Criminal Law - Identity Theft, We Can Help!

This is a type of fraud which involves the theft of someones personal details in order to obtain some sort of advantage such as enabling them to pretend to be someone else. This can have serious consequences financially and emotionally.

In a recent case a young man was charged by Police in country NSW with driving whilst suspended. This came as a shock to the young man as he knew he was a suspended driver, but at the time and date in question he was actually working in Sydney on a building site. Attempts to clear his name which included giving the Police affidavits from his family, employer and himself, unfortunately fell on deaf ears. Once LAC Lawyers were contacted the solicitor was able to contact the police and ascertain that the person who used the young man’s name and gave his details knew his personal information such as his address and date of birth. They did not show any identification. The police officer stated that he accepted the identification details from the male person in the car as they were so confident when reciting the details.

After some further discussions relating to the identification evidence of the driver, the police officer admitted that he had now viewed photographs and discovered that it was not my client who was the driver at the time of the incident. The police officer disclosed that it was a close relative of my client who was the actual driver. 

This caused considerable harm to my client due to the financial and emotional issues involved. He had to pay the costs of a lawyer and go through the stress of knowing that he had not committed any crime but it seemed that the police would not believe him.

It is important to seek legal advice immediately if you believe that you are the victim of identity theft as this can make the difference in resolving a matter promptly.