More Stars Fall Prey To ID Theft

Some identity thieves seem to be moving up in the world.

They still may be interested in just anyone’s credit card number.

But some also seem especially attracted lately to celebrities’ card numbers.

Last month, a Chicago man was accused of working a credit card scam in which he was having replacement credit cards for actors Ben Stiller, David Duchovny and film director Paul Haggis sent to the man’s South Side apartment.

Now, actor, playwright and producer Tyler Perry appears to have become an identity theft victim as well.

Perry wrote on his Web site May 14 that “some idiot stole my credit card number. Can you believe that? Take a look at all the stuff they charged.”

Perry’s announcement then provided a long list of charges, totalling more than $28,000. They included at least 11 airline tickets, and three charges of greater than $6,500 each at Lowe’s, a home improvement store, in “Greenville.”

“If you know any of these people, call the police,” Perry wrote, apparently in reference to some of the last names or first names listed with the airline ticket purchases.

In some ways, identity theft of celebrities can be easier. That’s because some information — including birth dates and place of birth — can be used by identity thieves to get more information and then access people's accounts. For celebrities, that type of information is often more publicly available.