The Darkest Side of ID Theft
March 9, 2003—Malcolm Byrd was home on a Saturday night when a knock came. Three Rock Country, 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. But they wouldn’t listen. Instead they put him in handcuffs (手铐) and drove him away.
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 thing for identity theft victims. Losing your clean credit history is one thing; losing you 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 to clean up the financial mess associated with ID theft. Sometimes, they have to worry about being pushed in jail—again and again.
Alias(化名) Becomes a Disease
There’s nothing new about criminals using aliases to evade the law. Criminals often try to give their friend’s name, address, and date of birth to cheat police. But the explosion of identity theft, and the ready availability of stolen digital files 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.
Getting names off those lists can be a big task. The problem is complicated by the increasing sophistication of law enforcement officials. "Officials of criminal records 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.
His Word Against a Database
In Byrd’s case, his word has never been enough. The situation has left the Janesville, Wis. , man thinking about name changing. With his impostor (冒名顶替) 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 famous lawyer, 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 puts it into a computer, he may still come up," Schroeder said. "And I don’t blame him."
Efforts to eliminate 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 change his name and his Social Security number."
How It Began
Byrd’s nightmare began in 1998, he said. A man arrested on drug charges that year identified himself to local officials as Malcolm Byrd.
Thanks to an article in the local Janesville Gazette, the real Malcolm Byrd found out about the identity theft, and headed to the police to correct the error. The paper ran a correction, too. But that was hardly the end of the nightmare.
Four months later, when he was stopped for speeding, Byrd found himself face down on the pavement, handcuffed. Police records still showed that he was wanted for drug dealing.
The matter was cleared up when officials compared a photo of the suspect to Byrd, but not before he had lost half a day’s wages sitting at the police station. Soon after, Byrd was fired from his part-time job as a nursing assistant because he was accused of lying about his criminal record. Months later, he was laid off from his full-time job.
A year later, while surfing the Internet, Byrd discovered his impostor had been arrested again, this time in a neighboring county. To clear his name, he visited the county district attorney’s office and submitted his fingerprints. In exchange, Byrd received court documents proving his innocence. But that didn’t stop him from losing his license a second time in 2000, he said.
After that, life seemed back to normal until April of last year, when Byrd was stopped again. Once again, he found himself in handcuffs in the back of a squad car, losing half a day’s pay until officers cleared up the confusion.
But that was nothing compared to the most recent arrest, which took place over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend. Byrd had lent his car to his niece, who was stopped by police that Saturday night. "Do you know where Malcolm is" they asked her. Minutes later, three deputies were at Byrd’s home, armed with warrants from three counties.
Byrd’s wife Carla ran to the sheriff’s department around midnight that night with the court papers clearing her husband’s name. But that didn’t help—the warrants were dated after Byrd’s declaration of innocence.
How Common Is It
Byrd’s tale is extreme, but hardly unique. Most law enforcement officers say this type of criminal identity theft is rare. But the few reliable identity theft statistics suggest it may he more common than they think. The rate of identity theft crimes doubles every year, and 12 percent of victims "found that they must deal with wrongful criminal records. "
"I think it is more common now because identity theft is a bigger problem," said Michael Groch, deputy district attorney of San Diego County’s CATCH High Tech Crimes task force.
California also has created a special identity theft registry to address the problem, a victims’ database that can be used to pr a false arrest. If a victim is threatened with arrest by a police officer, the victim gives the officer a telephone number to call, and a PIN code. The officer then hears a message explaining that this person is an identity theft victim.
How Does It Happen
It might seem elemental that arresting officers confirm the identity before arresting someone, but that’s not as easy as it sounds. Often, for lesser crimes, law enforcement officials simply take the criminal’s word—particularly for "instant-release" violations like traffic offenses.
"If the suspect gives a name and date of birth, and if that information checks out, if the officer doesn’t have any reason to doubt the person a lot of times that is going to be the end of it," Groch said. "It’s different than if they make up a name."
But even for more serious offenses, like drug possession, police officers often won’t do much to verify an identity, particularly if the suspect is an identity thief who has managed to obtain an official, state-issued driver’s license.
"You may be brought in or fingerprinted, and taken a photo, even appear before a magistrate (治安官) on a TV monitor. And out the door you go. No cross-checking is done," said Rob Douglas, a former Washington prosecutor (起诉人). "When people are arrested, it’s rare that they will cross check with the national crime database because they already have you on a crime. Often times, the first time a thorough background will be done is at the time of sentencing."
So when identity thieves are released on bail, and never show up for their court hearings, a warrant is issued for the victim—and the thief has pretty much beaten the system.
Beating Technology with Technology
The difficulty of beating back bad data is at the core of the problem, and there are some proposed technological solutions. Instant fingerprint identification networks would cut down on misidentifications, for example. Some locales have tested computers that showed each suspect’s photograph along with warrant information to the arresting officer at the scene; that would pr some wrongful arrests. But both solutions have civil liberty implications, and both are costly.
"I don’t think there is a great solution that is not going to invade people’s privacy and not going to cost a fortune," Groch said. "When someone say, ’It’s not me,’ police have to be more sensitive and do a bit more checking. Cops have to follow their own common sense and need to take a little extra item."
That’s cold comfort to Malcolm Byrd’s wife. She said her husband is probably safe for now, given the publicity he received from the Janesville Gazette and a local radio station.
The Darkest Side of ID TheftAlias(化名) Becomes a DiseaseHis Word Against a DatabaseHow It BeganHow Common Is ItHow Does It HappenBeating Technology with TechnologyIn order to ______, California also has created a special identity theft registry.