Dakota Co. charges 5 with ID theft in Sam's Club swindle

Five Las Vegas men used stolen identities to buy thousands of dollars' worth of gift cards from two Sam's Club stores in Eagan and Apple Valley, Minn., according to the Dakota County attorney's office.

A criminal complaint says that earlier this week, a Sam's Club manager in Eagan noticed that the men buying thousands of dollars' worth of gift cards matched the description of a group of men who bought several thousands of dollars' worth of cards at another Sam's Club store.

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said the numbers on the credit cards were valid, but the cardholders' names were changed to match the men who illegally used the cards.

Backstrom said identity theft is becoming more common in the county. Including the latest charges, 14 people have been charged with similar crimes, he said.

"These are out-of-state people coming into Minnesota and into Dakota County and making these kind of purchases," he said. "It's happening fairly frequently, and it's happening all over the metro area, all over our state and all over the country."

Backstrom said that it's not clear how the men managed to steal the identities, but that nearly 160 victims were involved.