Identity theft was given a platform on the July 19th episode of Dr. Phil, a daytime talk show. The segment began with Dr. Phil’s staff shown snooping through Dr. Phil’s office - grabbing information from his desk as an example of how easy it is to become a victim of identity theft.

The show then brought on two guests, Ricky and Ray, who say their brother Robin has been stealing their identities for years - opening up credit accounts, making purchases and even getting a DUI charge. Ray figured out the fraud because there was a warrant for his arrest issued for the DUI charge that his brother had fraudulently attached to his identity. Both brothers suffer credit issues a result of this fraud.

With the help of the Dr. Phil show and an investigator, Ricky and Ray track down their brother. Robin was flown to the Dr. Phil show, where he denied stealing their identities.

Despite the over-the-top drama that television creates, identity theft is individually traumatic. It is a difficult and frustrating experience to come face-to-face with. Dr. Phil addresses this in his video blog, although he does tend to generalize the problem of identity theft. Identity theft is not always the result of degenerates or drug abusers, nor an unintentional act brought on by desperation. It is much more pervasive than that, which is why it so often goes unnoticed.

Tags: dr phil, identity theft, id theft, id fraud, identity fraud