Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe HAPEVILLE, Ga., Sept. 10 (UPI) -- A 15-year-old Hapeville, Ga., boy posed as a private investigator in an elaborate identity theft scheme that netted him thousands of dollars. "For a 15-year-old, that was pretty impressive," Police Lt. William Shelton told Friday's Atlanta Journal Constitution. "He would probably make a decent living if he used that effort toward a legitimate goal." Advertisement The youth set up a phony detective agency and told his victims he was investigating identity theft and got them to divulge personal information. He then called their credit card companies and had himself added as an authorized user, police said. So far, 12 victims have been identified, some as far away as New York. A search of the boy's home turned up a letter on forged police stationery authorizing the purchase of 19 police radios. The letter carried the signature of Hapeville police Capt. William Lions. It's not the suspect's first run-in with the law. He was charged with identity theft in juvenile court two years ago, police said. "He told us that had the juvenile court been a little stricter with his punishment then, he wouldn't be doing what he was doing today," Shelton said. Advertisement
