The plastic box police officers happened upon when they responded to an April 9 disturbance contained an odd ledger marked with names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers.

The box also included bank statements and contact information that made it clear identity theft had taken place, said Kim Kapp, a Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman.

But how to find the victims? The ledger didn’t contain everyone’s phone number or address. Since the department lacks a fraud investigation team, officers decided to post the ledger online so that individuals whose names popped up could comb through their bank accounts to see if they’d been victimized, and to reach out to victims who had clearly, already, been cheated.

Nonetheless, the police department’s announcement that it was simply posting the ledger to its website sparked frustration among some who thought the police should have gone further.

“Googling has its limitations,” Kapp said of tracking down information to contact the individuals whose names appeared on the ledger. “The patrol sergeant that is leading up this case has been working very hard contacting people there is contact information for and has come across true victims. They’ve had losses, unauthorized charges. It’s not that we are not following up, it’s just that the ledger had such limited information.”

The discovery of the ledger reflects just how susceptible anyone, anywhere, is to identity theft, setting the stage for Gov. Chris Gregoire’s Monday proclamation of Identity Theft Awareness Week in Washington.

The state ranks 15th in identity theft nationwide, according to the Federal Trade Commission, with more than 30,000 identity theft and fraud complaints reported in 2009.

The proclamation, spurred by a push from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and backed by LifeLock, an identity theft protection firm, runs through Friday.

“11.1 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2009,” said Tami Nealy, a risk management specialist with LifeLock. “They can sell a person’s identity multiple times.”

Nealy and Kapp suggested having credit checks done at least once a year. The federal government works with three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — to provide free annual credits evaluations by way of http://annualcreditreport.com, Nealy said.

By putting each bureau to use, Nealy said individuals can have their credit scored every four months.

“If you’re requesting it annually through annualcreditreport.com, it doesn’t affect your credit score,” Nealy said.

She said only 17 percent of identity theft is tied to credit cards, citing medical and utilities payments as other susceptible areas.

“Every employer, every dentist, every doctor” she’s ever visited has her personal information, Nealy said. “My information’s out there. It’s out there, and how are they safeguarding it?”

Kapp encouraged individuals to take it upon themselves to guard and secure their information. “There could be other pieces of identity floating around out there that police throughout the metro area are not aware of,” she said.

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