A Ball State student has allegedly fallen victim to identity theft.
Senior Kara E. Catanzarite, 22, said that she received a phone call from a collection agency Wednesday around 8 p.m. notifying her that she owed $5,247 in Verizon Wireless cell phone bills.
According to Catanzarite, who currently owns a Sprint cell phone, the agency told her she would be taken to court over the bills if she did not pay them.
Catanzarite said she called Verizon Wireless, and they told her that someone had ordered four cell phones by telephone using her Social Security number.
"Somehow, someone got my information and bought the cell phones," Catanzarite said.
Catanzarite said she asked Verizon what information a person had to have to order a cell phone by telephone. She said the company told her a person had to provide a name, a Social Security number, a credit card number and an address.
Verizon told her that someone used her Social Security number and name, but an Indianapolis address to purchase the cell phones. The cell phones were bought in January and the calling plan was cancelled in March because bills were not being paid.
Catanzarite said the company told her the bills were sent to the Indianapolis address.
"I never saw any bills," she said.
If she had seen the bills, Catanzarite said, she would have immediately taken care of the problem.
The company then referred her to their fraud department, which told her other people had called about similar problems, she said. Verizon told her they think the problem can be traced back to Indianapolis hospital records.
Catanzarite said she stayed in St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis in December.
But Catanzarite said she is concerned someone could have gotten her number from university documents.
"I think it's terrible that Ball State uses our Social Security number for everything," she said. "I can't prove that my number was stolen at the hospital. It could have been somebody here."
Catanzarite said Verizon told her that the case would be settled in about a month.
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