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CNN Live Today

Identity Theft

Aired August 12, 2003 - 11:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Identity theft, a crime that's growing at an explosive rate in this country. Some estimates say 12 million Americans are victims every year, and that number is sure to grow with the revolution of data and technology.
Michael Berry is one of the 12 million victims. He joins us from Washington today to share his story.

Mr. Berry, Thanks for being with us.

I know this has been an incredible frustration for you. Can you take us through what happened and how you knew you indeed had been a victim of identity theft?

MICHAEL BERRY, IDENTITY THEFT VICTIM: I'd be happy to. It started in January of 2002 when I applied for a credit increase to one of my low-interest credit cards, and I was surprised when I got the message back from Chase Manhattan Bank that they were denying the credit line.

COLLINS: Why were you surprised?

BERRY: Well, I had perfect credit. I had never been late on a payment in my life, and they said, we are denying you because you have been opening too many credit cards lately.

COLLINS: That was not the case, in your mind.

BERRY: It was not the case, no. I did some investigating. I had to get my three credit reports from the three major credit bureaus. Someone had opened 15 credit cards in the course of one month.

COLLINS: And you found out -- I'm sorry. And you found out who this person was, at least the name and an address. What did you do then?

BERRY: Reported it to authorities. All of the credit cards had gone to an address in Los Angeles. I live here in Washington D.C., and of course that had not stopped the banks from issuing the credit cards. I called the LAPD saying I got this address, I got 15 credit cards in my name that have gone to this address, and they've been maxed out, would you check it out? And they said, no.

COLLINS: So, you took matters into your own hands?

BERRY: I took matters into my own hands that's right. I'm from California, so shortly after that, I went to California on vacation. And as soon as I landed at LAX I got into a rental car and I drove to that address in South Central Los Angeles.

COLLINS: What did you find?

BERRY: Well, after I sat outside for about 10 minutes, I saw a male, a tattooed male, walk out of the house with a six-inch stack of mail, and he handed it to another gentleman who pulled up in a brand new Lexus -- this is a very bad part of Los Angeles -- and handed him the six-inch stack of mail. So I wondered how many letters in that stack were credit cards of mine.

COLLINS: What did you find out about this particular person?

BERRY: Well, we found out that at least one person -- we don't know how many total were involved -- but one person was Demorris Hunter (ph), and we found that out he went on to kill two women after that, a woman in Oakland, California, and a woman in Orlando, Florida.

COLLINS: So let me make sure I have this straight. Your identity has now been stolen by this particular individual, who is, in fact, a convicted murderer that is for killings in two different states. People now think that you are him.

BERRY: Absolutely. That was absolutely the case. Both women he had killed he was posing as me. He carried a California driver's license and a Social Security card with my information, saying that he was Michael Barry.

COLLINS: How do you think he got that information?

BERRY: We have no idea, and that's the question I want to know. I have never lost my wallet. I have always been careful about shredding my documents. And no one seems to know. That's the question of the hour.

COLLINS: Remind us how long have you been struggling with this, and where you're at today. Has it been resolved at all?

BERRY: I appreciate the question. I've been struggling with it since January of 2002. I found out about the murders in June of 2002. Two federal warrants were issued in my name because he was posing as me.

It is now -- obviously, we are into 2003, well into 2003. Two of my credit reports are clean. One of them is still a complete mess, because one of the companies is -- these companies really aren't fully responsive to understanding the problem or to understanding the victims. It's a real problem trying to get it all cleaned up, and we're a long way from where we need to be.

COLLINS: Mr. Barry, what would your advice be for every one of us out there who has a driver's license, obviously a Social Security card. Are we guarding ourselves well enough?

BERRY: I don't think people are, and It's a tough question. I think people need to be careful giving out their identifying information. People need to be checking their credit reports to see if there are things on them that don't belong to them.

Finally, the Congress has got to take action. The problem is spiraling out of control. They now call it the fastest growing white collar crime, which I would argue it's not a white-collar crime, but it's a major problem, but it's a major problem. Millions of people have been victimized, most of whom don't even know.

COLLINS: All right, some great advice today. We wish you the best of luck. Michael Berry, thanks for sharing your story with us.

BERRY: Thanks for having me.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired August 12, 2003 - 11:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Identity theft, a crime that's growing at an explosive rate in this country. Some estimates say 12 million Americans are victims every year, and that number is sure to grow with the revolution of data and technology.
Michael Berry is one of the 12 million victims. He joins us from Washington today to share his story.

Mr. Berry, Thanks for being with us.

I know this has been an incredible frustration for you. Can you take us through what happened and how you knew you indeed had been a victim of identity theft?

MICHAEL BERRY, IDENTITY THEFT VICTIM: I'd be happy to. It started in January of 2002 when I applied for a credit increase to one of my low-interest credit cards, and I was surprised when I got the message back from Chase Manhattan Bank that they were denying the credit line.

COLLINS: Why were you surprised?

BERRY: Well, I had perfect credit. I had never been late on a payment in my life, and they said, we are denying you because you have been opening too many credit cards lately.

COLLINS: That was not the case, in your mind.

BERRY: It was not the case, no. I did some investigating. I had to get my three credit reports from the three major credit bureaus. Someone had opened 15 credit cards in the course of one month.

COLLINS: And you found out -- I'm sorry. And you found out who this person was, at least the name and an address. What did you do then?

BERRY: Reported it to authorities. All of the credit cards had gone to an address in Los Angeles. I live here in Washington D.C., and of course that had not stopped the banks from issuing the credit cards. I called the LAPD saying I got this address, I got 15 credit cards in my name that have gone to this address, and they've been maxed out, would you check it out? And they said, no.

COLLINS: So, you took matters into your own hands?

BERRY: I took matters into my own hands that's right. I'm from California, so shortly after that, I went to California on vacation. And as soon as I landed at LAX I got into a rental car and I drove to that address in South Central Los Angeles.

COLLINS: What did you find?

BERRY: Well, after I sat outside for about 10 minutes, I saw a male, a tattooed male, walk out of the house with a six-inch stack of mail, and he handed it to another gentleman who pulled up in a brand new Lexus -- this is a very bad part of Los Angeles -- and handed him the six-inch stack of mail. So I wondered how many letters in that stack were credit cards of mine.

COLLINS: What did you find out about this particular person?

BERRY: Well, we found out that at least one person -- we don't know how many total were involved -- but one person was Demorris Hunter (ph), and we found that out he went on to kill two women after that, a woman in Oakland, California, and a woman in Orlando, Florida.

COLLINS: So let me make sure I have this straight. Your identity has now been stolen by this particular individual, who is, in fact, a convicted murderer that is for killings in two different states. People now think that you are him.

BERRY: Absolutely. That was absolutely the case. Both women he had killed he was posing as me. He carried a California driver's license and a Social Security card with my information, saying that he was Michael Barry.

COLLINS: How do you think he got that information?

BERRY: We have no idea, and that's the question I want to know. I have never lost my wallet. I have always been careful about shredding my documents. And no one seems to know. That's the question of the hour.

COLLINS: Remind us how long have you been struggling with this, and where you're at today. Has it been resolved at all?

BERRY: I appreciate the question. I've been struggling with it since January of 2002. I found out about the murders in June of 2002. Two federal warrants were issued in my name because he was posing as me.

It is now -- obviously, we are into 2003, well into 2003. Two of my credit reports are clean. One of them is still a complete mess, because one of the companies is -- these companies really aren't fully responsive to understanding the problem or to understanding the victims. It's a real problem trying to get it all cleaned up, and we're a long way from where we need to be.

COLLINS: Mr. Barry, what would your advice be for every one of us out there who has a driver's license, obviously a Social Security card. Are we guarding ourselves well enough?

BERRY: I don't think people are, and It's a tough question. I think people need to be careful giving out their identifying information. People need to be checking their credit reports to see if there are things on them that don't belong to them.

Finally, the Congress has got to take action. The problem is spiraling out of control. They now call it the fastest growing white collar crime, which I would argue it's not a white-collar crime, but it's a major problem, but it's a major problem. Millions of people have been victimized, most of whom don't even know.

COLLINS: All right, some great advice today. We wish you the best of luck. Michael Berry, thanks for sharing your story with us.

BERRY: Thanks for having me.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com