True Stories
“When they finally caught him, he had a truck trailer filled with
more than $20,000 worth of stuff, including a military uniform with
my name on it,” Says Harrison, 42.
A relatively minor charge from a Las Vegas printer revealed a decade
long horror story that began unraveling when Hartle and his wife
checked out their credit report. “And we started reading it and we
added it all up,” says Hartle. “I had about $114,000 worth of fraud
on it.”
For four long
years, Bronti Kelly couldn't figure out why no one wanted to hire
him. He handed department store managers across southern California
a resume full of sales experience, but was rejected hundreds of
times. Those rare times when he got a job, he'd be fired within
days.
Along the way, Kelly filed for bankruptcy, lost his apartment and
turned homeless. "For years as this went on, I blamed myself - for
not being hired for employment, the conditions I went through,"
Kelly says.
But Kelly's self-blame turned to anger when he finally learned the
cause of much of his trouble: A man had given Kelly's identity to
authorities when arrested for shoplifting and other crimes, and the
tainted profile found its way onto a range of computer databases
used in background checks by employers.
William Dwyer
lost his identity in 1994 in a
Hollywood used-car dealership in which he had never set foot.
That year, authorities told him, someone at the dealership probably
dialed into the Equifax credit reporting bureau and rifled through
electronic credit reports, looking for a good target.
The thief settled on Dwyer, an aerospace engineer for NASA in
Houston. He copied
Dwyer's private information and sold it to an organized Nigerian
crime ring.
"They got my Social Security number, and they were off to the
races,'' Dwyer said.
It is the
middle of a blistering summer day, the first of August, and Jon
Stanton is in his office at H&R Block on Bascom Avenue, returning a
phone call to Wells Fargo Bank. He figures it's probably a question
about a tax return he's worked on. For a tax preparer and
accountant, it's just one more small item to be taken care of in a
busy day, and the Saratoga resident doesn't think much of it. He
soon will.
The bank representative has bad news. She tells Stanton that his
Wells Fargo credit card has run up $8,500 in charges, the payments
are well overdue, and Stanton needs to put a check in the mail
immediately.
Stanton is puzzled. "That can't be," he says. "I don't have a Wells
Fargo credit card. I don't even bank with Wells Fargo."
As credit card
companies, credit bureaus and government regulators debated ways to
combat identity fraud, John A. Smith was there to remind them of its
consequences.
"It has taken me a year to correct most of my credit," said Smith,
whom the Federal Trade Commission flew into Washington from
Bakersfield, Calif., for a conference Tuesday on the increasingly
popular scam.
Smith reported on the nightmare he lived as he tried to clear his
credit report after someone used his name, Social Security number
and credit history to obtain fraudulent credit cards. "I was treated
like a suspect rather than a co-victim," he said.
Crooks Run Up $450,000 In Identity Theft Ring
One Suspect
Sentenced To A Year In Prison
CLEVELAND --
Ty
Moore would love to buy a house, but he's got credit problems,
according to TV news reporter Ted Hart.
"At this point, I can't buy a bag of chips on credit," Moore said.
Moore's problems go back two years to November 1999 when he went to
a real estate firm that used the name W.E. Jones. A representative
called to pre-qualify him for a mortgage.
Hart said Moore was ready get serious about buying a house. He paid
off his car and he didn't have any debt. That, however, was about to
change.
"I can't do anything," he said. "I can't buy anything, can't lease
anything because when you look at my credit report, there was over
$450,000 run up in my name," he said.
Hart reported that Moore fell victim to identity theft. An agent at
a real estate firm took his information and with two other women,
they made Ty into Tywunnia and went on an incredible shopping spree.
"They had used my credit card for five months before I knew about
it," he said. "They had a nice Christmas on me."
One of the places where they went shopping was Kronheims, where they
bought several thousand dollars worth of leather furniture. The
identification needed for a credit application went through without
a hitch.
"Two individuals came in, and made it look real easy (I) hate to say that," said a
Kronheims' store manager. "But it was very easy."
Fake Address
The crooks also
got an American Express and applied for credit over and over again.
They bought cell phones, pagers, vacations to Jamaica. They rented a
business suite and had the mail sent to a non-existent company
called Mid-Town Mortgage.
But the biggest purchase were high-end sport utility vehicles that
were leased from local car dealers.
"They're very good at it -- very good at it," Moore said.
A police detective found the ringleader and that she had been
involved in the same scam for year. The detective said they drive
away with cars, knowing repossession is just four or five months
away.
"That's part of
the scam," he said. "They know they're going to walk away from it.
It's just a vehicle and the leasing company -- GMAC or whatever is
involved. They're not going to come after them. They know that."
Crooks Get Caught
Three women were
caught and convicted. The most jail time? -- one year.The detective
said that the operation is bigger than three women.
"They've got their people on the outside and when one goes in (or)
goes down, others step right in," he said. "Let's face it – the
ringleader will do a year and probably come out, and go right back
to it."
Meanwhile, Moore
feels like he is the criminal when he handles financial business.
"When I went to my
own credit union to explain myself, people look at me like I'm a
criminal, when in actuality I'm a victim."
