CAUTION: Jocelyn Kirsch Is Back in Philly

Jocelyn kirsch

If you’ve lived in Philadelphia for any length of time, you’ve likely heard of famed identity thief Jocelyn Kirsch. She hasn’t been around since December, when police arrested her and her boyfriend in the area. But sources have told a Daily News reporter of a recent sighting of her in Baltimore earlier this month, and it’s likely that she came back to Philadelphia from there.

Because of the couple’s history of breaking the law, police and others have referred to Kirsch and her boyfriend Edward Anderton as Bonnie and Clyde. Although their crimes don’t involve murdering people, the two have still been very busy stealing people’s identities, making terrorist threats and committing other illegal acts.

Since she got out on bail, though, Kirsch has been living in northern California, according to reporter Regina Medina. Kirsch is a good-looking brunette with big doe eyes and other features that attract many men. That’s probably why she’s able to gain people’s trust and steal their identities. Until someone spotted her in Baltimore, she was reportedly working at a Starbucks in Napa, California. As an added twist, the Federal Trade Commission reported that Napa had the highest rate of identity theft complaints in the entire country.

Things began making sense to Philadelphia police shortly before her arrest in December 2007. They went to her last recorded local address to find that she had moved. But she left behind many of her belongings, including a book on the coffee table entitled, The Art of Cheating: A Nasty Little Book for Tricky Little Schemers and Their Hapless Victims. Kirsch and her boyfriend allegedly used the book to defraud credit card companies, local businesses and even their neighbors. As a result, they enjoyed a lavish lifestyle typically reserved for the most affluent business people.

But these two aren’t your average hooligans simply hoping to steal people’s money. Kirsch attended Drexel University and was also a member of the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority. Her boyfriend graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005 and worked as an analyst for Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds, a high-profile company in the area. Both of them sampled some of the best things in life with other people’s money. Reports indicate they traveled from Hawaii to Paris and other exotic parts of the world.
 
Travel wasn’t the only benefit Kirsch enjoyed.  Sources say her large closet was so full of designer items that nothing else would even fit in there. The couple furnished their $3,000-a-month apartment with the latest electronics, upscale furniture and other expensive goods. Unfortunately, neither Kirsch nor Anderton had any feasible means of support. Police also found fake ID cards and equipment typically used to make those cards.
 
So if you’re in the Philadelphia area, hold onto your wallets, shred your sensitive documents and hide your new or used Mercedes-Benz. Bonnie and Clyde are back in town and there’s not much chance that they’ve changed their ways.