Is Your Mother's Identity Taking Over Your Life?

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On the exact same day that Axton got her PhD her mother was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. She passed away in February of 2013. 10 days later she got a phone call from her father saying, "What were you doing running a credit card over to limit back in 2001?" And he said, "Don't lie to me. I have the credit card statement in my hand."

When Axton Betz-Hamilton was 11 years old, her parents' identities were stolen. At that time, in the early 90s, consumer protection services for identity theft victims were basically non-existent. So the family dealt with the consequences as best they could. But when Axton Betz-Hamilton got to college, she realized that her identity had been stolen, too. In fact, her credit score was in the lowest 2%. As she was working to restore her credit, she inadvertently discovered who had stolen the family's identity: a woman named Pam Elliot. And knowing it was Pam Elliot would change everything for Axton Betz-Hamilton.

View the photograph Axton describes here.

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