Audrey Jean Callas of Houston drove to the post office on June 21 to mail two checks to pay her bills. She dropped them in a large mailbox outside the postal building.
From there, the checks vanished — and Callas had no idea what became of them until Houston police contacted her several weeks ago to report her checks had been found in the hands of criminals running a large identity theft ring that has victimized 457 people and 83 businesses scattered across 25 states.
“After the policeman called me, I went to the bank and closed out my account that I had there for over 40 years,” Callas said. “It’s just been a headache.”
Houston police have arrested five people so far on allegations of taking part in the theft ring. Authorities expect to make many more arrests before their investigation is over.
“They should be sent away for a long time,” Callas said.
The scheme operated by stealing people’s personal checks, then looking up their driver’s license numbers in an online database. Theft ring participants would then use high-quality fake Texas driver’s licenses featuring their pictures matched with the victims’ identifying information to buy things with counterfeit checks.

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