Chasing Thieves: A True Story of Identity Theft, Felons, and Fighting Back

By Karen Lodrick

Chasing Thieves tells the true story of how I overcame identity theft to catch the criminal and recover from the personal and financial trauma that turned my life upside down. 
Every year hundreds of thousands of Americans become the victims of identity theft. In most cases the

• Language: English
• Publisher: Karen Judith Lodrick
• Release date: Dec 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781736325001

Book preview

Acknowledgements

For me it took a village to write my story, so I want to thank everyone who along the way encouraged and supported me; you know who you are. From my first writing coach, Beth Barany who got the story rolling. To my first readers, Lenore Lasher, Kris Lodrick, and Patricia Garner who sure had a job reading what I would assume was a messy first draft. Yet without hesitation they encouraged me to keep going. I want to thank Joe Rosato Jr. for transcribing the 911 tape. Then to my editor, Ellen Hoffman, who without I would not even have a finished manuscript. Also, to the readers of my final draft Bil Garner, Ed Hjorth and Patricia Wuthrich who gave me the validation I needed to get the thing published. And to all my friends and family who were always supportive and have given me many good laughs over the ordeal that has helped me to heal. Finally, to everyone who knew about my story and encouraged me to write it in my own words.

Foreword

Bil Garner

I’m a technologist and security subject matter expert with more than twenty years of security operations and consulting experience. Professionally I provide thought leadership across a broad range of cyber technologies and information assurance initiatives. The last decade I have worked with cyber security startups in Silicon Valley. This work led to meeting Karen and perhaps by the time you read this, she will finally be my wife.

I met Karen several years ago while attending a training class for application security, but soon recalled my first encounter with her was years earlier, in 2009. The encounter was brief and names weren’t exchanged, but I remember. I was in Silicon Valley, having a conversation with the CEO and CMO, standing in a cavernous dot com kitchen so common in Sunnyvale. Something made me notice a young woman as she walked from cabinet to cabinet searching for something—something important, because she wasn’t giving up. I broke away and asked if I could help. It was early morning and she wanted cream for her coffee. I took her straight to it and returned to my momentarily perplexed co-workers. What I remember from this was a quiet intensity and how she didn’t stop looking for the cream. She was tenacious and this serves her well, as it turns out. Of course, I was unaware what she had recently endured.

The subject of this book is important, because it details how anyone could be victimized and what it takes to fight back. While the motive for identity theft is usually about stealing your money, it gets very personal. Identity theft is more than someone using your credit card number or gaining control of an account. Identity theft is someone using your personal details to impersonate you. This can quickly lead to ruining your reputation and the ability to have others trust you, especially strangers. This is the hard part. You rely on the trust of strangers every day. Maybe we don’t think about it, but you need banks, lenders, doctors, hospitals, even service professionals to trust you, and you don’t have the benefit of these people knowing you and your character. They rely on your reputation to form an arm’s length trust. Most people would rather not deal with someone that they consider untrustworthy and at the least, the rules are different. Cash up front, higher rates, worse service and restoring your reputation take the most time and diligence.

Personally, I have not suffered anything as bad as Karen did, so it’s tough for me to compare. I had someone socially engineer their way into a few bank accounts and social media platforms, because they could call and reset passwords by knowing a little information about me. I wasn’t protected. The reaction from the banks and businesses was astounding. The banks at first claimed I was lying or confused. One bank asked if I was drinking and forgot because a password reset was performed at three in the morning. It took some stern talk and jumping through some hoops to get my missing cash back, but it happened. Really scary. I didn’t do so well with my reputation online. I was permanently banned from several sites for violating terms and conditions of the community. Notably, I relied on a well-known childcare site to arrange care during my work travel. They froze my account and sent an email saying, don’t ever come back, or they would pursue legal action. There was no opportunity for discussion of what was wrong, and they were adamant that the decision was final and immediate. They kept several hundred dollars in membership fees and never responded to another communication. This was disruptive, expensive and very upsetting. It is also unresolved; I remain banned and banished.

So, what will you like about this book? You might find the mechanics of how this crime was perpetrated or reading about the reactions Karen would get from her strangers as she worked to straighten this out. There is reflection on what she did wrong and the rollercoaster of self-doubt common to victims. There is even a showdown where Karen pursues her thief in the streets, like in an old Western.

What I liked is that this is a story about reclaiming your life. It is about overcoming the barriers powerful companies use to protect themselves financially and legally. It’s about the impact all of this can have on how you feel about yourself and how others perceive you. It’s about the toll this crime takes from victims financially, emotionally, physically and socially. And best of all, it is about triumph and restoration against the odds.

Preface

If I express my truth maybe you will find your voice and tell your truth too.

—Karen Lodrick

I was the victim of identity theft. I had two choices. Let my tormentors continue to wreak havoc in my life or fight back. I chose to fight back.

Theft of my identity changed my life forever. A professional thief in a fuzzy suede coat and black sunglasses with rhinestones stole my Social Security number, my bank account numbers, and my credit cards and took out a fake driver’s license in my name. Armed with this information, she cleaned out my bank account several times. She took out a loan for a $7,000 computer, created numerous new credit cards and bank accounts in my name, and paid for purchases at stores including Macy’s, liquor stores and supermarkets with the fake credit cards. The thief’s efficient, multiple attacks undermined my personal confidence, gave me nightmares and hallucinations and terrified me for more than eight months. The barrage of thievery was so intense that it became necessary for me to devote at least one whole day a week—Friday—to cleaning up the financial messes.

You may have heard my story on entertainment news: How a victim chased and captured her own identity thief on the Streets of San Francisco. I didn’t even know the thief, but I found her. She and her partners in crime were caught and some of them served some time. As I write this, more than a decade after the crime occurred, I lead a pretty typical American life. I hold a job related to cybersecurity that pays my bills, I appreciate the times I and my fiancé’ can relax together, and I am actively pursuing my new professional interest—writing.

My story starts when five phone messages announced that thousands of dollars had been stolen from my bank account. It describes how the thieves accessed my personal information, how the crimes multiplied, and how confronting stonewalling financial institutions where my accounts had been compromised made me feel like a victim twice over. Unexpectedly being catapulted into five minutes of fame by the media added to the stress. In public and on the screen, I tried to present a calm, rational persona. But I didn’t feel safe in my home, my neighborhood, or the world. I didn’t know who the good guys were. Daily life became an unrelenting emotional rollercoaster as I was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress and tried every mind and body remedy, I could think of to calm myself.

All of these experiences contribute to my story, and I have chosen to relate them in chronological order to faithfully recount not just the events, but the effects of the events on my life as they occurred.

But most importantly, my story is more than just a sensational account of villains and heroes and the psychological stress of victimhood. With advances in technology, identity theft has been increasing and has become more sophisticated. Both preventing and resolving it have become more complex. It is more important than ever to be aware of the vulnerability of your personal financial information and take positive steps to protect it. After being victimized, I became obsessed with the topic of identity theft because personal awareness was ultimately what saved me. Now my goal is to openly share my experience in the hope that it will minimize others’ sufferings, either by preventing identity theft or by providing information and encouragement about how to cope and recover from it.

I had a choice: Allow my tormentors to continue wreaking havoc with my life? Or fight back? I chose action and against all odds acquired the tools to secure my bank accounts, track down my identity thieves, and take back my life. Along the way, I also learned how to deal with the mental anguish brought on by adversity and how to believe in myself again. Now my passion is to share what I have learned, so anyone who reads Chasing Thieves can get from victimization to victory.

I hope that by reading this book you will benefit by learning from some of the mistakes that made me vulnerable to this crime; and that it will also inspire you to take preventive actions—such as those summarized in the appendix—to ensure that it never happens to you.

Chapter One

I Lose My Identity

November 26, 2006

The phone message machine blinked at me, urging me to listen to five messages that would change my life. They were all from my bank’s credit department announcing large withdrawals of cash.

I had just returned to my San Francisco apartment after a Thanksgiving visit to my family in Michigan. I had withdrawn cash for the trip but this wasn’t right. My heart began to flutter. I listened to the messages, but before I could comprehend or react to what I was hearing, the phone rang.

We are calling you about withdrawals that have been made from your account on November 25th in the amount of $600.00 dollars and on November 26th in the amount of $600.00 dollars, the automated message announced.

I began to realize I hadn’t withdrawn this money. The message continued, If these withdrawals are correct than disregard this massage. Otherwise press one, then the pound sign to be connected with an available representative. I paced the floor of my apartment waiting for a representative to answer my call. I kept thinking this had to be wrong. They had the wrong account or person.

An agent finally came on the line. Fraud unit, this is Sergeant William how can I help you?

I think…I’m not sure. This message said something about large ATM withdrawals. I haven’t made any withdrawals.

Okay, who am I speaking with?

I gave him my name.

Okay, let me look at what we have here.

There was a short pause. It looks like your credit/debit card ending with the numbers 4465 shows activity of ATM withdrawals of six hundred dollars on November 25th and then again on November 26th.

What card number? I asked. I hurried over to my wallet and pulled out both my ATM and credit card and asked him to read off the last four digits again. That’s not my card. I said.

He proceeded. It says here this card was opened on November 25th. Does anyone have access to your home other than you?

No.

Well, ma’am someone had to have access because this card was issued from your authorized phone on November 25th. Who else has access to your home?

No one, it’s just me.

Are you sure no one has access to your phone? Someone would have had to have access.

No one, I’m the only one. No! I was getting scared thinking someone had broken into my home. With the phone in my hand, I looked feverishly around the apartment to see if anything had been tampered with.

Then he asked, Does it look like any one has been in your home?

No! I exclaimed.

I looked again. Nothing looked or felt out of place but me. I was starting to cry. No, nothing. I said.

I have closed the card, he said.

Yes, close the card. What do I do?

I took down the number he recommended I call on Monday and hung up the phone. I was in shock. All that was running through my head was that he had said: Someone must have been in your home. Someone must have broken into my home. I searched again and again around my apartment but I didn’t see anything out of sorts and nothing was missing.

Six Months Earlier

I had started worrying about identity theft even before I became a victim. San Francisco was my home. I loved my small but charming apartment and my work