Suwanee Woman Annette Ford Charged in ID Theft Operation

SUWANEE, Ga. - A Suwanee woman is accused of carrying out a major identity theft operation. Police say Annette Ford faces identity fraud, forgery and theft charges, and investigators say they've identified thousands of possible victims in the case.

Duluth police say they followed a paper trail of theft and forgery that led them straight to Ford. They've identified close to 6,000 possible victims so far and say that list is still growing.

Police say they found counterfeit checks, thousand of dollars in cash, and credit cards when they searched Ford’s home on Thursday. On Tuesday night, she was behind bars on charges of identity theft, first-degree forgery and theft by taking.

Duluth Police Detective Fran Foster said investigators busted Ford after they started investigating the theft of two stolen social security checks from a Gainesville nursing home last month. She said those checks were deposited into Ford's business account.

According to Detective Foster, Ford used unsuspecting victim’s personal information to collect thousands of dollars in fraudulent tax refunds.

Detective Foster has compiled over 5,000 names of potential victims, and she said that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Detective Foster said it’s hard to protect yourself from this sort of crime in this day and age, but she said one thing you can do is freeze your credit report. She also said you should unplug your computer whenever you finish using it.

If you think you might be a victim in this case, you’re advised to contact your local law enforcement agency, file a report, and have those officials contact Duluth police.