Hawaii resident flies to California to clear name from identity theft

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A Honolulu man who had his identity stolen had to fly to California to clear his name. He acted quickly to stop his bank account from being completely drained.

Jamie Dahl said he’s speaking out because identity theft can happen to anyone and he’s not sure how his personal information was stolen.

“I’m still mystified how he pulled it off,” Dahl said.

In late November, Dahl found some fraudulent charges on his credit card so he ordered a replacement card.

Two weeks later, he says went to his online bank account with Bank of America and discovered his identity had been stolen. The hacker had account access for instant money transfers.

“My phone number is missing, my email is missing, my mailing address. I live in Honolulu. It’s Mililani,” Dahl said.

He knew he was in trouble.

Dahl said two days after his discovered his identity had been stolen, he had to fly to California to clear his name because there are no Bank of America branches in Hawaii.

He brought several forms of ID to re-authenticate himself.

“It was just an incredible ordeal,” he said.

“The bad guys are shopping just like everybody else for Christmas,” said former HPD Deputy Chief John McCarthy, who investigated cybercrime.

McCarthy says check your bank account daily and having a local bank is helpful.

“If you don’t have a local bank, you are that much father away. I’ve had problems with banks that are on the East Coast,” he said.

“It takes a day to communicate with them, a day to get a response. That’s a lot of damage you can do in 24, 48, 72 hours,” McCarthy added.

McCarthy says most banks have streamlined their re-authentification process so you don’t have to see them in person.

Hawaii News Now contacted Bank of America to find out their process and are waiting to hear back.

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