting their information. The thieves say as long as employers make it easy, insiders will steal your ID.

For More Information:

www.consumer.gov/idtheft