False CraigsList Ad Leads To A Charge Of Identity Theft (ReputationDefender)

Source: ReputationDefender Blog

The Associated Press is reporting today the sad tale of a Wisconsin man whose ex-girlfriend placed a profile of him on the popular San Francisco-based community website CraigsList indicating he wanted to engage in “dirty” talk with other men.

According to police in Eau Claire County, the woman allegedly posted a profile of her ex-boyfriend on Craigslist under “casual encounters.” The “casual encounters” section of CraigsList is commonly used for illicit sexual hookups, and the woman reportedly set up the profile on the Internet indicating (falsely) that her ex-boyfriend wanted other men to call him at work and “talk dirty.”

When her ex received such a call from an unknown male who proceeded to do the dirty talking the ex-boyfriend immediately questioned what was going on. When he got home the ex went on online where he saw the Craigslist personal ad beckoning dirty talk, complete with pictures of himself. Then he called Altoona police to report the false profile.

With a little digging authorities were able to locate the man’s ex-girlfriend, and she is now charged with causing harm through identity theft, which could send her to prison for three years if convicted.

ReputationDefender has seen these identity spoofing sorts of attacks occur in the past. It pays to be civil in real life, and it pays dividends to remain diligent online when it comes to your personal online profile.