May 2, 2008

Two charged with ID theft

Men accused of stealing credit card, purchasing $150,000 in items

By Michael Manekin / Bay Area News Group

Two San Francisco men accused of stealing a credit card from the mailbox of a Woodside resident to purchase more than $150,000 in high-end retail goods were arrested Tuesday by San Mateo County sheriff's deputies.

Andrew Kluchnikov, 48, and Michael Tsarevsky, 34, have been charged with identity theft. Kluchnikov also is charged with commercial burglary, theft and possession of a false credit card.

"In less than two weeks, they spent over $150,000 purchasing high-end electronics like laptops, computers, iPods and other items that they could sell very quickly," Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Marc Alcantara said.

"The card had a high-end credit limit ... you can imagine in Woodside," Alcantara said.

The two suspects made the fraudulent purchases during the final two weeks of February, police said.

Once the victim reported the identity theft, sheriff's office investigators assigned to a unit specializing in identity theft - the regional Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team, or REACT - began a two-month investigation.

Every month the sheriff's office receives at least one report of identity theft, often the result of thieves targeting mailboxes.

"We have affluent rural areas in the county that are ripe for these opportunists," Alcantara said. "In Woodside and Portola Valley, these areas are often rural, and homes have mailboxes that are far away from the house itself."

The sheriff's office recommends that homeowners in such areas purchase locking mailboxes to prevent identity theft.