New wrinkle in ID theft

Struggling with declining health and relying on an oxygen tank to breathe, 81-year-old John Braithwaite of Salt Lake City would like nothing better than to spend his late retirement years relaxing with his wife.

Instead, Braithwaite is consumed by a need to restore his once-perfect credit record after becoming a victim of a new kind of identity theft.

Most people think of identity theft as a crime that occurs when a crook steals a person's entire identity -- their name and Social Security number -- to make fraudulent purchases.

But Braithwaite is among a growing number of victims whose good credit is hijacked by thieves who use their own names with other people's Social Security numbers.

from Salt Lake Tribune