When Darrius Whitehorn was arrested as a robbery suspect last week, he spent a week in jail and became a poster child for criminal identity theft.

Most people think of ID theft as a crime with only financial ramifications, but—though criminal ID theft can also cost big bucks—the damage it wreaks on its victims can be even more serious.

Soon after Whitehorn, 27, was arrested by Chicago police officers they determined he wasn’t involved in the robbery, but they discovered an arrest warrant with his name, birth date and the Social Security number for a separate robbery in Hammond, Indiana.

Whitehorn and his parents knew there had been a terrible mistake and spent the week begging the police and sheriff’s departments to release their son. They couldn’t explain the warrant in their son’s name, but knew their son—a criminal justice student at Loyola University– wasn’t a criminal.

A week later the police were able to provide the explanation: Kirk Davis, a convicted robber and a friend of Whitehorn’s older brother, had usurped Whitehorn’s identity. Fingerprint evidence and a photo lineup linked Davis to another robbery committed in Hammond in February of last year, and cleared Whitehorn of the crime. Davis died in October.

“I would not wish this on my worst enemy,” Whitehorn said. “In class, they tell you that you’re innocent until proven guilty. But I felt I was guilty until proven innocent.”

Whitehorn missed a week of work and the first day of classes while he was in lock up, and his mother took a week off work to fight for her son’s freedom.

“I didn’t want to go back to work until he was out of this hellhole,” his mother, Marie Latham said.

Linda Norris has never been arrested on prostitution charges, but she was arrested July 7 for violating the probation conditions of a 2004 prostitution charge. Colleen Wehunt, a convicted prostitute and drug user, has been using Norris’ identity for years.

And, unfortunately, Norris’ story isn’t uncommon: 56% of the ID theft victims in the Identity Theft Resource Center’s annual Aftermath Survey said their impostors were arrested, booked or arraigned using their victims’ name. One-third of the respondents said they now have criminal records because of crimes committed by the impostors.

When Florida Highway Patrol troopers stopped Norris July 7, they ran her driver’s license, and found the arrest warrant in her name. And, even though Norris’ face matched the one on her driver’s license, how could the troopers know she wasn’t the ID thief with a fake license?

Norris, a resident of Apopka, Fla., even presented a document from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office confirming Colleen Wehunt had stolen Norris’ identity. But the trooper had no choice but to arrest her, according to Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes–apparently judges’ warrants trump Sheriff’s Office documents.

Norris and Wehunt each rented rooms in a boarding house in the 1990s, but weren’t friends and didn’t know each other, Norris said. She said she thinks Wehunt must have stolen her mail to get enough information to successfully impersonate her all these years.

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We’ve all heard – or experienced – the horror stories of identity thieves who use stolen identities to open credit card accounts or buy cars, boats and houses. But, it could be worse. Take Malcolm Byrd’s story for instance: it’s the stuff Coen brothers’ movies are made of.

It starts with a guy in Wisconsin, Malcolm Byrd, reading a story in the local newspaper that details his arrest of the previous night. What the …? He goes to the police department. They explain that some guy got arrested for coke possession with intent to sell and gave his name as Malcolm Byrd.  By the time the “real” Malcolm Byrd read about the arrest, the impostor had bonded out of jail and was released.

Next, Malcolm goes to the paper. Apologies are made. A retraction is run. It was a strange, strange day for our hero, but it’s all been cleared up, right? Of course not. If it were all cleared up, it wouldn’t be worthy of the Coen brothers.It’s a wild story, right? The thing is, one in every six identity theft victims ends up with a criminal record, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. Of course, Malcolm Byrd’s story is worse than most.

Next scene: Four months have gone by. The same guy is sitting at home with his two little kids on a Saturday night. There’s a knock at the door. The law is there, and they have a warrant for his arrest. Our hero is busted for coke possession with intent to sell. Off he goes to jail.

What follows is years of absolute hell. Byrd gets pulled over for speeding, and ends up face down on the pavement, with his hands cuffed behind his back. That’s right, it’s those pesky coke charges again.

Things get worse. He loses his job when his boss finds out he lied about his criminal history. He’s denied unemployment benefits because of his criminal history. He can’t get another job because of his criminal history. His driver’s license is suspended because someone else using his name – apparently someone else who’s a really bad driver – has racked up a bunch of unpaid traffic tickets.

His niece borrows his car, and gets pulled over. The police demand that she tell them her uncle’s whereabouts. He gets arrested again. The charges this time: failure to appear in court on his coke charges. This time, the police are about to call Child Protective Services to come get his kids, but his mother-in-law arrives, and the kids are allowed to stay. Byrd gets hauled off to jail again.

Before it’s over, Byrd gets arrested three more times. But how can he ever really know that it’s over? The coke dealer that’s been using his name has never been arrested.

Threats to your personal information are coming from organized-crime rings all over the globe, according to Shawn Henry, FBI Assistant Director. “Over the past year, the malicious activity has become much more prevalent, “ Henry said, adding that the threat is worsening.

Henry didn’t name any nations specifically, but Russia and China have been mentioned by intelligence agencies in the past. And there may be a couple dozen other countries with an “aggressive interest” in private and governmental computer networks.

These new threats make it impossible for individuals to fully protect themselves from identity theft, and increase the need for comprehensive identity theft programs like those offered by Life Lock.

Only LifeLock offers eRecon, a service that continually monitors the Internet for any mention of their clients’ names, Social Security numbers, account numbers, or any other personal or financial information being bought, sold or traded by identity theft criminals.

In their reportage of Henry’s announcements, Reuters detailed some of the new and increasingly sophisticated attack strategies:

Botnets: viruses spread malicious software—“malware”—through individuals’ or companies’ networks. By doing so, the perpetrators are able to steal data or entirely shut down the entire network.

Spearfishing: similar to the more familiar “phishing,” only in this method hackers access the companies’ email list to send out information requests that look official.

Pump and dump: criminals penetrate several investment companies’ client accounts; manipulate stock prices upward, only to get rid of them at their peak, causing values to plummet.

Henry went on to assure reporters that pump and dump activities was not to blame for the current Wall Street crises, but have caused tens of millions of dollars in losses.

Since its start in 2000, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has received over a million complaints. The Center now receives approximately 20,000 complaints every month, Henry said.

If you’re curious about whether you’re vulnerable to identity theft, try this simple experiment: Hold a mirror about two inches from your mouth. With your mouth open, exhale normally. Did the mirror fog? If so, you’re at risk.

Checking your credit report will alert you—after the fact—to fraudulent use of your existing accounts, or the establishment of any new accounts in your name. Checking your credit report regularly won’t prevent identity theft, but it will limit the damage done to your credit.

There’s more to worry about than your credit

What about identity theft that doesn’t show up on your credit report? What if someone else uses your identity when they have a run in with the law?

If you’re fortunate like Scott Rector of North Carolina, you might spot the arrest report in the newspaper.

Last week, a simple traffic stop resulted the arrest of a man claiming to be Rector. The man was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving without a license in his possession. Police took him to the station for fingerprinting and a mug shot, but he was then released.

The next day, the “real” Scott Rector picked up his local newspaper. And there it was: the report showing that he’d been arrested the day before. His name, age and address were all part of the article.

Yes, Scott Rector was fortunate to learn that someone else had been arrested using his identity as quickly as he did. But it would be a mistake to say he was lucky; the same thing happened to him once before in the mid ‘90s.

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