Crime prevention at its most basic level begins with all of us.

An alert store clerk at Best Buy helped thwart a woman who claimed to be working a scam in this area with a group of people from Chicago. The people were allegedly attempting to open fraudulent credit accounts using stolen identities. The clerk who was processing the woman’s credit application noticed when she asked the woman for personal identifying information such as her birthday, the woman had to look at her cellphone before providing the clerk with an answer.

City police were called and arrested the woman. 

On the surface, this type of crime seems like just another scam to help line the pockets of a greedy crook and may, in fact, be just that simple in this case.

But what if it’s not? 

Identity theft and credit card fraud are often used to fund terrorism. 

The actions of any group depend largely on the availability of money.

Long before 9/11 and the word “terrorism” became a household term, authorities intercepted a coupon fraud ring in 1987. One of the people involved was a cell leader of a terrorist network, according to a 2007 FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin.

The 9/11 Commission report determined that the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States cost between $400,000 to $500,000 to carry out. An earlier attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 was initially planned on a larger scale but couldn’t be carried out as planned because the attackers didn’t have the necessary funding, according to the FBI bulletin.

Because we know that fraud and identity theft can be used to fund terrorism, it is important that regular people, from a store clerk processing a credit application to the average citizen keeping tabs on his or her credit report, be vigilant.

Ask questions. Report something that doesn’t seem quite right.

The woman arrested after the Dec. 19 Best Buy incident told city police that someone in Chicago provided a group of about 20 people with fake ID cards and stolen personal identifying information to apply for store credit. The people involved would then go to a store, apply for credit and buy several items on the newly acquired fraudulent account. Then the perpetrators would return the items to the store and ask for a store gift card. After that, the money placed on the store gift card was to be transferred to a prepaid Visa or MasterCard debit card creating untraceable money that could be used anywhere that those cards are accepted, including ATMs.

The woman charged in this incident is presumed innocent, and this case may be nothing more than a get-rich-quick scam for a petty thief.

It will be up to police and the U.S. Secret Service to sort it out. But without a store clerk who cared enough to report the activity in the first place, there would be no case. 

The U.S. government has solid reasons for tracking money, with counter-terrorism topping the list of concerns. Untraceable money can lead to unimaginable crimes. 

We may never know the full story about who orchestrated this alleged scam or why. But we do know that the actions of one person gave investigators a starting point.

Crime prevention isn’t just a police matter. We all share responsibility for maintaining a civil society.