HARTFORD, Feb. 25, 2005
An Identity Theft Nightmare
Victim Still Battling His Creditors Four Years Later
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Play CBS Video Video ID Firm's Security Gaffe Since the major security breach at ChoicePoint, a databank with information on millions of people, consumers are wondering how safe their personal data is. CBS News' Jim Acosta reports.
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Video ID Theft Rampant Almost 10 million Americans were the victims of identity theft last year. Byron Pitts reports on one man who can't seem to clear his name no matter how hard he tries.
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John Harrison (CBS)
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Identity theft Jerry Philips got four years; but it hasn't helpd victim John Harrison. (CBS)
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Interactive ID Theft See how you may be vulnerable, learn about new scams and get tips to protect your good name.
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Interactive Cyber Crime Find out about viruses, worms, and other ways people can attack both you and your computer online.
Few people know more about identify theft than John Harrison. In an ironic twist, when the president of ChoicePoint wrote a book on identity theft, he went to Harrison.
The Connecticut salesman has spent over 2,000 hours trying to reclaim his life after having his identity stolen, and his home office has become a shrine to the suffering, reports CBS News Correspondent Byron Pitts.
"I had to come up with a filing system,'' says Harrison of his efforts to clear his name.
Harrison was a victim nearly four years ago, when a 20-year-old stole his identity and literally went for a ride.
"Lowes, Home Depot, Sears, JC Penny, two cars from Ford, a Harley, a Kawasaki motorcycle," says Harrison, listing off the purchases made in his name. "About $265,000 in four months."
Police arrested and prosecuted the thief, Jerry Phillips, and he even went to prison for three years.
"Sorry. You know, I wish I could make it up to you,'' Phillips said of his wrongdoing.
With an apologetic theif behind bars, Harrison thought he was lucky -- but was he wrong. Despite letters from the Justice Department confirming that he was a victim, Harrison and millions of others are still being harassed by creditors. In fact, he remains nearly $140,000 in debt.
"It keeps coming," says Harrison. "It keeps coming and you don't have a choice but to deal with it."
Some suggestions for victims of identity theft include:
Eric Gertler, an identity theft expert, says that Harrison's experience reflects the unfairness of the whole system.
"The problem with identity theft is that once you're a victim you're guilty until proven innocent," says Gertler. "You need to go to the financial institution and prove to them that you're not just some other deadbeat trying to get away with not paying your bills."
John Harrison followed all the rules.
"I was in a corner. I had already done everything the law told me I should be doing. And it didn't work,'' he says.
He says the many victims whose identities were compromised by ChoicePoint can expect "the same thing."
What angers John Harrison is that he followed all the rules and finds himself in debt because of a thief, and a bad thief at that. In fact, on one of the forged checks, Harrison's name was spelled incorrectly.
"He didn't have to be bright to steal your identification, but you have to be perfect to stop him?" asked Pitts.
"Absolutely, you have to be more than perfect."
Harrison's advice, before you ever become a victm, check your credit report frequently.
©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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