Copyright held by The John Cooke Fraud Report. Reprint rights are granted with attribution to The John Cooke Fraud Report with a link to this website.
It’s bad enough when your credit card is stolen; but what do you do when the thief steals even more? What can you do when the thief steals your whole life?
More and more people are finding out exactly what this kind of fraud can do to the innocent victim. According to authorities, identity fraud is on the rise, especially in California. Randy DeGasperin, a postal inspector who investigates identity fraud in Southern California, claims identity fraud is nearly as prevalent there as credit card counterfeiting.
How do these identity thefts happen? Sometimes the thief simply goes to the post office and submits a change-of-address form. Once the mail starts to arrive at the thief’s new mail box, the relevant information is used to apply for credit, raid bank accounts or wreak other havoc with the credit records of the unsuspecting victim.
Other times, the fraud originates with an employee of a mortgage company, a car dealership, a hospital or some other entity passing the information to the thief. Think of all the financial dealings the average person engages in a month. All it takes is one dishonest employee with access to the victim’s records to make the victim’s life a whole lot more difficult.
Mark Birmingham, of Syracuse, New York, is one person who knows what it feels like to lose a part of himself to a fraud artist. Birmingham met Jeffrey Phinecy in October 1995 when both were working at the same Halloween costume shop. People said the two men looked like they could be brothers, but Birmingham just laughed. When the seasonal shop closed, the two went their separate ways; or so Birmingham thought.
What Birmingham didn’t know was that Phinecy had stolen his identification card from the state Department of Motor Vehicles and learned his social security number. With the identification card number, Phinecy opened a nearby post office box in Birmingham’s name. Then, with his new identity as “Mark Birmingham,” Phinecy proceeded to purchase himself some new furniture on credit. After Phinecy had established a payment record on the account, the credit company then loaned him even more money.
Phinecy wasn’t done though. He opened a bank account and wrote checks for far more than he had deposited. He obtained several credit cards in Birmingham’s name and charged the cards up to their limits. In all, Phinecy defrauded area businesses of approximately $10,000.
The jig was up when a carpet company contacted the real Birmingham about a bounced check. When Birmingham showed up, the manager knew it was the wrong man. He contacted police who promptly arrested Phinecy and his roommate Kevin Crain.
In a similar case, Peter Lund of Massachusetts was also victimized by someone he knew. In fact, Lund had known Kevin Barry, the man who stole his identity, nearly all his life. The two had been friends since grade school. They aren’t such good friends anymore.
The problem started when Barry needed to get out of a speeding ticket. He did so by claiming that he was Lund and that he had left his driver’s license at home. Lund was unaware of the situation until he began to receive notices from the Registry of Motor Vehicles telling him his license was about to be suspended for failure to pay the speeding fine. Lund was perplexed until he saw the signature on the ticket. It was Barry’s. He was able to get the ticket dismissed by proving to the state police that it was not his signature.
When Barry was confronted, he promised to pay the fine as well as the surcharges that Lund’s insurance company had charged because of the ticket; but Barry never kept the promise.
Since then, Lund’s name and information has been used several more times to avoid speeding tickets. He has received credit card bills for purchases he didn’t make. He has been arrested for stealing vacuum cleaners. He has received long distance phone bills for calls he never made. Someone using his name has even served time in a Connecticut jail. In one instance, Barry was caught on videotape as he used Lund’s account at a major department store.
Lund has had to prove over and over again that the speeding tickets and criminal record are not his. Every time the situation comes up, he has recognized Barry’s handwriting on the tickets. He has managed to get all of the tickets dismissed but it hasn’t been easy.
When his bank nearly closed his account because of Barry’s fraudulent activities, Lund had to take time from work and travel to Connecticut to clear his name of forgery and credit card fraud charges. After Lund provided fingerprints, the police agreed that the man they had arrested was Barry, not Lund.
All of the hassles Barry has caused Lund have taken their toll. He only wants to get his own identity back and to have Barry leave him alone. When he contacted the FBI to find out his options, he was told the best thing he could do was change his name, his social security number and his driver’s license number. He has changed everything but his name. He says he is just about ready to do that too after all the trouble his former friend has caused him.
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