“A little scared that I don’t know how anyone would have gotten that much information about me,” said Kara Downer.
She’s been fighting to get her identity back from scammers for six months now. It’s something she says could happen to anyone. The only reason she knew someone had stolen it at all is because she tried to enroll in classes at a local college.
“And they went to check my financial aid eligibility, and that school discovered that I was already enrolled in school somewhere,” she said.
It’s called being a ghost student.
RELATED: Ghost students target Minnesota colleges with thousands of fraudulent applications
A fraudster had enrolled in a university in another state using her name, social security number, current address and other personal information. They left her with a $1,000 loan debt.
She says she had to make four calls and two emails just to get someone at the other school…
Verify the physical address and contact details of online stores before making a purchase, especially if the prices are significantly lower than established South African retailers.