Investigators looking for woman using stolen identity to rent homes in Houston

It is 644. Welcome back to KHOU 11 Morning News. A woman's identity was stolen and now investigators say her case could be a part of a bigger crime ring. Consumer investigative reporter Grace White is here with her story and what you can do to protect your information. Grace, it's really interesting to look back at this timeline. This woman says her first red flag was a new credit card opened in her name in november. But once that was taken care of, she thought that would be the end of it. But it wasn't. Oh my goodness. There's a lot of time and effort to chase this down from her home in Houston. This mom's been busy. It's been heartbreaking. The worst thing for a mother to do is to see your child in anguish busy ever since she got a phone call from a realtor saying someone had stolen her daughter's identity and I knew my daughter wasn't looking for a lease. So I called her right back and that's when she broke the news that somebody had stolen my daughter's identity, her social security number, her driver's license number. Her daughter doesn't even live in texas right now. She's in new york city. That must be so unnerving to know that somebody is walking around with your identity. It makes me nauseous. Melissa Darlow says she's been contacted by several realtors about a woman trying to rent apartments and homes in Houston humble at Montgomery County. She's using her driver's license with a swapped out picture, filling out a rental application and even providing fake pay stubs. It feels very violating to have all of your information not only obtained by someone but they're running around Houston trying to use it. Question is what is this fraud or this identity that originate? Lieutenant Marco Leal is with Harris County Precinct to the agency investigating the case. He says they're working leads and think it's bigger than just one person. It's a strong possibility that it is a group war ring because sometimes this information can be sold to a third party. So these are the identity theft reports that my daughter filed with the FTC. This mom just hopes all the information she's received will give investigators enough to track it all down. If they're doing it to her, they're doing it to other people out there and this needs to be stopped. These people need to be stopped. The Houston Association of Realtors also sent out a fraud alert to its members. The alert tells them to report any rental applications with the name Melissa Darlow. So scary. So what can other people do to protect their identity? Well, there's several things you can do. You want to monitor your credit report and your bank statements, shred any receipts and credit offers, really anything that comes in the mail with personal information and ask. Always ask questions before sharing your information. And if you do spot fraud, report it right away to your credit card company, police and the FTC. Very important information. And you know this happens to so many people. So good information to get out there. Grace, thank you. And if you have a problem, Grace is here to help. She can help call her at 713-521-HELP or send an email to grace can help at KHOU dot com. We'll be right back.