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Continued
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BACK
“This is the ultimate humiliation, the ultimate
nightmare if you ask me,” said Jim Doyle, president of Internet Crimes Inc.,
and co-founder of the New York City Police Department’s Computer Investigation
and Technology Unit. “And it falls on the victim to clear up the criminal
record.”
‘ALIAS BECOMES A DISEASE’
There’s nothing new about criminals using aliases to evade the law — criminals
often try to give their buddy’s name, address, and date of birth to dupe
police. But the explosion of identity theft, and the ready availability of
stolen digital dossiers on innocent victims, makes it just as easy for a
criminal to give a stranger’s personal data during an arrest. Once police book
a suspect under a fake name, that mistake can plague a victim for life.
“The alias becomes a disease to the true owner of
that character,” said Sgt. Bob Berardi, head of the Identity Theft task force
in Los Angeles.
The problem is compounded by the increasing sophistication of law enforcement
officials, who now regularly tap nationwide databases like the FBI’s National
Crime Information Center to search for outstanding warrants. Getting names off
those lists can be a daunting task.
“Officials of criminal records (databases) are — for
good reason — reluctant to remove information once it’s been placed in the
database,” said Beth Givens, executive director of the Identity Theft Clearing
House. “It’s very difficult to clear your record if you are a victim of
criminal ID theft.”
HIS WORD AGAINST A DATABASE
Malcolm Byrd is living proof of that.
In Byrd’s case, his word has never been enough. The situation has left the
Janesville, Wis., man contemplating a name change. With his impostor still at
large, still committing crimes and still using his name, Byrd fears another
arrest.
“I don’t feel safe now. When we drive I feel
uncomfortable,” Byrd said. “It’s affected our lives enormously.”
Tom Schroeder, a lawyer for the county where Byrd
lives, confirmed many of the details of Byrd’s repeated run-ins with the law.
“Mr. Byrd is worried that if he is in Milwaukee County and gets stopped for
some reason and the officer punches it into a computer, he may still come up,”
Schroeder said. “And I don’t blame him.”
Efforts to eradicate Byrd’s criminal record at the
state and federal level haven’t succeeded, Schroeder said. “I left a voice mail
on Mr. Byrd’s phone indicating we’d be happy to help him in changing his name
and his Social Security number.”
What You Can Do
Step 1: Find a calm friend
The only way to combat the problem is with diligent record-keeping.
It may be years before a victim even knows what's happened. The false criminal
record won't be discovered until someone runs a criminal background check --
not until the victim applies for a job that requires one, or is pulled over for
a traffic violation.
"If you know there are warrants out for your arrest because of an impostor, do
not get in trouble with police," said Jay Foley, director of consumer and
victim services for the Identity Theft Resource Center. "Quite simply, find a
calm, cool, collected, level-headed friend and go down to the local law
enforcement station ... Say this is who I am, and this is what I think is going
on."
Even better, approach a friend or family member in law enforcement with the
problem, if that’s possible, Foley said.
Step 2: If you are arrested
Victims who find out the hard way -- when they are faced with a false arrest --
are best served by remaining calm, polite, and cooperative during the incident.
Many cops still don't understand the extend of the identity theft epidemic, and
they are immune to pleas like "You have the wrong Bill Smith," says Sgt. Bob
Berardi, head of the Identity Theft task force in Los Angeles. "There's no good
way to say 'It's not me.'"
During the arrest, diplomatically ask the officer to check the warrant
carefully, said Paul Johnsen, deputy district attorney for San Diego County.
"Ask police to check what's in the description on the warrant," he said.
"Sometimes it doesn't match. I've seen cases where someone takes over another
person's identity, and the warrant says it's a white female but the victim is a
black female."
That won't always work. Sometimes police will just think it’s a typographical
error, so contacting an identity theft advocacy group like the Identity Theft
Resource Center is advised. And learn the name of a nearby police officer or
district attorney who's sympathetic to the ID theft issue.
Step 3: Clear the record
Once the immediate crisis is resolved, victims should do what they can about
their criminal records. That usually means convincing local police to amend the
file. There is generally no way to convince law enforcement officials to delete
the fact that your name was used as an alias by the suspect, since detectives
track various aliases used by criminals.
"Most people don't ever really clear their record," Foley said. "You will be an
alias for that perpetrator." But victims should insist that their name be
removed from the "primary name" field of police records and moved to an "alias"
line instead.
It might also be necessary to get a court order declaring your innocence.
Victims are advised to keep certified copies of court documents with them at
all times, Johnsen said.
But even that isn't foolproof, particularly if the impostor is still roaming
free and committing crimes.
But remember, said Beth Givens, executive director of the Identity Theft
Resource Center, “the person who is using you for their identification could
put you on a shelf for a few years and then start in again a year later."
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