Feb 8, 2008 11:00 pm US/Eastern
New Form Of ID Theft Targets People With Same Name
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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This woman is suspected of stealing the identity of women with the name Lisa White.
WBZ
What if you could be vulnerable to identity thieves just because of your name?
There is a recent case of identity theft in Massachusetts that proves even if a person never loses a wallet or a credit card, a name is enough to make them a victim.
Lisa White, of Ayer, is a victim of this type of identity theft.
A woman stole White's identity and went on a $10,000 shopping spree.
The identity thief was posing as Lisa White. White never even owned a credit card until someone stole her identity and opened up 17 accounts using her Social Security and drivers license numbers.
Now comes Lisa White, of Monson. She too is a victim of identity theft and is trying to cancel some $13,000 of debt someone spent on store accounts using her Social Security and license numbers. A detective on her case said the two cases involving two different Lisa Whites look to be connected. He believes the same thief is responsible for both cases.
Then there's Lisa White from Somerset, who is also stuck with a pile of mystery credit cards.
A thief stole her identity and wracked up about $35,000 of dept that she had nothing to do with.
Why Lisa White? That's a mystery, but police say in this information age, every person has some kind of private info in at least one data base somewhere whether your name is Lisa White or something else.
Today one of several detectives working on the case said more than 10 Massachusetts residents with the last name White have reported similar experiences. And there are probably more out there who don't even know about this mysterious link.
A recent study found more than 19,000 people are victims of identity theft each year.
Click here to learn how you can help avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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