ST. GEORGE — A St. George woman was arrested after allegedly setting up cable and internet services under an individual’s name that lives hundreds of miles away and who claims to have been a victim of the suspect’s scheming before.
Krisan Moss, 55, appeared in 5th District Court Thursday and was charged with one third-degree felony count of identity fraud along with one count of theft of services, a class B misdemeanor.
The charges stem from an investigation conducted after police were notified that possible fraudulent activity was taking place involving TDS bills that were being sent to a residence under another individual’s name, according to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest.
The initial investigation showed that Moss had set up service with TDS, an internet, cable and telephone provider, under the name of an individual who lived in St. George previously, but had since moved to northern Utah.
Moss allegedly confessed to setting up the service under the person’s name to avoid paying the high deposit that would have been required using her own name and information, but claimed she did so with that individual’s permission, the statement said.
Investigators then contacted the individual, who told police they were unaware that any services were established in her name, court records show.
She also told police she has “never allowed Krisan to do anything like that,” the statement said, and went on to say that Moss obtained her Social Security information and other personal information from past incidents. She also confirmed that she had not set up any services with TDS and there should be no active accounts in her name.
During the interview, she explained to officers that this was not the first incident that her identity had allegedly been used by the defendant, claiming there had been other incidences where Moss stole her identity, adding that in the past the defendant established credit cards under her name and used them.
Moss was interviewed for a second time and allegedly told officers she started the TDS service April 1 and she had last spoken with the woman whose information was used to start the account, approximately one year ago. She then declined to answer any specific questions regarding the account, court records show.
Moss was later taken into custody and transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility and was booked on the identity fraud offense. The misdemeanor offense for theft of services was added later.
Moss remains in custody on $5,000 bail.
TDS’s policy is to cooperate fully with investigators in cases of fraud, including identity fraud, Cheryl McCollum, the company’s associate manager of communications, told St. George News from TDS headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin.
“We are always willing to work with law enforcement in cases like this, and we want to make sure the situation is resolved for our customers,” she said.
McCollum went on to say that security is very important to the company and systematic measures are in place to protect the customer’s information, including using a third-party company to verify the account holder’s information on all new service accounts, whether those accounts are set up online or over the telephone.
This report is based on statements from police or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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