ID Theft in Portland Oregon – “Hello, Stop Stealing My Identity “
Bogdan Vovk had his identity stolen by Randy Campbell
Bogdan Vovk came from the Ukraine in 1990 when Bogdan was only seven. He is Now 26 and married and his wife is 4 months pregnant. He and his wife were planning on purchasing a house when Vovk started to get strange letters in the mail.
Vovk first received a thank you card from a jewelry shop thanking him for the purchase of a Rolex watch and a ring. Vovk had never purchased a Rolex watch and had never been to the Jewelry store in question. Vovk then received a letter from Nordstrom denying his credit application because of too many inquiries. At this point Vovk knew something was wrong and he called the Jewelry shop only to find out that someone with a drivers license and credit card with his name on it purchased the watch a couple weeks ago.
Vovk did something you wouldn’t expect he used an online credit report to find what other stuff the thief was doing on his credit. He used this information to get the phone number from one of the fraudulent credit applications. Vovk called the number not expecting someone to pickup. The phone rang and surprisingly the id thief picked up the phone and the conversation went something like this.
Vovk – “Can I speak to Bogdan Vovk?”
Id thief – “Who’s asking?”
Vovk – . “This is Dan from ABC Credit Reporting Agency.”
ID thief – “What’s it regarding?” asked the man.
Vovk – “I just want to verify your address,”
ID thief – The stranger recited Vovk’s Auburn address.
Vovk – “To be honest with you, I’m the real Bogdan Vovk.”
ID thief – No you’re not. I am!” and he hung up
He then sent him a text message saying “Can you please stop? You’ve done enough. Please tell me where you got your information?” The ID theft wrote back and said he had purchased it from a cell phone Kiosk in Renton, Washington. Apparently the ID thief was told the ID was that of a dead Russian immigrant and was 100% clean.
After the police got involved they tracked the ID thief to Portland, Oregon. Randy Campbell had stolen the identity of not only Vovk but from a man from Texas as well. He was living in an apartment that was registered to one of the stolen identities. Campbell also used the information to buy a car, open bank accounts and obtain credit, buy watches, jewelry and electronics at multiple retailers in Portland. He was then charged with 22-counts of alleging theft, forgery and identity theft. He plead not guilty to all the charges.
I think Vovk was brave to confront this guy on his own, it as least makes for an interesting identity theft story. It’s a scary thing when ID thieves use the identities for everything from houses to cars to credit cards. It makes it really difficult to catch them because police don’t know who they are looking for and nothing is put in their real name. Vovk was lucky they caught him before he took off never to be seen again.
