JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a 51-year-old Jacksonville woman was left with a more than $4,000 bill for cellphones that she said she never purchased, T-Mobile credited her account.
Now she's hoping police can find the person who stole her identity before someone else falls victim.
Dana Edwards told News4Jax on Wednesday that she recently learned she was a victim of identity theft when she went into a T-Mobile store to purchase a new cellphone after damaging her old one.
“They would not allow me to upgrade and I couldn’t figure out why," she said. "The salesman said five phones were added to my account. I was, like, 'No, it couldn’t have been.'”
The five phones, which cost more than $800 each, were not paid for. So Edwards said she was left with a bill totaling more than $4,700. She believes someone gained access to her T-Mobile business account.
“Well, I’m a corporation, so therefore my tax ID number is on Sunbiz. So it’s out there," Edwards said. "As far as everything else, it was done by someone who works for them as either a W-2 employee or as a contractor.”
Edwards said her signature was also forged on documents.
“The person who imitated me did my name in some type of font, and put Dana Edwards, and it should be Dana B. Edwards," she said. "I never just sign my first and last name.”
When News4Jax went to the T-Mobile store, the manager said identity theft happens every day. The manager, who did not want to speak on camera, said he believes Edwards' identity was stolen somewhere else, and not from inside the store.
According to a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office report, the cellphones were never picked up at the store nor were they delivered to Edwards' house.
The police report shows the phones were mailed to an address in Fort Caroline, about 15 miles from the victim’s home.
Police said the person responsible goes by the name "Kevin." But investigators said no one with that name came back to the address to which the phones were delivered.
A T-Mobile executive later reached out to Edwards about her complaint. She said the company credited her account and upgraded her account to VIP status.
As of Friday, no arrests had been made in the case.