LifeLock Blog

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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