Lynn didn't worry about
identity theft.
She always said, who'd want
to steal my identity?
Lynn never had a credit card
or borrowed money.
She figured thieves wouldn't
mess with someone who had no
credit history.
One day, Lynn decided to apply
for a credit card.
She sent in her application,
but the
company turned her down.
Lynn wanted to know
what happened.
Why didn't she get
the credit card?
She got a free copy of her
credit report to find out.
There, Lynn discovered that
someone had opened eight
credit cards in her name.
They even got a car loan.
And whoever used
her name wasn't
paying any of the bills.
The credit report said all the
accounts were overdue.
Lynn tried to fix these
mistakes, but she found out
that it's not easy to prove that
you did not do something.
Those businesses held Lynn
responsible for the bills, at
least until she proved that
the bills belonged to an
identity thief.
It took a long time, but
she fixed the problem.
Now Lynn checks her credit
report every year to look for
signs of identity theft.
