DocDon
05-03-2004, 02:29 PM
ID Theft: America's Fastest Growing Crime
27 Million Victims Of Identity Theft
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The fastest-growing crime in America is not showing any signs of slowing down.
More than 27 million people have been victims of identity theft in the last five years, Columbus, Ohio's WCMH-TV reported.
Con artists use various ploys to get information from computers. Someone could also take the account number from your bank or credit card to steal you identity.
Sara Shaeffer's identity wasn't stolen by a stranger or on the computer. Her identity was stolen by someone she knew.
"She had told me, 'If I ever get pulled over, I'm just gonna say I'm you,' because her license has been suspended since she was, like, 16, but I didn't think she'd ever be able to get away with something like that," Shaeffer said.
Shaeffer was arrested and her car was impounded for an accident she didn't know anything about.
"After getting out of jail, I went to court," Shaeffer said. "They dismissed the charges -- I showed enough evidence that it wasn't me in the accident and I thought it was over at that point."
Not only had her car been impounded, Shaeffer's license had also been suspended.
Unfortunately for Sara, her problems were far from over, Jackson reported.
"In May of that year, I moved to Bowling Green and I got a letter from Franklin County, saying my license was again suspended and after investigating that, I found out that the people she hit in the accident sued me," Shaeffer said.
The list of offenses in Shaeffer's name continued to grow with a warrant for failure to appear in court, shoplifting and failure to stop.
The growing file of paperwork told the story of Shaeffer's frustrating journey to clear her name.
"I think something needs to be done about it, because I mean anybody can do it to anybody and it's really not fair for the victim and there's not much they can do to resolve it," Shaeffer said.
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The one thing that was never mentioned in the article was whether or not a warrant was issued for the person she knows stole her identity.
27 Million Victims Of Identity Theft
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The fastest-growing crime in America is not showing any signs of slowing down.
More than 27 million people have been victims of identity theft in the last five years, Columbus, Ohio's WCMH-TV reported.
Con artists use various ploys to get information from computers. Someone could also take the account number from your bank or credit card to steal you identity.
Sara Shaeffer's identity wasn't stolen by a stranger or on the computer. Her identity was stolen by someone she knew.
"She had told me, 'If I ever get pulled over, I'm just gonna say I'm you,' because her license has been suspended since she was, like, 16, but I didn't think she'd ever be able to get away with something like that," Shaeffer said.
Shaeffer was arrested and her car was impounded for an accident she didn't know anything about.
"After getting out of jail, I went to court," Shaeffer said. "They dismissed the charges -- I showed enough evidence that it wasn't me in the accident and I thought it was over at that point."
Not only had her car been impounded, Shaeffer's license had also been suspended.
Unfortunately for Sara, her problems were far from over, Jackson reported.
"In May of that year, I moved to Bowling Green and I got a letter from Franklin County, saying my license was again suspended and after investigating that, I found out that the people she hit in the accident sued me," Shaeffer said.
The list of offenses in Shaeffer's name continued to grow with a warrant for failure to appear in court, shoplifting and failure to stop.
The growing file of paperwork told the story of Shaeffer's frustrating journey to clear her name.
"I think something needs to be done about it, because I mean anybody can do it to anybody and it's really not fair for the victim and there's not much they can do to resolve it," Shaeffer said.
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The one thing that was never mentioned in the article was whether or not a warrant was issued for the person she knows stole her identity.