The Investigators

CBS 11 Crews Attempt To Track Down Identity Thief

DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ― When Paul Marks travels, he's careful not to give out any of his personal information. He also makes sure to shred his bills, but someone still was able to get a hold of his personal information.

Marks was stuck with thousands of dollars in bills and his credit in disarray.

"I don't know where my information is at right now," said Marks. "I don't know where this person is and who is living with my name and social security number and birth date and opening up a series of accounts."

Marks noticed the fraud on his credit report when he tried to refinance his house. He said it started with Time Warner Cable. Marks said someone opened up a cable account in his name at a Dallas apartment complex. As Marks pointed out, "I don't live in Dallas. I live in Los Angeles."

Marks already had Time Warner Cable at his home in Los Angeles, yet the company still opened up the cable account in Dallas and provided service for 5 months. When no payments were made, the bill collector demanded about $700 for the service.

Dallas Police Detective Michael Dana works identity theft crimes. "I would think if you do a credit check, you'd see the individual lives in California, not Texas and that would be a red flag," said Dana.

Instead, some companies seem to be raising the checkered flag, letting identity thieves sign up and destroy people's credit.

Marks said someone also used his personal information to sign up for AT&T residential telephone service and racked up roughly $1,000 in phone bills.

In another instance, someone used a phony address and ordered five Sprint cell phones in Marks' name. Now he owes Sprint nearly $4,000.

The person living in the Dallas apartment receiving the cable and telephone service at the time of the fraud, according to the landlord, was Belinda Angton, a 5 foot 2 inches, 250 pound woman with a nose ring. Marks said he doesn't know Angton, who, according to records, is a convicted prostitute.

Angton is long gone from her Dallas residence, but Marks is still dealing with creditors and couldn't refinance his house.

Time Warner Cable issued the following statement:

Time Warner Cable works with credit bureaus to check identities of customers before they sign up, and we also take numerous measures to prevent and detect fraud, including working with local authorities to help prosecute such criminals.

With regards to this particular customer, Time Warner Cable has not charged him anything, and we have sent a letter to the credit bureaus to ensure that this incident does not negatively impact his credit rating.

If North Texas Time Warner Cable customers suspect they are victims of identity theft, they should contact our security team at 888-824-8041.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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