By Tim Seyfert

Imagine this: Someone gets hold of your name, credit card information and Social Security number. They pretend to be you — running up outrageous bills, even committing crimes, and as far as your bank, creditors and various authorities are concerned, you’re the one behind it.

Cases of identity theft are on the rise, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, and rural, affluent towns like Los Altos Hills are becoming common playgrounds for these types of crimes.

Capt. John Hirokawa and three detectives from the sheriff’s fraud and property crimes unit discussed the recent surge of identity theft at a crime prevention meeting May 29 at the Bullis-Purissima School Multiuse Room.

Hirokawa said identity theft cases have risen 1,400 percent in the United States since 1997. Last year, California ranked as the state with the highest incidence, according to a Jan. 22 report from the Federal Trade Commission. Hirokawa also noted that Los Altos Hills, San Ramon and Saratoga are among the area’s prime targets.

“Criminals know residents in these towns have a lot of money and good credit,” Hirokawa told audience members. “You’d think crimes like these are more common in big cities, but that’s not the case.”

Property crimes such as identity theft and residential burglary generally increase during the summer months, Hirokawa said, especially with more people vacationing. The sheriff’s department typically sees hikes in cases involving burglary, computer hacking and mail theft during periods of an economic downturn, he added.

Last week, sheriff’s detectives uncovered mounds of stolen mail after arresting two longtime fraud offenders at the Marriott Hotel in Los Altos, according to a police report. San Jose residents Andrea Sosa and Jeremy Mathis were picked up May 29 on numerous counts of forgery, receiving stolen property, burglary and car theft. In the trunk of their boosted 2000 silver Infinity, detectives uncovered 450 pieces of stolen mail from 14 different cities throughout the county, including Mountain View and Los Altos Hills. Also found were numerous checkbooks, credit cards, Internet account passwords and credit card scanners.

Another woman in 2002 used someone else’s personal information to post a $12,000 bond for her jailed husband, as well as buy a widescreen TV the same day. Detective John Spagnola said the woman had taken a credit card bill from a Los Altos Hills mailbox and used it to obtain financial information over the Internet.

“Many people don’t realize how many doors one piece of mail can open,” Spagnola said. “All it takes is a credit card number or a even a Social Security number and it’s like opening the floodgates.”