8 Creepy Cases of Identity Theft

Beware of the people around you, for they might not be who you think they are.
Here are 8 creepy cases of identity thieves who completely fooled everyone around them.
Number 8: Britanny Ossenfort This weird case feels like something out of
a creepy movie.
Britanny Ossenfort first met her roommate Michelle through friends, and the two got
a long together quite well.
They shared a lot of similarities, and Michelle even had her hairstyle and color match Brittany’s.
Things started getting a little creepy when Michelle got a tattoo on her hand that was
the exact match as her roommate’s, but Brittany brushed away any weird thoughts, and the two
continued living together for a year.
One day while at work, Brittany got a call from the police asking her to bail a Brittany
Ossenfort - which is her own exact name - out of jail.
Upon enquiry and further investigation, it was revealed that the "Brittany" in police
custody who was arrested for prostitution was none other than Michelle, her roommate.
Michelle had been prostituting under the guise of Brittany, and even falsely gave her roommate's
name and information when questioned by the police.
But that's not the end of it.
The most disturbing truth is that Michelle's true identity is Richard Phillips, a transgender
who has been living as a woman for years.
Number 7: Wendy Brown Wendy Brown, a 34 year old mother from Wisconsin
was so desperate to turn back time and relive her youth, she did the unthinkable.
One day, She showed up at Ashwaubenon High School in Wisconsin, and enrolled herself
using her 15 year old daughter's identity who at that time was living with a relative
outside the state.
The mother got her own cheerleading outfit, and even went to a pool party with her new
student friends.
But when Wendy was no longer seen at class, school officials reported her for truancy,
and her true identity was uncovered.
Surprisingly, she was already in police custody, having just recently been caught committing
an unrelated crime.
Police reports showed that she had quite an extensive criminal record across the country,
mostly involving fraud and deceptive practices.
Wendy stated that she just wanted to relive her school days, as she never had much of
a childhood and never graduated high school.
The court ruled her not guilty by reason of mental disorder.
Interviewed students admitted that she indeed looked older, but no one wanted to point it
out, so they all just went along with it.
Number 6: Nicole McCabe For three years, Nicole Sandra McCabe had
been living happily with her Israeli husband in Israel.
The Australian native was close to expecting her first child when she heard the news of
the assassination of Hamas chief leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in January 2010.
The man who was wanted by the Israeli government was attacked in his hotel room in Dubai, and
smothered to death with a pillow.
But what shocked Nicole the most was the fact that her name was among the people implicated
for the murder, and she was now on Interpol's most wanted list.
The 27 year old pregnant woman had not left Israel for over half a year, had never even
been to Dubai, and was confident that she was not leading a double life as an assassin.
Further investigations linked the assassination to Mossad, Israel's secret intelligence agency.
Turns out that Nicole, along with many others were victims of a large scale identity theft
operation.
In order to pass the United Arab Emirates's customs, the 26 Mossad agents involved in
the assassination had been using stolen and fake passports of real people.
Other than being issued a new passport, Nicole had been offered little help from both the
Israeli and Australian government, both of which she is citizens to.
She now has to limit her travels, and lives in fear that a vengeful Arab assassin might
appear to get her one day.
Number 5: Lara Love and David Jackson The "neighbors from hell."
That's how a prosecutor described Lara Love and David Jackson, a Californian couple caught
in 2008 for committing a massive identity theft scheme.
The two had settled in a close-knit neighborhood in Santa Cruz, and were well liked and trusted
by their neighbors and relatives.
They eventually used that trust to their advantage by stealing their neighbors' mail, hacking
into their online networks, and stealing their credit cards.
With the information of over two dozen people, they managed to scam thousands of dollars
off multiple accounts.
As the crime spree went on, victims noticed that they were being charged for things and
services they didn't know of, and upon investigation the two were eventually caught.
The couple was also found to be drug addicts, and is now serving a 24 year jail sentence.
According to officials, the case itself is not actually unique, as study has shown that
at least 10 percent of identity theft victims had their identities stolen by people they
knew.
Number 4: Rosa Vargas In 2004, Rosa Vargas from New York was happily
making preparations for her upcoming wedding, when her marriage application was suddenly
rejected three weeks before her big day.
The reason, as stated by the Municipal Office, was that she was already married - not to
one, but two different men, one in Mexico and the other in Ecuador.
Distraught and convinced that it was some kind of mistake, Rosa and her fiancée proceeded
with their marriage anyway by obtaining their license from a different jurisdiction.
The strange incident was almost forgotten, but five years later an Ecuadorian man appeared
at her home with divorce papers that he wanted her to sign.
Rosa refused to do so, and the family had to show the man a picture of the wedding day
to convince him she was not the woman he was searching for.
The truth is, Rosa had lost her birth certificate about a decade before her marriage, and the
information had been stolen and used by two different parties, presumably as part of a
scam to naturalize immigrants into becoming US citizens through marriage.
In 2012, Rosa was finally able to get the fake marriages invalidated with the help of
a lawyer.
But her problems were not over.
Shortly after, she found out that she was "married" to yet another person without her
consent, this time in Long Island, New York.
Number 3: Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra In 2000, the management of a Hong Kong classical
venue was contacted by someone who claimed to represent the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra,
asking if they would be interested to have the group come perform at their place.
Delighted, they agreed as the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra was internationally renowned as
one of the best orchestra groups in the world.
The event was publicized widely, and was even organized with the help of the Hong Kong government.
10,000 classical music fans attended, and the orchestra did not disappoint.
They delivered a splendid performance, and received rave reviews in the press.
But there was just one problem.
Whoever those musicians were, they were certainly not the Moscow Philharmonic.
The real group at that time was thousands of miles away on a tour in Europe.
When they heard about the sudden praise they got from a performance in Hong Kong - which
they never went to - they knew something wasn't right.
When news got out about the fake orchestra, the organizers and the government in Hong
Kong were left in awkward positions, and some concert goers started asking for refunds,
believing they were duped.
The fake Moscow Philharmonic had left the country by then, apparently satisfied of their
amazing performance that fooled so many people.
Number 2: Frederic Bourdin One day in 1994, 13 year old Nicholas Barclay
was out playing with his friends in their home town of San Antonio, Texas.
The boy never returned home that day and has been missing since.
Three years later, a young man appeared at the family's doorstep, claiming himself to
be the long lost Nicholas.
Never mind that he had a French accent, or that his eye color was different, the family
took him in and genuinely believed him to be their Nicholas.
He claimed that he was kidnapped and served a child prostitution ring, whose members altered
his eye color.
He lived with the family for 5 months, before a private investigator who had been working
with a TV crew that filmed the family's reunion grew suspicious.
He noticed differences between the ears of the young man and a photo of Nicholas Barclay
before he went missing.
After obtaining a court order, the FBI took the young man's fingerprints and DNA, and
found them to belong to a French man named Frédéric Bourdin.
Bourdin served six years for identity fraud and perjury, and was sent back to France afterwards.
There, he continued impersonating missing youngsters across Europe, and reportedly assumed
at least 500 fake identities!
He earned the nickname "The Chameleon" and became something of a legend for his crazy
exploits.
According to interviews, his schemes are the result of a troubled childhood, causing him
to crave the attention and love from others.
Bourdon was the subject of the 2010 film "The Chameleon".
Number 1: Arnaud du Tilh Here's another case of a legendary French
identity thief, though this one occurred nearly five centuries ago.
Martin Guerre was a 16th Century peasant living in the village of Artigat, in southwest France.
One day, he disappeared completely after being accused of stealing grain, leaving behind
his wife Bertrande, and their baby boy.
Almost 9 years later, a man claiming to be Martin reappeared in Artigat.
His features were similar, and he knew every detail of Martin's life.
This convinced the villagers, including Martin's wife and family.
So Bertrande lived together with her returned husband, and had two more children with him.
The new "Martin" also inherited what was left by his deceased "father".
But Martin's father in law was suspicious.
He suspected that the man was a fraud, and his suspicions were supported by a passing
soldier who had been with the real Martin more recently.
The soldier implied that the real Martin had lost a leg in a recent war.
After a lengthy trial, the fraud was exposed as a man named Arnaud du Tilh, and was convicted
and sentenced to death.
However, Arnaud appealed to higher authorities, and the trial went on.
It was during this time that the real Martin dramatically reappeared, with a wooden leg.
His family recognized him immediately, and the case was closed.
Arnaud confessed his story, saying that after being mistaken for Martin some time ago, he
decided to take his place, and had two conspirators help him with the details.
He apologized for his crimes before being hanged in front of Martin's house.
The real Martin revealed that he had been fighting in Spain as part of a cardinal's
militia army, was wounded, and had his leg amputated.
The reason for his return at that exact moment was unknown.
The bizarre story of Martin and Arnaud has been the subject and inspiration of many works
of writings, plays, and films.

8 Creepy Cases of Identity Theft

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