Former Scam Artist Helps Combat Identity Theft

May 31, 2005 — -- More than 50,000 fraudulent student loan applications are filed each year, according to estimates by consumer advocates. Now the U.S. Department of Education is trying to combat such scams by getting help from the perpetrators themselves.

As part of a plea deal, prosecutors forced former identity thief John Christensen to reveal his scamming secrets, in an effort to help stop an exploding problem.

The Education Department distributed DVD versions of the interview to colleges and universities, alerting students to such fraud.

"When I get an opportunity to get someone's birthday or Social Security number, I do," Christensen said in the interview.

Federal prosecutors say Christensen, 64, stole the identity of more than 50 people in his criminal career. In his most recent case, he targeted prison inmates by offering bogus legal help.

"Through correspondence I got enough information to adopt their ID, at least their Social Security number," he said.

Christensen used that information to apply for student grants and loans from the federal government, totaling more than $300,000.

"It's a nightmare for us," said Daniel Drake, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona.

At times, Christensen pretended to be three people at once, stealing their identities and defrauding the government. He even knew how long he would have to attend class before the loan money would arrive.

"As long as I enrolled for 30 days," he said on tape, "I got my Stafford [Loan] money, and that's all I needed to do."