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She could not believe what she was hearing, as Sergeant Randy Clark from the Lincoln Police Department told her that her identity had been taken. After all, isn’t this the kind of thing you only see in movies?
It all started over a year earlier when she was at a party at her brother’s apartment. The UNL student set her purse down on the couch feeling that it was safe. This was her brother’s place, after all, and she knew almost everyone there. The student realized that this was a mistake at the end of the night when she found her purse had been stolen by someone that no one seemed to know. The thief proceeded to use the victim’s phone to call her roommate on campus. After reporting the theft to the police and repurchasing all her lost items, including getting the locks changed on her dorm room, the student put the theft behind her.
Sergeant Clark let the student know that a woman who was addicted to drugs had gotten a hold of her purse and used the social security card inside the student’s wallet to steal her identity. The woman used the social security card to gain access to the student’s High School transcript (which you don’t need a photo id to obtain). With these documents, along with the student’s Ncard, the woman was able to obtain a driver’s license in the student’s name.
The fraudster proceeded to open a checking account at US Bank and obtain a credit card, both under the victim’s name. She wrote numerous bad checks and bought several large items on her new credit card, including a new cell phone and phone plan under Sprint. She was finally caught when she tried to cash a homemade paycheck at the bank. As the police investigated her for this fake paycheck, they discovered that she was not who she claimed to be and had stolen the UNL student’s identity. This is when the victim received a call from the police; a year after her purse had been stolen.
After breaking the news to her, Sergeant Clark then began telling the victim what needed to be done to clear her name. The student was forced to spend countless hours filling out paperwork and calling the proper authorities in an attempt to clear her name and credit. For months after the arrest, the student was still receiving bills for items she never purchased. As new bills would appear, the student would call Sergeant Clark and fill out more paperwork. Although the three major credit rating companies flagged her as a victim of identity theft, she is still worried about her credit rating four years later!
It took two years for the fraudster to be convicted for the theft, and the victim never heard what the final sentence was. When asked what she thought the sentence should be, the victim stated she felt the thief should go to prison.
The biggest losses to the UNL student were time and stress. She spent hours clearing her name and was under large amounts of stress as new bills continued to come for things she never bought. The student acknowledged the following when asked what advice she would give to other students so they would not suffer the same misfortune:
1. “Don’t keep your social security card in your wallet; it is asking for trouble.” 2. “Watch your personal items, even at places where you think you know everyone and everything seems safe.” 3. “Just be careful; bad things can happen when you least expect it.”
