The Case of the Notorious 'Wig Lady'

July 24, 2006 — -- She's sometimes a brunette, sometimes a blonde society type. At other times she's a white-haired matron. But police say she's a thief who has used wigs, stylish scarves and hats to make off with more than $200,000 in cash from several victims' checking accounts in Washington, D.C., and Montgomery County, Md.

Police have dubbed the series of thefts, identity thefts and check fraud the "wig lady" case. They estimate that the unidentified suspect has successfully hit about 20 bank accounts since last September.

Detective Brandon Menegedoht of the Montgomery County Police Department began connecting the dots after studying photographs from different bank surveillance cameras. He realized it was the same smiling woman under all those wigs. He described her as either a white- or light-skinned black woman in her 40s or 50s.

Menegedoht has dealt with check fraud for the last 12 years but said, "this is a pretty bold one."

Police said the wig lady follows a routine in her thefts. She comes into the bank, engages the teller in a pleasant conversation, presents a fake or stolen ID and says she needs her checking account number to deposit a check. Once she has that number, she returns to the bank either later that day -- or the next day -- and gets the teller to process a withdrawal. By the time the victims notice the activity on their accounts and alert the bank, it's too late. The wig lady has emptied them out.

Part of a Larger Theft Ring?

Police suspect the wig lady is part of a bigger fraud and identity theft ring that works with several accomplices. It targets female victims who are generally 50 years old or older.

Police said the victims have reported their wallets with their identification stolen in a variety of ways and in a variety of places. One woman said she was approached by a man in a grocery store who asked for her help in picking out produce. While distracted, an accomplice lifted her wallet, but the victim didn't realize her wallet was gone until she reached the checkout line. Other women have reported their wallets stolen from their purses, which were either hanging on a chair or sitting on the floor in a restaurant.

The suspects use the stolen credit cards for a short time following the theft. People will report that kind of theft and close their accounts, but they are less likely to close their checking accounts. Investigators say the victims assume, even if their debit card is in their wallet, that the thief doesn't have their pin number. However, days or sometimes months later, the wig lady uses that stolen debit card as identification to obtain the checking account number to begin withdrawing on the account.

The wig lady is often accompanied by a black male, who also dresses in snappy hats and stylish clothes, and is believed to be the same age as she is. He wears glasses and has a mustache.

Check fraud cost the United States $677 million in 2003, according to the American Bankers Association. Banks replace any lost funds to customers' accounts after such fraud, as they've done in each of the wig lady cases.

ABA spokesperson John Hall calls the wig lady a "sophisticated con artist."

"That type of fraud is fairly rare. Forged endorsements are the most common type of fraud," he said.

What to Do If You Suspect Check Fraud

Hall added there's much more attempted fraud -- about $ 5.5 billion -- than actual fraud. Banks' prevention systems usually catch 88 percent of check fraud.

If your banking information is stolen, Hall recommends you do the following:

Monitor your banking account closely for a long period of time.

Immediately report any suspicious activity.

Elect to close your account but notify any automatic payees.

Hall stressed that it is very important to guard checking account information.

"People are accustomed to not giving out their credit card number," he said. "The same goes for your checking account number."

Mengedoht is confident he's going to catch the wig lady. He suspects he'll also find more victims. This case is "like an onion that just grows deeper and deeper as you dig into it," he said.