Each year more than 9 million people become victims of identity theft. But what’s at risk isn’t just money it can be your freedom.
Local 12 News Reporter Rich Jaffe has this ‘all too personal’ experience.
In 2010, a Seattle, Washington man, Dan Wheeler made headlines when a police officer stopped him for making an illegal left turn.
http://liarcatchers.com/identity_theft_investigation.html
“Next thing I know he’s listening to his radio, puts his hand on his gun and says turn around put your hands on the car. You’re under arrest. I said for what? He says there’s a warrant for your arrest.”
That warrant was really for convicted sex offender Jason Ellis. He’d been using Wheelers name as an alias for years…but Wheeler ended up in jail until the he convinced authorities they’d made a mistake.
It’s something Wheeler may have to fight for the rest of his life.
“If you think Wheeler’s an isolated case, wait until you hear what happened to me.”
While filing some documents at the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office a few years ago, I also discovered a problem. Law enforcement checked my social security number and found that it comes back to an Arizona man named John G. Ponsart.
“Someone enters that wrong social security number when they’re booking someone in or the criminal gives a fake I.D. And it just so happens to be your I.D. Your social security number so it is a huge problem for people.”
John George Ponsart Jr. currently resides behind the walls of the Arizona State Prison in Eyman.
Ponsart’s been arrested on forgery charges, theft, a variety of drug charges, and oh…did I mention, he’s also a registered sex offender. Convicted of having sex with a child under the age of 15.
He’s not the kind of guy you’d want to be connected to…but I am.
Initially I contacted the sheriff’s office in Pinal County, Arizona where Ponsart lives. They investigated but nothing changed.
Last year, Georgetown Police Chief Buddy Coburn ran the license plates on my truck and it happened again.
“When that popped up I got kind of a sick feeling in my stomach, my initial thought was what the heck? I wanted to think this can’t be right.”
It appears that at on March 21st of 2003, when John Ponsart was arrested by police in Casa Grande, Arizona, his social security number was incorrectly entered on the arrest documents and Ponsart became me-by the numbers. A simple mistake with potentially catastrophic results.
Credit checks, security checks, parking tickets; Any place people don’t know Rich Jaffe I could be in big trouble just like Dan Wheeler.
“As a law enforcement officer we rely extremely heavily on the information we get from the computer.”
“That sex offender or that violent offender could end up with an active warrant and you’re gonna be looking at yourself handcuffed in the back of a cruiser trying to explain it.”
Attorney General Mike Dewine says my problem’s not unique.
“The real problem is you don’t know it until something happens.”
In Ohio, the State Bureau of Criminal Investigation gets about a dozen calls every month from people in similar situations.
Earlier this year with Clermont County Sheriff’s Officials I tried again to clear the records in Arizona, and again we failed. So a few weeks ago I contacted Arizona law enforcement one more time, but now I also enlisted the aid of our Attorney General.
“What we’re doing in your case for example is contacting the three agencies in Arizona that put in information about this clown out in Arizona.”
It’s not over yet, but fortunately Ponsart’s in prison until 2022. While he may not even know he’s had my social security number for the last few years, he serves as a serious reminder that we’re all just one digit away from disaster.
The Arizona Department of Public Services told us there’s nothing they can do to fix Rich’s problem. The FBI is looking into it.
If it’s happened to you, contact the state Attorney General’s office. We’d like to hear from you too.
