As technology improves, criminals are finding more ways to target consumers. One Lubbock resident said she’s shocked at the lengths someone went to impersonate her.
“So I was checking the bank account to see if I needed to transfer money, and I noticed the check numbers were off,” Mandee Lawlis said. “I wouldn’t have written a check, first of all, at Target. Second of all, I wouldn’t have written it off of our business account.”
A closer look revealed someone was writing fraudulent checks in Lawlis’s name, even imitating her handwriting.
“They tried really, really hard to get it exactly right. Like the handwriting is so close, you can tell they’ve seen a check that I’ve written,” Lawlis said.
That wasn’t all. They also had her driver’s license information, and it appears they used a fake ID at one of the stores that requires a physical ID to be present.
“Just the violation, that somebody went to such great lengths to try to be me to take something that wasn’t theirs,” Lawlis said.
Lubbock Police said 345 people fell victim to identity theft in 2017. Already this year, 277 people have reported stolen driver’s license information. Since 2015, 3,108 people reported stolen driver’s license information.
Lawlis said she doesn’t know how it happened. Her driver’s license and purse have never been physically stolen. She runs a business with her husband, and they had a trailer stolen a few months ago. Lawlis said, though, there was no identifying personal information inside.
She filed a report with police and the Federal Trade Commission, along with contacting her bank. Now, she’s waiting to see if police can get security footage from the stores where her information was used to help identify a suspect.
“Just knowing they have all of that information is nerve-wracking and violating and worse than them spending money off of an account,” Lawlis said. “Like I was at home with my family while someone was out writing checks on my account. It’s the craziest feeling.”
The Social Security Administration said there are a few steps to follow if you believe your identity was stolen:
1. Contact the Federal Trade Commission HERE, or call 1-877-IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338); TTY 1-866-653-4261.
2. File a police report with the police department where the identity theft took place and keep a copy of the police report as proof of the crime, For Lubbock Police, CLICK HERE.
3. Contact the fraud units of the three consumer credit reporting companies.
