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When impostors are arrested, victims get criminal records
By Bob Sullivan (MSNBC - March 9, 2003)
Malcolm Byrd was home with his two children on a Saturday night when a knock
came at the door. Three Rock County, Wis., sheriff’s officers were there with a
warrant for Byrd’s arrest. Cocaine possession, with intent to distribute, it
said. Byrd tried to tell them that they had the wrong man, that it was a case
of mistaken identity, that he was a victim of identity theft. But they wouldn’t
listen. Instead they put him in handcuffs and drove him away. Again.
IT WAS NOTHING new for Byrd, who has spent much of the past five years trying —
unsuccessfully — to talk skeptical police officers out of arresting him. But
this time, it was worse. Two days later, he was still in jail.
This is the worst-case scenario for identity theft victims. Losing your clean
credit history is one thing; losing your freedom is another. And victims of
America’s fastest-growing crime are discovering they often have much more to
worry about than the hundreds of hours of paperwork necessary to clean up the
financial mess associated with ID theft. Sometimes, they have to worry about
ending up in jail — again and again.
Read the Rest of the Story and steps you
should take if you find yourself a similar victim of Indentity Theft.
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