I suppose the biggest issue would be if someone lived as an imposter with an assumed identity, stolen or not, for an extended period of time. This is less likely a case of identity theft fraud; the person, if they are trying to “pass” legitimately as another person for years, would likely avoid committing crimes that would draw attention to themselves.
Back in 1969, I lost my wallet in a movie theater in Huston and did not notice until I was trying to pay for something the next day. Did the panic search and all that back tracking stuff. Figured it was lost at the movie theater.
About 4-5 days later, back in Tulsa ( where I was living )it showed up in the mail from a Huston post office with an explanation from them that it was found in a public mail drop box.
It had everything in it except the cash.
A thief with scruples??
Question for the old folks, did this happen a lot back in the day?
It’s happened to a relative of mine except his wallet was found a year or so afterward. The thieves that did this were in the business of stealing cash, not identities, so discarded the wallet as soon as possible to leave evidence of the crime around their person for as short a time as possible. Then, sometimes some other conscientious citizen finds the wallet behind and object somewhere, and returns it. ETA: hmmm, maybe the closest hidden place was a mailbox. Or, someone found your discarded and thought it would be more convenient to drop it in a mailbox than to turn it in themselves.
Thanks all!
I’m thinking that for the most part the days of the “full taking over your life” identity theft are probably over. However the more I look into this and the more I read here I’m thinking that the various “in and out” frauds are probably far more prevalent.
Fubaya,
Your friend sounds like the closest thing to the true identity theft and still it appears that the authorities and banks are not holding her responsible in the end. Granted that’s small comfort when going through a nightmare like this.
As for the cars and bike. I am not a lawyer but having gone through a similar situation with a car, for very different reasons, if she has possession of the actual vehicles there is a process called a “writ of abandonment” that may be of use to her. It may not apply in her state or under her specific circumstances but its worth a quick check with a local attorney. The attorney who helped me specialized in divorces and did these things often when a spouse simply left the area and dumped all the bills and such on the other.
Even if she does not have possession it may help to consult a lawyer. A divorce lawyer is probably the best bet because this is the sort of thing they encounter in messy divorces and abandonment divorces.
Here’s a truly horrendous case: the victim Woods was held in county jail for 428 days in total, and after a California judge deemed him mentally unfit to stand trial and Woods pleaded “no contest” to the two felony charges against him, he was sent to a mental hospital for a total of 147 days and medicated with psychotropic drugs.
This story does not seem to make sense. If Kierans passed himself off as Woods over and over and took out false loans in Wood’s name, then became employed as Woods - then why did nobody notice “Hey! You’re Woods the fellow who committed fraud 30 years ago!” when he was looking for legitimate work as Woods? Having left a trail of crime under the false name, why did he contuinue to use it? How did he get the police to arrest the real Woods without alerting them that he himself was supposedly the “real” Woods who’d allegedly committed crimes earlier?
The Register article is not as clear as it should be. I suggest you read the following two documents: