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Imagine how you would feel if you found out someone else was using your identity. Now imagine how you would feel if you found out that this had been going on for almost 20 years.
Such is the nightmare Richard F. Johnson of Carlsbad, California, found himself in three years ago. He applied for a loan with a local bank and was puzzled when the banker asked him about his “other” credit cards. Johnson was stunned when he was shown a credit report that listed more than 20 credit cards he knew nothing about.
Investigation revealed that the cards had been requested and used by a Frank Evans of Zion, Illinois. Evans had learned Johnson’s Social Security number, his mother’s maiden name and his birth date, all of which Evans used for confirmation of his bogus identity as Richard F. Johnson. He had opened checking and savings accounts under the name of Richard F. Johnson. He had an arrest record for shoplifting under Johnson’s name. He had even declared bankruptcy as Richard F. Johnson.
Evans’ undoing was the bankruptcy filing. Authorities still don’t know why Evans came to a meeting with creditors and claimed he was Johnson. The sad fact is they will probably never know. Evans was recently found in his Zion apartment, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The ultimate irony is that the gun that Evans used to kill himself was registered in the name of Richard F. Johnson.
You might think finding the crook was the hardest part. But as the real Richard F. Johnson has discovered, the worst is trying to resurrect his credit rating. Creditors were not willing to take his story at face value; it was up to Johnson to prove it. Not an easy task when every time he took care of one account, the fraudulent Johnson would simply open another.
Johnson is slowly making progress in his efforts to clean up his credit rating; but it isn’t easy to erase the stains left by 18 years of fraud. In fact, as Johnson said, “It’s easier to get an audience with the Pope.”
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