TV News Investigation:
Stealing Your Good Name:
One Imposter's Story

The RUNDOWN, February 22, 1999

Identity theft is so lucrative now that a thief intent on stealing a person's documents from the mail will steal the whole mail box. He'll smash the "tamper-proof" box off its foundation, and vanish.
Less energetic criminals have been stealing envelopes with blank checks, Social Security and credit card numbers. These crimes are increasing. Consumer and investigative reporters have been warning viewers about various schemes.
Here are the specifics of one investigation that educated viewers about the potential danger.

With modest penalties, frauds keep doing it for years

The impact of having your identity stolen, and the ease with which it can be done, was documented with the story of one man who had done it for a long time.

At KOMO-TV, Seattle, reporter Chris Heinbaugh built the story with comments from the people who were deceived, the authorities, and an interview with the imposter himself. A nurse practitioner said she had believed the man was a qualified psychologist. She was shocked to find out he was a fraud. He had arrived in the small community several years earlier.

His many "credentials".... ... were FAKE. A bank's camera documented  a key moment. "You are close personal friends with Lee Iacocca?" "That's false."		His "credentials" were impressive. "Dr. Colin Wright" had earned a Ph. D. from Arizona State. He'd been a columnist for the El Paso Times and the Arizona Republic. He had managed the Harlem Globetrotters. He was a community leader who wrote a column for a local newspaper. His "record" was shown in successive graphics. In the final panel, a big red "FAKE" was splashed across the screen. The offender had a long record The real Dr. Wright, Dr. Colin Wright, was an experienced, well-qualified psychologist in California. He was "shocked and outraged" when he discovered his name was being used in Washington state. Eventually, Charles Andrew Wright pleaded guilty to practicing without a license and paid a $500 fine. "The way he got the doctor's information was he simply called the doctor, claiming he was representing an HMO and he wanted his CV (or resume.) The doctor told us, 'I handed him everything --- my whole past --- including my Social Security number," said Heinbaugh. A key point was the length of time this man had been involved in similar activities. His early problems were communicated through graphics that showed the states where he had been. You quickly saw the range of his activities. It began in 1971, when he was caught with fraud-related activities in Maine and Arizona. Later that decade, he was caught with false credentials as he taught school. When the imposter became a teacher, in that case, he stole the identity of a man from UCLA who had a similar name. "He became the man, got teaching credentials, and taught in California, Arizona and Washington," said Heinbaugh.

In 1985, he allegedly embezzled money from a man who managed the Harlem Globetrotters.
One man was so embarrassed by how he had allegedly been taken, he told his story anonymously in silhouette. The "doctor" had shown him a "contract" to produce a book for Random House. The anonymous man and a friend loaned $40,000 to the "author."
The victim said, "I was so convinced that man was genuine I took money from my children's education." Actually, there was no planned book. There was no real contract. Ten years later, the creditors are owed $38,000. The anonymous investor was bitter, of course. He said, "I don't know what a bank robber would go to jail for (stealing) $40,000. But, Chuck Wright went to jail for nine months."

Heinbaugh said Wright had been found guilty of 10 fraud-related activities over 28 years, and he had spent less than two years in prison!
A former girlfriend said she had fully believed "the doctor." She further alleged that when he left her, he took a blank company check from her, and successfully cashed it for $3,500. It was very interesting television to see the bank surveillance video showing "the doctor" standing in front of the teller, apparently smiling as the check was processed. The woman said he later told her that he'd been beaten up and shot, and they made him write the check.

The report was capped with an on camera sit-down interview with the imposter. He admitted to Heinbaugh that he had lied.
"You are a Ph. D.?"
"That's false."
"You are close friends with Lee Iacocca?"
"That's false."
The reporter continued, "Why should anyone trust you?"
The "doctor" replied, "They shouldn't ..."
Trying to excuse his actions, the man said, "Most of the time it was treated as not that serious, so I figured that is not serious."

Investigation was stimulated by the real doctor

The piece grew out of another story KOMO had done on disciplined doctors.
"As part of that investigation, we published a list of doctors who have been disciplined. In fact, we still maintain it and update it on our Web site," Heinbaugh said.

He received a call from a California doctor, a psychologist, asking if his name was on the list. It wasn't.
The reporter asked, "Should it be?"
Dr. Wright responded that he had been accidentally disciplined by his state board. Someone had stolen his identity and had been practicing without a license in Washington. The state found out, and took disciplinary action, but they took it against the false identity. The doctor received letters from HMOs threatening to cancel him. When he contacted the insurance companies to see why, they explained there was action against him by the state of Washington. He had never practiced in the state of Washington. He called the state and found out what had happened.
Then, he called the reporter.
"I thought it was really interesting, and that by itself it would be an interesting story. He had done more homework, and had discovered the man had a history of this. I started checking, and found that indeed he had a much bigger history," said Heinbaugh.

There was much more to the imposter's story. It stretched across the decades and from coast to coast.
"That was half of the challenge --- sorting all of this out. Every time we turned around, something new popped up. Every time we thought we had enough to go with the story, more came up. We kept digging and digging and ended up going back 28 years," he said.
There were convictions for check fraud, credit card fraud, and theft of identity.
"Many of these records were so old that some of the documents had been destroyed," Heinbaugh said.
The trail led to many states.
"In many of these cases, he had been prosecuted and actually pleaded guilty. All this type of criminal has to do is plead guilty and he gets a slap on the hand," said the investigator.

Approach out-of-state government workers carefully. A cooperative clerk on the other end of the phone line in a faraway area can be of great assistance to you, if he or she is in the mood to help.

The fraud agreed to talk on camera

As the piece was prepared, Heinbaugh interviewed the people who trusted the imposter: a former girlfriend; an investor; and a nurse. He talked with a police fraud expert who put the case in perspective, a health department person who explained the imposter wasn't licensed, and an Arizona education department person who discussed the false teacher credentials. He had heard from the real Dr. Wright, the man whose identity had been stolen.

An interview with the imposter was needed.
"That was the biggest challenge. I really wanted some answers. From the point of view of the story, a confrontation seemed predictable. People would expect to see this guy running from the camera," Heinbaugh said.

He felt it would be a great surprise to see the man voluntarily doing an interview.
"When I called him, and I didn't call until I had all the facts, he talked to me for a while on the phone and agreed to an interview. But then he started dodging me and would not return my calls. I realized he was getting cagey, and probably would not do it. Finally, we went out and attempted a confrontation," said Heinbaugh.
Instead of meeting the imposter when they visited, they taped his ex-wife who was there blocking the door. The con man requested the video not be used. Later, by phone, the reporter explained to the man that he would much rather talk to him.
"He had the information I needed," said Heinbaugh.
"At first, he told me his attorney didn't want him to talk to me. I called the attorney, and he said he didn't care. The man had pleaded guilty to all the cases we knew about. So there was nothing anyone could do," said Heinbaugh.
When the imposter finally sat down for the interview, he admitted everything and said he was trying to clean up his act.

This example showed that little is done to deter identity fraud

"The reason the real Dr. Wright called me in the beginning was that he was frustrated that he couldn't get anyone to do anything. He had also been defrauded on his credit cards by this man," said Heinbaugh.
The reporter asked the police whether this was an extreme case. They responded that this man was an amateur compared to others out there.
"This man got sloppy and greedy. The ones who are good you will never know about. They know just how far they can push and how much money they can take, and they bail out," he said.
There had been a major problem with mail theft in Seattle, and the theft of identity, credit cards, and personal information was a major concern.

Heinbaugh felt many government agencies were not aggressively fighting this. One police specialist told of going to the legislature and seeking tougher penalties. Nothing had happened. In this story, one of the main messages was that lawmakers and prosecutors must take this seriously.
"When they don't treat it seriously, criminals get the message," he said.
Heinbaugh made sure he didn't miss the lesson of his own reports. After he finished investigating the story, he bought a shredder!
"They're selling like hotcakes," he added.

Listen to the calls from people who have been ripped off.

"When you find a good case, don't just stop at the victim. Start tracking the perpetrator. These people don't just stop. They don't just do it one time. You'll find there is a history there," he said.

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