THE WORLD’S TOP 10 MOST BIZARRE

IDENTITY THEFT CASES

Identity theft is a form of stealing someone's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, usually as a method to gain

access to resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name. ( Source: Wikipedia)

10. Gerald Barnbaum aka Gerald Barnes, Jerold C. Barnes, Jerald C. Barnes and Gerald Charles

Offence: Gerald is a former pharmacist and convicted felon who posed as a medical doctor between 1976 and 2000.

Criminal Penalty: 22.5 years

9. Marcelo Nascimento da Rocha

Offence: Marcelo, the drug smuggler, impersonated Henrique Constantino, the brother of the CEO of the airline Gol Airlines, enjoying the high life but then getting busted after sleeping with a woman who actually knew the real Constantino.

8. Andrea Harris-Frazier

Offence: Andrea Harris-Frazier defrauded several banks using Somerville’s identity out of tens of thousands of dollars. This went on for two years. This happened when the real owner lost, Margot Somerville, lost her wallet on a trolley. Two years later she was arrested. Luckily, the real crook – Andrea Harris Frazier - was caught after much HAVOC was done.

7. Ferdinand Demara Offence: Ferdinand, a daring serial imposter, used medical books to fudge his way through surgeries he performed onboard a ship during the Korean war, impersonating Dr. Joseph Cyr. Prior, he had faked his death and even went AWOL under a friend’s name when in the Army.

6. Phillip Cummings Offence: Phillip Cummings offence was selling customers’ credit cart reports to a Nigerian ID theft ring for $30. He succeeded at selling it 30,000 while working for a software company.

5. Abraham Abdallah Offence: This busboy named Abraham Abdallah got into the bank accounts of popular artists duping the RICH and FAMOUS in the process. His hit lists includes Steven Spielberg. He tricked his victims via computer, getting sufficient data to fake being their financial advisors—then calling their banks…and you know the rest.

4. Brittany Ossenfort Offence: Brittany Ossenfort got a new roommate, Michelle, who got a haircut just like Ossenfort’s. One day Ossenfort received a call at her office from the cops asking her to bail herself out of jail. “Michelle” had been hooking on the streets, posing as Ossenfort and was caught. Turns out “Michelle” was really Richard Lester

Phillips, living as a woman.

3. Lara Love and David Jackson

Offence: This California couple one day began tapping into a neighbor’s wireless Internet router. This led to them raiding the neighbors’ personal data. Thirty victims were affected ultimately by the time this pair was busted.

2. Frederic Bourdin Offence: Bourdin liked to impersonate missing children, including Nicholas Barclay, a missing teen. The teen’s family was fooled, even though Bourdin looked nothing like Barclay (including different hair and eye color--amazing, isn’t it?). More stunning is that the family was fooled for nearly a year until fingerprints proved his real identity. He’s been in and out of jail since.

1. Amar & Neha Punjani-Singh Offence: According to Queens (N.Y.) District Attorney Richard Brown, it’s the largest and most sophisticated Identity theft case in the US. The Couple organised an enterprise criminal gang that gathered customers’ information from the internet. Their loot Was $13Million.

It’s important and a must for you to make the safety of your Identity a must. Identity Thieves are usually a step ahead of you. However, by taking appropriate steps and staying updated, you can beat them and live secured lives forever.

At A Spy Agent, we write guides to ensure the safety of the whole family.

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