Emily Chan
One of the most nightmarish scenarios that occur in our modern world is becoming a victim of identity theft. The crime can happen to anyone at any time.
You could wake up one morning to find that someone has drained your bank accounts, ruined your credit, and tarnished your reputation. Identity theft can have a devastating impact on individuals and families.
Usually, the perpetrators are skilled hackers or thieves who dig through trash bins for sensitive information. But in rare cases, the thief can be someone very close to you, as seen in Axton Betz-Hamilton’s story.
After the death of her mother, she realized that her mother had been responsible for the elaborate con all along.
Axton grew up in Portland, Indiana, surrounded by farmland. She lived with her parents in a mobile home on her grandfather’s 100-acre farm. Her father worked on the farm, and her mother was a tax preparer.
Everything about their lives was completely normal until her grandfather died. At the time, she was 11 years old. Her mother took his death really hard. She ordered lots and lots of things, particularly jewelry. It appeared to be her way of coping with the pain.
Around that time, their mail started disappearing. Axton’s father’s copies of The Brayer, a magazine about raising donkeys, stopped showing up, even though they had been paying for it regularly.
Bills began to stop arriving as well. Her parents thought that one of the neighbors must be stealing their mail to gain access to their personal information. Her mother proposed that someone was after the farm.
Axton’s father, John, worked long hours, so he didn’t have time to investigate the issue. Her mother, Pam, took the lead. Since Pam had majored in finance in college, they trusted her to resolve the situation.
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