A Portland woman says her wife stole her identity. Like many victims, she’s unable to press charges

In the last year and a half, Danielle Del Prado has spent hours on the phone with banks around the country, trying to convince them that she didn’t want to borrow money.

Her credit report says otherwise. At a Portland credit union, she found an $8,000 loan in her name. Another $8,000 loan and a $3,000 line of credit was opened at a different bank in Washington. And a bank affiliated with the Lac Du Flambeau Tribe in Wisconsin lent her $350.

But Del Prado said she never applied for the loans and never saw any of the money. Instead, she said her wife borrowed the money in Del Prado’s name without her knowledge or consent in late 2022 and early 2023. By now, Del Prado has found about 50 other denied loan applications in her name that she said she didn’t fill out, totaling more than $200,000.

The couple is now in the process of divorcing, citing irreconcilable differences. Del Prado has placed seven-year freezes on all her credit but is continuing to hunt down other loan applications where her Social Security number was used, sometimes in her name, other times in her wife’s name. She also took her story and a stack of records to Portland police and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. But a police investigation into her situation was suspended due to “a lack of tangible leads,” and she was advised to work out her claims in divorce court instead.

Since the person Del Prado believes stole her identity is her spouse, Del Prado has little hope to get justice through the criminal court. Spousal identity theft is uniquely difficult to prosecute, including in Oregon, prosecutors and experts on identity theft say. InvestigateWest has chosen not to name Del Prado’s wife in this story.

Often, the amounts of money involved are too small to capture the interest of federal agencies. Investigators locally may dismiss the allegations as a matter for divorce court, since married couples are considered a single economic unit. If someone used their spouse’s identity with consent at any time — even using their credit card or signing a document — it’s difficult for prosecutors to prove that the spouse at other times did not give consent.

“Spousal identity theft is very, very hard to prove,” Eva Velasquez, director of the Identity Theft Resource Center, which advocates and provides resources to prevent and recover from identity theft. When it comes to opening bank accounts or securing loans, she said, prosecutors have to consider that “a spouse generally has access to personal information, and you’re likely the one who gave them access.”

In Oregon and in other states, the law says that spouses are not able to steal from each other, “since each owns an undivided interest in property,” said Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Demer, who declined to discuss the specifics of Del Prado’s case.

However, “the courts are not clear if that applied to identity theft,” he said.

Amid that lack of clarity, many people are forced to seek justice only through family court or costly lawsuits rather than the criminal court.

A criminal charge would matter to Del Prado, however. Her wife, who emigrated from the United Kingdom, is suing for $2,129 a month in financial support, citing commitments outlined in an affidavit Del Prado signed when she sponsored her wife for a green card. That affidavit is ironclad except in a few circumstances. Del Prado said that if her wife faced an identity theft charge, which is a felony in Oregon, it would shield her from further financial loss.

In the meantime, Del Prado is continuing to call all the banks listed on her credit report from the last two years, finding new loan applications every day. Between her divorce and the debts she has already paid off, Del Prado estimates that she is out more than $50,000.

“For people who are married, there is no recourse,” she said. “Spouses get away with it.”

Discovering the theft

Del Prado said she discovered the first of the loans in February 2023, after she received multiple phone calls from the fraud department of Gesa Credit Union in Washington asking her to verify that she was attempting to take out a loan and a line of credit, and open a new checking and savings account.

The woman calling from the fraud department sounded “frantic,” Del Prado said, so she called back as soon as she could.

She had just returned from caring for her ailing mother for several weeks in her home country of Suriname. As she spoke with the bank, Del Prado learned that the fraud department had flagged a withdrawal from her new savings account — because the money was being sent to her spouse’s account, and it matched what her spouse owed Gesa Credit Union per month for her car loan.

From there, Del Prado went to work investigating any other inquiries on her credit. She found the two other approved loans and a total of nine hard checks, or comprehensive inquiries, with checks at dozens of other institutions.

Initially, of the more than 50 loan applications, Del Prado found just the three loans that were approved. She decided to pay off those loans, fearing the impact on her credit if they stayed open while she contested them. Even so, all of the inquiries still helped drag her credit score down to a low of 590 in May 2023.

Del Prado’s wife did not respond to two voicemails and two emails seeking comment for this story. She no longer resides in Oregon.

InvestigateWest reviewed hundreds of pages of Del Prado’s financial records, credit reports and communications between her and her wife to verify the details of Del Prado’s account. Records from various banks show sometimes Del Prado’s name, and other times, her wife’s name with Del Prado’s Social Security number. At least one loan was taken out under Del Prado’s business — she is a licensed massage therapist. Several were home equity lines on Del Prado’s home, which she purchased in 2001.

Del Prado said many of the accounts were established using an email address and phone number that were also set up in her name without her knowledge, which made it more difficult to track down each fraudulent account.

Messages Del Prado shared between her and her wife contain apparent acknowledgment by her wife that she secretly took out the loans, and backed out of paying thousands of dollars in both rent that she agreed to pay and money that Del Prado loaned her during their six-year marriage.

Del Prado made a report to Portland police just days after finding the first loans. Police reports are typically needed to contest fraudulent charges at banks.

Portland police told Del Prado she could follow up with additional evidence like those communications and her financial records, which she brought them in 2023 and again in 2024. This March, she was put in touch with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.

Del Prado said she was told prosecutors didn’t have the resources to pursue her case and police needed to investigate further.

But Portland police also suspended their investigation into Del Prado’s case in March. Mike Benner, spokesperson for Portland police, said the agency “certainly empathizes” with her situation.

“Often, a civil resolution is sought because it’s challenging to prove there wasn’t some kind of verbal agreement and the case may require forensic accountants and more resources than police or the district attorney’s office can provide,” said Terri Wallo-Strauss, another police spokesperson.

Del Prado has tried to go back to police to report the new loans she has found over the summer. But so far, the investigation remains closed.

A crime unpunished

Nationwide, reports of identity theft and financial fraud have consistently risen over the last two decades. From 2020 through 2023, the Federal Trade Commission received 29,203 reports of identity theft from Oregon residents. That includes various methods of fraud, from credit card to government benefits and tax-related fraud.

During that same time frame, just 2,241 people were convicted of identity theft or aggravated identity theft under state law.

One reason alone may contribute most significantly to that disparity: Most of the time, victims can’t identify who stole their identity. In 2023, 84% of victims who contacted the Identity Theft Resource Center didn’t know who the thief was.

Only 4% of victims overall reported their ex-spouse or ex-partner was the alleged thief. But as Del Prado’s experience highlights, they face obstacles to seeing their case prosecuted for the opposite reason: They know the thief too well.

Instances of spousal identity theft being prosecuted at the federal level are also rare. Examples from recent years have involved federal laws, such as fraudulent bankruptcies, forgery and wire fraud. Authorities have framed such cases as examples of the strong protections spouses can count on.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office was eager to prosecute this case because it sends a clear message,” said Doug Kasper, an FBI special agent in Indianapolis, about a case from 2010 involving a woman who filed a fraudulent bankruptcy and illegally withdrew from her husband’s 401(k) by impersonating him and forging his signature. “For husbands or wives who might have similar ideas about defrauding their spouses, they should know there are serious penalties for such actions.”

But experts affirmed that criminal prosecution between spouses is uncommon to this day, echoing the reasons cited by local law enforcement. And increasing victims’ access to criminal justice does not appear to be a pressing priority for advocates, since spousal and familial identity theft make up a smaller fraction of identity theft cases.

“There are some carve-outs when we’re talking about domestic violence or interpersonal violence victims,” said Velasquez, director of the Identity Theft Resource Center. “That tends to take on a different process. I always tell victims in this particular set of circumstances that I would rather see you direct your energy to recovering your identity than trying to get that pound of flesh.”

Velasquez said her group’s work remains focused on making sure victims have easily accessible ways to regain control of their identity and protect themselves from further financial fallout, including freezing personal credit and contesting fraudulently accrued charges. It’s important to decouple those avenues from whatever happens or doesn’t happen in the criminal court.

“It’s a good thing that we have pulled these things apart, that the issuers of credit and credit reporting agencies are not dependent on whether there’s a criminal conviction,” she said.

Linda Foley, who founded the Identity Theft Resource Center in 1999, said that in her experience, prosecutors are more likely to pursue criminal charges against a spouse in cases of domestic violence or physical abuse than for financial damage. But this can run the risk of diminishing the psychological impact of identity theft on victims, she said.

“I can speak from being a victim of someone I knew and trusted: It shakes you up,” she said. “It makes you think, ‘How can I believe someone is ever being truthful, how can I trust again?’”

In addition to the FTC, the Oregon Attorney General’s Office invites victims to report identity theft. It also provides training and tips to help people avoid falling victim to scammers and identity theft in the first place.

Ellen Klem, director of outreach and education for Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, said those trainings still lack many useful tips for protecting yourself from family members who can use your personal information fraudulently.

“Everybody can use education on this topic so that nobody falls victim,” Klem said. “That can be challenging, because it’s hard to reach people. I’ve been doing it for 12 years, and as much as I try, there are still going to be people that fall through the cracks.”

Chasing down leads

Without action in criminal court, Del Prado is attempting to find resolution through civil courts. On Oct. 10, she filed a lawsuit against her wife, seeking nearly $2.1 million in damages for identity theft, intentional infliction of emotional distress and other alleged actions.

Their divorce case is proceeding, and Del Prado found out in April that her wife plans to sue for financial support under the affidavit from the green card process. To her, it felt like adding insult to injury.

“I feel violated,” she said. “I feel so hurt, my heart is broken.”

But she continues to channel her heartbreak into investigating what happened with her personal information. She’s keeping track of all loan applications, pulling paperwork and reaching out to police and the FBI occasionally, hoping they’ll change their tune that her case has no viable leads.

“I’m doing their investigation for them,” Del Prado said. “This has become my life. I want things to change.”

InvestigateWest (invw.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. Reporter Kaylee Tornay covers labor, youth and health care issues. Reach her at 503-877-4108 or kaylee@invw.org . On Twitter @ka_tornay.

How to protect yourself and recover from identity theft

Protect your identity

• To protect your physical documents, cards and devices, the Identity Theft Resource Center recommends securing them in a safe location, considering a digital wallet and using a cross-cut shredder to shred documents that include personally identifiable information.
• To protect your online accounts, use a long (12-plus characters) unique passphrase on all of your accounts, avoid using public Wi-Fi unless you have a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, and make sure your browser is secure.

Restore your identity

• Report the theft: The Federal Trade Commission takes reports of identity theft at https://www.identitytheft.gov/, where victims can receive a personalized identity recovery plan. Most experts also recommend reporting the stolen identity to local law enforcement, as a police report may be necessary to contest fraudulent charges at financial institutions.
• Consider freezing your credit and placing a fraud alert on your credit report. Find out how through this article from the FTC.