In what has to be one of the longest cases of identity theft on record, the Associated Press (AP) recently reported the shocking story of a 66-year-old man who has suffered from identity theft for 35 years – in other words, over half of his life.

According to the AP report, Tom Lesh, 66, of Coos Bay, Oregon, said he has known since the 1970s that his identity was stolen by a friend of his brother and he has spent, in his words, “thousands of hours” over the decades since repeatedly trying to clear his name and correct his financial records and credit history by writing letters to credit card companies, banks, and government agencies – and even appealing to the alleged identity thief’s mother for help.

The AP reports that Federal authorities recently arrested 58-year-old Clark Mower from Seattle, who allegedly used the identity of Lesh for 35 years to avoid arrest warrants and file for bankruptcy after falling over $100,000 into debt. The suspect faces several charges including aggravated identity theft, according to the report. The decades-long identity theft case was finally cracked, the AP reports, when the suspect was tracked down after an insurance fraud investigator received claims for the treatment of a “Tom Lesh” at a hospital in Seattle that the “real” Tom Lesh said he never received – which could possibly be a case of “medical identity theft.”

While this 35-year-old case of identity theft is certainly out of the ordinary, it serves as a warning about how the crime of identity theft can literally can take over – and even take away – the lives of victims due to the “thousands of hours” they spend regaining their true identities and answering for crimes they did not commit. As the identity theft victim himself told the AP after the alleged identity thief’s arrest: “It's like I've been released from prison.”

MyBackgroundCheck.com offers consumers "personal" background checks of themselves to keep their personally identifiable information (PII) accurate, up-to-date, and secure. To learn how personal background checks help stop identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com

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