Last October accountant Nancy Thibodeau received a phone call from a collection agency informing her that she owed the bank 20 thousand dollars.
The money withdrawn from a line of credit opened at a Toronto bank. However, the Montreal native has never lived in Toronto and hadn't opened an account at any bank there.
Someone else did it, using personal information like her driver's licence, making Nancy a victim of identity theft.
She had no idea what was happening until it was too late and she was already locked in a battle with collectors who weren't convinced that she was a victim.
Police at Phonebusters, Canada's leading fraud watchdog agency, see cases like hers all the time. Some people they deal with have lost their life savings.
According to Phonebusters, about 12 thousand Canadians are the victims of identity theft every year. And in 2004 it cost financial institutions and other corporations almost 19 million dollars. The Better Business Bureau says identity thieves steal, on average, about 64 hundred dollars
It's a crime that's relatively easy to commit, and police admit that perpetrators are difficult to catch because they often live in other jurisdictions, or even other countries.
Police also say once a person's personal information is out there, a criminal can continue using it more than once, even if the crime has been spotted. That's exactly what happened to Nancy Thibodeau who recently received yet another call from a collection agency telling her she had to pay up for a 10 thousand dollars loan taken out in her name.
70 percent of Canadians are worried about becoming victims of identity theft according to an Ipsos-Reid Survey.
Everyone is vulnerable, even children. In the U.S. the youngest victim has been a 3 week old baby in Washington.
Nonetheless, there are ways to protect oneself.
Never give out your social insurance number, credit card number, or bank account information in response to a phone call, an email, or even in-person requests.
Consider signing up for a credit monitoring service. It's about 15 dollars per month.
Regularly review all bank account, credit card, and bill statements.
Shred all private documents before throwing them out.
If your credit card is stolen, notify the appropriate banks or credit card companies immediately.
