A lost purse or wallet could land you in jail

Posted by Joe on May 21st, 2009

Wheat Ridge, Colorado authorities ordered the arrest of a Northern California woman, Margot Somerville, on 19 felony charges. Police alleged that Sommerville was the mastermind behind a nationwide identity theft ring that had stolen over $60,000 using stolen identification and forged deposit slips.

But rather than being the mastermind of this identity theft ring, Somerville was actual one of its unsuspecting victims.

While on a day trip to San Francisco with members of her bridge team, Somerville's wallet was lifted from her purse by a pick pocket. Shortly thereafter, she began to realize that money was missing from her bank accounts. Authorities would later discover that her driver's license was used at two separate bank branches in Colorado to withdraw about $20,000.

Colorado authorities inexplicably keyed in on Somerville as a likely suspect for the crimes despite being a victim herself. Many months of struggling with Colorado authorities, which included an arrest where authorities forcibly extracted her from her Northern California home, eventually led to a full exoneration and recuperation of her stolen funds.

While this may seem like an extreme case, a stolen identity leads to criminal trouble for the victim more frequently then you may think. Just this week a popular musician, Little Joe Hernandez, was arrested in Austin, TX as a result of what appears to be a case of mistaken identity related to a stolen identity.

There is no one solution to preventing these types of crimes but we do believe that a proactive identity theft protection service can make it more difficult for identity thieves to victimize you. Additionally, many of the services we have reviewed offer extensive recovery assistance that can make reclaiming your identity much less painless.

To learn more, read our reviews and comparison of identity theft protection services.