SAN ANTONIO -- Leigh Landreth noticed her wallet was missing.

Four hours had gone by after she had visited an Olmos Park business and there was no sign of it.

Landreth immediately canceled her credit cards and called police.

But the damage had already been done -- someone had stolen her wallet and spent $13,000 with her credit cards.

Luckily, Landreth's call to Olmos Park police in February paid off.

Police arrested three women on Monday in connection with an identity theft ring.

The trio from Kirby stole the identities of 20 people and used the private information to purchase $20,000 in high-end tools and electronics.

"As soon as they would obtain a new ID, within an hour's time they had already gone to a local retailer and charged up anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000," said Olmos Park Police Chief Louis Alcoser.

The women created fake IDs by cutting stolen driver licenses in half and taping the victim's information on top of their own driver's license, Alcoser said.

"At a quick glance it appears it hasn't been altered," he added.

With the help of surveillance video from banks, police were able to obtain search warrants and arrest the women, who are charged with forgery and identification theft. Two of the women have been convicted of similar crimes before, Alcosar said.

Consumers can prevent becoming a victim of identity theft by not carrying their social security cards with them, checking credit card and bank statements closely and frequently doing a credit history check.

Landreth said she's learned her lesson and won't be carrying personal information with her anymore.

"(I learned) a hard lesson but a very good lesson," she said.