Christie Scalzo's information was stolen in 2002, from her car, while she shopped at a 99 cent store.

Something that could happen to pretty much anyone.

Fast forward to 2008, when she was pulled over by a police officer, who was just doing his job.

From Identity Theft Victim Locked Up

She was driving with her kids when the 2002 incident would suddenly come back to haunt her..."It was right past the signal when he pulled me over. He said 'Can I see your license?' and I said 'Yeah, what's the matter?' Because I know nothing is wrong, I know I don't have any problems. And he said, 'Well, I just ran your plates and you have a warrant out of Henderson.' And, I said, 'What?'"... Despite Scalzo's explanations of identity theft to arresting officers, she was taken to the Henderson Detention Center. She was locked up. But the fingerprints from the 2002 arrest were not compared to hers. Neither was the mug shot. Scalzo was booked on burglary , drugs and weapon charges... Scalzo thought if law enforcement would not compare the fingerprints and mug shots, she would have to do that herself. "I went to Henderson courts, police station. I needed mug shots, fingerprints, discovery, all my files, and they all said I have to have an attorney here to subpoena the records." After spending $3,500 on legal fees and months of litigation, Scalzo would finally get her day in court. It took only seconds. "They dismissed the case. That was it," Scalzo explains...."I hope this isn't the end of the case," Perry (Scalzo's attorney) said. "They ought to be finding this woman. That woman is still out there somewhere. Still has Christie's information."...

Although this mix up is now solved for Scalzo, the story does not end on a happy note. Hours after she was released from the Henderson Detention Center, she miscarried.

Identity Theft causes enough stress to actually cause a miscarriage?

Come on, could that really happen?

You bet.

According to WebMD, stress is a major factor in miscarriage.

"...team of scientists from Tufts University and Greece have identified a suspected chain reaction detailing exactly how stress hormones and other chemicals wreak havoc on the uterus and fetus."

Just makes me mad enough to want to actually hunt down the person who stole her identity and give them a piece of my mind. (Or a piece of my shoe, on their butt, which clearly needs a good kicking.)

But what would the point of that be?

With 10 million pieces of data compromised yearly (I know, recent stats have it at about 8 million - what does it really matter at this point? - each of our information has been compromised at least once), we're all at risk to have this be a major stress factor in our own lives.

Christie, if you happen to read this, the entire IdentityTheftSecrets community has you in our thoughts and prayers.

Many states, including Nevada, have a passport program that helps ID theft victims in this situation. The program is not perfect but it does help. Information about Nevada's passport program is at http://ag.state.nv.us/idtheft/info/faqs.htm

- The real Danny Lents
www.IdTheftAwareness.com