The thing that sucks about this in general (way beyond all the hardship you've endured, and believe me I've been through it a few times as well!) - is that little fukerz like that really ruin it for the honest kids who are truly trying to raise money for their organization or a chance to do something to better their lives. It gets to a point where you begin to distrust anyone who is in your space unless they're co-workers or people you know. I've actually had clients steal crap from my studio before!

(yeah, you can bet they "paid" for it one way or another when the invoice was due!)
Sad commentary on our culture. Identity theft is rampant right now and the easiest crime to pull off and totally get away with!
According to the major credit bureaus, most retailers, banks and creditors won't try to hunt-down and prosecute credit card theft until it's over a minimum of $10K - and that number is increasing every year because of the number of cases is rising. Many wait until the theft is $20K or more, and the theives know this. They can buy up tons of crap for under $10K on your credit cards, turn around and sell it online and pocket the money. In the mean time, our intrest rates rise because we have to offset the loss the CC companies endure from the theft - not to mention the hassle of watchdogging all of your accounts!
Oh - the same goes for checking accounts. I've had people do that twice to my account over the years (both personal and business accounts). All you need is a routing number and a checking account number from anyone, and you can print up your own checks on your inkjet printer and go all over town writing bad checks. If its on someone's legit bank account - regardless of the name on the check, it won't pop up on the Chex system until its reported. You can write a lot of bad checks in a few days with a fake ID!
Damn! If I wanted to be a freakin' crook, I could make a ton o' cash in short time! Why is it that the bastards get away with it???!!!
