Identity Theft Examples: Roommate Arrested On Prostitution Charges Turns Out to Be Identity Thief

If you were wondering what identity theft examples there are to convince you that not only is identity theft one of the most widely committed crimes on the planet, it affects millions of people every year in varying degrees of severity, ranging from a few unwanted pizzas on your credit card bill to landing on an international watch list for political assassins. The more elaborate these schemes are, the stranger and more unpredictable the consequences. It makes us want to cancel all our credit cards, forfeit all our licenses and live in a hole in the earth with pillowcases full of cash, perhaps with our only means of survival, boiled tree roots and stale urine.

I’m sure you’re going to agree that living with a roommate is almost always tough. What you save on rent and groceries you may well lose on a little time on your own. Not to mention, the scary fact that there’s another person who has the keys to your house and knows exactly when you sleep. The following identity theft example will undoubtedly send shockwaves through your system.

Brittany Ossenfort thought she was past all that, and with good reason. She and her roommate, Michelle, had met through mutual friends (which is like the center tile of "Please Don't Be a Creepy Murderer" bingo), and became good friends themselves. Sure, Brittany thought it was a bit strange when Michelle started to dress like her, and had her hair dyed and styled to match Brittany's. And when Michelle got a matching tattoo on her hand, yes, a few alarm bells were probably clanging around somewhere in the back of Brittany's mind, sort of like when you get an emoticon-filled picture comment from a stranger on Facebook whose profile image is him cleaning a knife. Still, their friendship and cohabitation continued on undaunted for a year.

That all changed when Brittany Ossenfort got a call at work asking her to bail Brittany Ossenfort out

of jail. Brittany briefly entertained the idea that she might be Timecopping herself, but tossed that out the window when investigators did some actual investigating and discovered that the "Brittany Ossenfort" in custody was actually Michelle, who had been arrested on prostitution charges and had given Brittany's name and information to the police. Even more sleuthing by these crackerjack investigators uncovered the fact that Michelle's real name was Richard Phillips.

Michelle/Richard was a transgender woman who had been living as a woman for as long as Brittany had known her. Unfortunately, even after her identity was cleared up and the police were able to agree that the real Brittany was not, in fact, the person they had arrested, Brittany's name could not be removed from the arrest record. Apparently, once an inmate is booked into a facility, whatever name that person is booked under cannot be changed or amended for any reason, even if they had their identity stolen, or had been Timecopped. Luckily, Brittany has paperwork that she can carry around with her at all times should she ever get stopped by the police. I wonder if you’ve realized how easily your life can change, with your identity assumed by somebody else. If you’re the kind of person that wants to prevent identity theft from happening to you, then beware of what is going on and learn from what has happened to others. Did you know: 50% of the U.S. Adult Population have been hacked--and most of them don’t even know it! Don't let it happen to you. Learn more Here!

Cornelius Venturo
PrivacyMaxx Representative