The Knife: Off Record – 122

Summary

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The Knife: Off Record – 122

Date: August 28, 2025
Hosts: Hannah Smith & Pasha Eaton
Theme: The Impact and Ripple Effect of Scams and Identity Theft

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Episode Overview

In this episode of The Knife: Off Record, hosts Hannah Smith and Pasha Eaton deep-dive into the personal and emotional fallout from scams—specifically romance scams and identity theft. They tell two true stories: the first follows a Canadian professor whose photos were used in catfishing schemes for years; the second is the harrowing account of Kristin Lewis, an Arizona woman whose stolen purse leads to her being falsely accused of multiple crimes.

With typical empathy and solution-oriented discussion, the hosts explore not only the mechanics of these scams but also their profound effects on victims and unwitting participants. The episode balances detailed narrative storytelling with practical conversation, culminating in actionable advice and media recommendations.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Opening and Theme Introduction

• [02:03] Hannah Smith: Announces the main focus—two stories about scams, beginning with a "mini-story" from her.
• [02:44] – [02:54] Brief banter about Reddit as an endless resource for compelling stories.

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2. Story One: The Relentless Romance Scam of Alec Kouros

The Catalyst and Fallout

• [02:54] Hannah Smith: Introduces Alec Kouros, a Canadian professor whose photos have been exploited by catfishers on Facebook since around 2007.
  • The scam is discovered when a woman contacts Alec’s partner, believing she is also in a romantic relationship with him.

    “For the past eight years, my photos have been used by romance scammers, AKA catfishers.” – Hannah quoting Alec Kouros [03:00]

  • Initial confusion is quickly resolved—it was a fake account, not Alec.

Escalation and Lack of Recourse

• [04:05] – [06:18] Over the years, Alec is contacted by more and more women, believing themselves to be victims of ghosting or, worse, financial swindling.

  • Facebook accounts multiply—not just of Alec but also impersonations of his mother, brother, and other family members to bolster the scam’s credibility.
  • Despite repeated reporting to Facebook and even local police, nothing is done.
  • [06:37] Social commentary on victim blaming, with Facebook users even defending the platform and questioning why Alec had public photos.

  “Who is out there defending Facebook? Like, who’s waking up in the morning, like, Facebook needs my support?” – Pasha [06:37]

Ongoing Burden

• [09:00] By 2020, scammers had shifted to dating apps; Alec got contacted two to three times every day by victims.

  • Developed an FAQ and web page to direct victims for clarity and self-protection.
  • [10:57] Pasha notes the double devastation: heartbreak and betrayal layered atop the realization of scam.
  • Alec discusses the emotional toll, his morning routine now wading through more victim emails.
  • The cases sometimes escalate into resentment and harassment towards Alec by those unwilling to believe their “relationship” wasn’t real.

  “Sometimes they believe him and sometimes they don’t.” – Hannah [13:50]

Broader Systemic Issues

• [17:19] Even international incidents—Alec is contacted by a Russian man demanding money back from an investment scam under his name, threatening legal action.
  • Reflection on cross-jurisdictional challenges for law enforcement and platforms.

The Age of Deepfakes & Continued Struggle

• [19:06] Facebook has recently removed 10 million fake accounts in a single year, highlighting the problem’s scale and urgency, especially with AI-driven scams.
• [19:49] Alec struggles with undeserved guilt and continues efforts at public awareness.

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3. Story Two: Kristin Lewis—A Victim of Identity Theft

Origins of the Nightmare

• [20:26] Pasha Eaton: Shares the story of Kristin Lewis, an Arizona woman whose life was upended first by misfortune, then by criminal exploitation.
  • Kristin, from a low-income family in Phoenix, is injured in a serious car accident in 2011, leading to chronic pain and—after surgery—a medically induced opioid dependence.

The Theft

• Navigating unemployment and financial strain, Kristin decides to sell unused household goods online.
• While meeting an acquaintance to sell an item at a local gas station, her purse is stolen—likely by the acquaintance (who sat in her car’s passenger seat).

“You go on with your life...but I don't know where my purse is.” – Pasha [25:10]

• The purse contained vital ID (driver’s license, Social Security number), gift cards, and more.

The Consequences Unfold

• Months later, she’s banned at a beloved record shop for shoplifting she didn’t commit, and is embarrassed in front of her new boyfriend.

• Soon after, Kristin's mother receives a call: there is a warrant out for Kristin’s arrest; she’s accused of drug-related felonies.

  “So Kristin is stunned by this and very confused.” – Pasha [32:31]

• Fears going to the police to explain; worries she’ll just be arrested and not believed.

Arrest and the Wheels of Justice

• [37:08] Kristin is eventually arrested in a grocery store parking lot. The arresting officer recognizes her protest, but still must take her in.

  • Endures 18 hours in jail, is released pending a court date.

• Public defender initially seems promising, then leaves due to a conflict; replacement is dismissive and urges her to plead guilty to a year in jail.

  “You need to just plead guilty and they’ll give you a year.” – Pasha, paraphrasing her public defender [41:25]

Investigation and Self-Advocacy

• Kristin obtains police reports and medical records from the day “she” was arrested. She discovers the imposter is “Courtney,” a friend of the man who stole her purse, whose body cam footage and medical details definitively prove she is not Kristin.

  • The public defender refuses to review this crucial evidence.

  "He doesn't even open the folder. He doesn't take one second to even try to see if she's telling the truth." – Pasha [44:10]

• After months, she fires her public defender, crowdfunds for a real attorney (with help from friend/skateboarder Aaron “Jaws” Homoki), and her case is dismissed in two weeks.

  “Thanks, Jaws!” – Kristin via Pasha [47:03]

Aftermath and Ongoing Challenges

• The real perpetrator (Courtney) is never charged; Kristin still worries about lingering consequences as her ID is potentially still in circulation.
• The medical bills from the imposter’s hospital visit were directed to Kristin, compounding her stress.

Practical Takeaways

• [50:47] Reporting a stolen ID as “lost” vs “stolen” makes a crucial difference; reporting as “stolen” creates a record, which can aid future defense if the ID is used illicitly.
• Recommend freezing credit reports as a protective measure after theft.

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4. Wider Reflections and Additional Recommendations

The Psychological and Systemic Toll

• Emotional burden on the innocent when their identity is hijacked: guilt, confusion, inability to clear their name, and dread of public humiliation or legal bias.
• Frustration with legal and social institutions: lack of police response due to jurisdictional issues, the indifference of some public defenders, and slow institutional change by platforms like Facebook.

Media Recommendations

• [19:58] Hulu Documentary: Hey, Beautiful: Anatomy of a Romance Scam

• [53:43] Hannah & Pasha: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sarah: Explores emotional and logistical hardships when public figures are victims of identity misuse.

  “You hear about these stories of identity theft, and then someone is just like, well, what am I supposed to do?” – Hannah [55:22]

• [56:30] Podcast: Catch Me If You Ken (The Binge Network): The true story of a scammer’s cross-continental exploits.

  "Catch Me if you Ken investigates the never before told story of a scam that happened from Los Angeles to Italy..." – Pasha [56:44]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “The process and the journey is so delicious. That's where all the good stuff is. You just can't live and die by the end result.” – Phoebe Robinson, as cited by Pasha [00:01]
• “Imagine getting a response from him and it being that link and going down that rabbit hole of like realizing you've been conned and also sometimes probably heartbroken.” – Pasha [10:57]
• “I have just spent the last six months falling in love with you. Well, at least your picture. I am still dealing with this now unknown person whom I thought was you and I'm not sure what to do.” – Reading an email from a scam victim to Alec Kouros [14:46]
• “She is on good terms with her mom, and she knows she's never been arrested for any of this, but now she has to try to prove that, I guess.” – Hannah on Kristin’s ordeal [39:54]
• “You just need to plead guilty and they'll give you a year. And she's like, take a year in jail for this. Like, these are not my charges.” – Pasha [41:25]
• “The security guard...did appear at one of Kristen's court hearings, and he pointed to her and said, yes, that's her...He later called the court...and said, I got it wrong. That was not her.” – Pasha [47:33]
• “I do have a wreck. I'm not all the way through it, but I feel very good recommending it…” – Pasha [56:30]

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Practical Tips Highlighted

• After your ID is stolen: Always report it as 'stolen', not lost, to law enforcement/DMV.
• Freeze your credit: Use services like TransUnion or Experian to prevent unauthorized loans opened in your name.
• Documentation: If you can, maintain evidence of when, where, and how your ID was taken for future defense.

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Final Thoughts / Tone

The Knife: Off Record continues its hallmark blend of empathy, narrative depth, and solution-seeking inquiry. The hosts, through candid story-sharing and practical advice, bring home the reality of crime’s lasting ripple effect—not just for direct victims, but for all those tangled in its web.

The episode voice is direct, warm, and frequently pierced by moments of poignant sorrow, gallows humor, or exasperation at institutional failures. Interludes of pop culture recommendations and listener advice keep the tone accessible, even as the subject matter gets dark.

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Related Links (from show notes):

• Alec Kouros’s Awareness Website (for romance scam victims)
• Hulu: Hey, Beautiful: Anatomy of a Romance Scam
• Hulu: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sarah
• Podcast: Catch Me if You Ken (The Binge)

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Contact the hosts:
Email: [e-mail]
Instagram: @theknifepodcast
Bluesky: @theknifepodcast.bsky.social

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For more episodes and recommendations, follow The Knife wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

[Pasha Eaton]

This is exactly right. I just think the process and the journey is so delicious. That's where all the good stuff is. You just can't live and die by the end result.

[Simone Boyce]

That's comedian Phoebe Robinson. And yeah, those are the kinds of gems you'll only hear on my podcast, the Bright side. I'm your host, Simone Boyce. I'm talking to the brightest minds in entertainment, health, wellness and pop culture. And every week we're going places in our communities, our careers, and ourselves. So join me every Monday and let's find the bright side together. Listen to the Bright side on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Shock Incarceration Host]

What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced.

[Pasha Eaton]

He said, you are a number, a New York State number, and we own you.

[Shock Incarceration Host]

Listen to shock incarceration on the iHeartRadio Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget.

[Pasha Eaton]

I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Robaix and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from hello Sunshine and I Heart Podcasts where we dive into the stories that shape us on the page and off. Each week I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars and more for conversations that will make you laugh, cry and add way too many books to your TBR pile. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Books is the official audiobook and ebook home for Reese's Book Club. Visit Apple co Reese Apple Books to find out more.

[Hannah Smith]

This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome to the Knife Off Record. I'm Hannah Smith.

[Pasha Eaton]

I'm Pasha Eaton. First, just a quick thank you to everyone who has taken the time to rate and review the Knife. It's been really helpful. You can also email us@the knifexactlyrightmedia.com or follow us on Instagram at the Knife Podcast.

[Hannah Smith]

We have two stories for you today, both involving scams. Mine's shorter kind of a mini story, so I will jump right into it.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, let's hear it.

[Hannah Smith]

So I first came across this story story on Reddit as we do and it was a post from 2015 by this guy named Alec Kouros. He lives in Canada, he's a professor. And he made this post and this is the title of it. For the past eight years, my photos have been used by romance scammers, AKA catfishers. I really need Reddit's help to have this get the attention of Facebook. So he claims that around 2007, he became aware of of someone using his photo when his then partner got a call from a woman that she didn't know. And the woman was basically like, your partner has also been dating me. And she was really upset about him breaking up with her. First of all, how would you feel if you got that random call?

[Pasha Eaton]

Not great. I would be very confused. And also, like, you have to think if someone's going that far out of their way to call you, you gotta feel like they're not making it up or at least it's worth looking into or figuring out. I wouldn't be dismissive of it, like, fully trust my husband, but I would never be dismissive of it. I would definitely be like, what's up with this?

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, we got to get to the bottom of what's going on here for sure. So his partner confronted him and they started looking into it. And I don't know the details of that very first case, but it became clear that it wasn't him. First of all, it was a different profile on Facebook and under a different name, but it was using his photos. So he reported to Facebook, I don't think anything was done. And he thought it was a fluke, like a weird one off. Weird. Someone used my photo. He had a Facebook profile that was public and he had photos of himself, his partner, his life, his kids. But then he starts getting contacted by more people, all women. They start contacting him, thinking that they have been dating him. And some of them are just like, heartbroken because they've been ghosted. But a lot of them have lost money.

[Pasha Eaton]

Oh, no.

[Hannah Smith]

Then been ghosted.

[Pasha Eaton]

Okay.

[Hannah Smith]

So a lot of the time, if he ends up talking to these women on the phone, they realize pretty quickly that it's not him because they've spoken on the phone to whoever it is, and his voice sounds different. But he starts getting people when they reach out to him to send him the profiles because he doesn't know what they're talking about. So he starts getting all these profiles, and every time he gets one, they're all Facebook profiles. He reports it to Facebook as, this is not me. Someone is stealing my identity. But nothing is really done about it. He starts finding more and more of these pages. And it's not just him. Some of these scammers have made Facebook pages for his mother, his brother. They've found pictures of his family and then used those photos to create multiple Facebook accounts to enact their scam. So you can imagine the mother's messaging them being like, oh, yeah, my son.

[Pasha Eaton]

It's so believable.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

Makes it so real for that person.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. So he's reporting all of these and he says that nothing's being done. He even contacts his local police, but they can't or won't do anything because they say it's outside their jurisdiction because it's online. And this was in 2015, so 10 years ago. But he's been dealing with this since 2007.

[Pasha Eaton]

Oh, my gosh.

[Hannah Smith]

And it's interesting, looking at that Reddit post from 2015, the comments on it, people are still kind of confused. And even defending Facebook and sort of like, well, why did you put your photos publicly on a Facebook profile if you didn't want this to happen?

[Pasha Eaton]

Who is out there defending Facebook? Like, who's waking up in the morning? Like, Facebook needs my support.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. They're just so hardworking. We gotta support em.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah.

[Hannah Smith]

I mean, 2015 was a different time. And I think it shows that the understanding that this is happening on a wide scale was still so lacking. Right.

[Pasha Eaton]

And also how it could really impact someone's life.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. And also everyone was putting photos of everything from their life on Facebook in 2015. Public profiles.

[Pasha Eaton]

Oh, yeah. If this didn't happen to you, you're like, lucky.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. And so this continues to happen for years. This professor, this guy Alec, he's dealing with this. You know, he's a professor. He actually teaches educational technology and media. And I just point that out because he is someone who is Internet literate and, you know, had resources and tools available to try to figure this out. He reported it. He went through all the right channels, and oftentimes the profiles were not taken down because they technically met Facebook's, you know, user agreement. So he just was sort of like, I don't know what to do about this. So he just kind of had to deal with it.

[Pasha Eaton]

That's terrible. It's also so surprising because if whoever is using his photos to, like, create this Persona and date people is also stealing.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

So, like, they didn't take it down. That's wild.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. Well, and it's been an ongoing issue, and since 2015, Facebook has really made some changes. They've cracked down on scammers. And I think you were telling me that now when you create a Facebook profile, you have to, like, verify your identity.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, it was something along those lines. I don't recall exactly what it was, but it was definitely more hoops I was jumping through, because back when I had my first Facebook, when I went off to college, way back, like, I have one now that I use for Marketplace or for, like, telling people to listen to our podcast. So I don't have any, like, real friends or anything, but on Facebook.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

But, yeah, I remember having to, like, do a lot more to make my account. And I also now, even though I have a Facebook, I think I have one, like, kind of grainy photo because I'm scared of stuff like this.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, I think now it's probably good to be more aware of what you're putting out there on the Internet.

[Pasha Eaton]

Right? Yeah.

[Hannah Smith]

So Alec did another interview in 2020, and he said that at that time, a lot of the scammers had moved from Facebook because of their new regulations onto dating apps. And at that point in 2020, he said he'd been experiencing this for 13 to 14 years. And he said he was getting two to three victims reach out to him a day. Still, it's been thousands.

[Pasha Eaton]

Oh, my gosh. That's also so scary because, you know, like, in the first instance of this that you mentioned, the person pieces together pretty quickly that it's not the voice of the person that she thinks she's been dating. So clearly this isn't the guy she's been swindled. But not everyone is that quick to sort of lift the veil on something they've been believing in. And that could be really scary once someone thinks that you stole money from them.

[Hannah Smith]

Oh, yeah. I mean, it's caused a lot of problems for him. He said that his morning routine is he wakes up, gets his coffee, opens his computer, reads his email, and just knows that there are going to be emails from people in there, and then he has to be the one to explain to them what the situation is. So eventually, he actually created a website, and it has, like, a page that he sends to people. Now it's like a FAQ almost, because the emotional burden and the time to try to explain this to every single person that's reaching out is just not possible for him. So I went to this website, and it starts with, hi, there, my name is Alex Kouros. If I have shared this page with you, there's a good chance you've been the target of a romance scam and may have been led to believe that you are in a relationship with someone who looks like me. Oh, and me is hyperlinked and when you click on it, it just takes you to a Google image and there's like tons of pictures of him. So he's like, if you've been in a relationship with someone who looks like this me, then you're not.

[Pasha Eaton]

Imagine getting a response from him and it being that link and going down that rabbit hole of like realizing you've been conned and also sometimes probably heartbroken.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

Like that is total devastation. And. But how nice of him.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

To put that together.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. Because he could just not respond to people.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah.

[Shock Incarceration Host]

What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced.

[Pasha Eaton]

He said, you are a number, a New York state number, and we own you.

[Shock Incarceration Host]

Listen to Shock incarceration on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never, I.

[Pasha Eaton]

Think, any good romance. It gives me this feeling of like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Robay and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from hello Sunshine and I Heart Podcasts where we dive into the stories that shape us on the page and off. Each week I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars and more for conversations that will make you laugh, cry, and add way too many books to your TBR pile. Listen to bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Books is the official audiobook and ebook home for Reese's Book Club. Visit Apple Co ReeseAppleBooks to find out more.

[Betrayal Weekly Host]

Betrayal Weekly is back for season two with brand new stories.

[Betrayal Weekly Storyteller]

The detective comes driving up fast and just like screeches right in the parking lot.

[Hannah Smith]

I swear I'm not crazy, but I think he poisoned me.

[Betrayal Weekly Storyteller]

I feel trapped. My breathing changes.

[Simone Boyce]

More money, more money, more money.

[Pasha Eaton]

And I went white.

[Hannah Smith]

I realized, wow, like, he is not a mentor. He's pretty much a monster.

[Betrayal Weekly Host]

New stories, new voices, and shocking manipulations.

[Betrayal Weekly Storyteller]

This didn't just happen to me. It happened to hundreds of other people.

[Betrayal Weekly Host]

But these aren't just stories of destruction. They're stories of survival, of people picking up the pieces and daring to tell the truth.

[Pasha Eaton]

I'm going to tell my story and.

[Simone Boyce]

I'm going to hold my head up.

[Betrayal Weekly Host]

Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Hannah Smith]

And so on this website it says he's done his best to try to get these pages down. He's tried to report this happening. He kind of explains everything that he's done and the thing that he's doing is trying to raise awareness about it, to try to get this to stop. And then there are times that he's posted exchanges that he's had with people who have contacted him on the page, but crossing out their identity maybe, I think in an effort to convince people or like an additional evidence that this is real, this is happening. People are reaching out to me and sometimes, you know, they're really sad and people are brokenhearted. Sometimes they're really angry and like you said, sometimes they believe him and sometimes they don't. There have been instances where he's like, hey, this is the situation. And people are like, I don't care, I think it's still you. And they're harassing him. It's a lot to deal with.

[Pasha Eaton]

That's heavy.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. So this is just one example of an email that Alec has gotten. Good morning, Alec. I called you yesterday and hung up without saying anything. I'm sorry about that. I wanted to hear your voice to see if you had an accent. You did not. If you wonder why I called, I have just spent the last six months falling in love with you. Well, at least your picture. I am still dealing with this now unknown person whom I thought was you and I'm not sure what to do. I was ready to spend the rest of my life with him as soon as he returned from work in the Beaufort Sea. We speak almost daily, including last night. I find it hard to believe he would have such sinister intentions. He has such a good heart. I'm shocked that something like this could even have happened to me. I am a smart, college educated female and work in employment law for a major international retailer. I just happened to do a Google image search with a picture last night and saw the pictures this man sent me were also tagged to you. And I must also say I think you are very handsome.

[Pasha Eaton]

Oh, not the flattery, no.

[Hannah Smith]

I connected to you on Twitter last night as well. From what I saw, you've been dealing with silly females like me for years. What happened? How many people have used your pictures? Why you? Where are they from? Is it a group of people or is it many non connected individuals? Am I dealing with one person or is he one of many working together? He knows my address, my name, where I work. Is that an issue? Should I be scared? I. I truly am in love with him. He is kind, sensitive, funny, values the same things. He has a good heart, he makes me smile and I do not do that a lot. I still find it hard to believe he is part of this thing. And she kind of goes on to say like, you know, any advice that you have would help. I hope I don't sound crazy. I'm sure you hear this a lot. Blah, blah. I mean, it's just like, ugh. The emotional situation that this person has found themselves in is horrible.

[Pasha Eaton]

That's horrible. Yeah. It's like he could just not respond because he really, he played no role in this at all. But like he's responding to be kind and try to correct the issue because he hasn't been able to get all these accounts dealt with. And then you also don't have answers for that person. And how could you not be impacted by an email like that? Especially when they come in so often. It's just. That's sad.

[Hannah Smith]

That's sad.

[Pasha Eaton]

I do. She's like, why your photo? It's like, well, you just said you think he's really handsome.

[Hannah Smith]

I know, I. It is curious why is what I mean. He is good looking, but I'm just.

[Pasha Eaton]

Like, I gotta see this guy.

[Hannah Smith]

We'll post a picture. Yeah, yeah. I don't know if he is like classically good looking in a way where the scammer thought, this is great, I don't know. But it's not just romance scams. He also was contacted by a man in Russia who was sending him legal documents. He claimed that Alec or someone using Alec's photo took money from him for an investment and then disappeared. So now this guy's like, give me back my money. Threatening him that he's going to end up in a jail in Russia. It's just like. So the legal implications are difficult with something like this. Oftentimes nothing is done even after the discovery that someone has used a photo to scam someone else. It's also like, how do you find out who the real person is? And then there's this whole issue of jurisdiction. I think that's really interesting with cases like this, especially when the scammer might not live in the US or in Canada, like they might live abroad in a different country. So then who do you contact? Whose job is it to track this person down?

[Pasha Eaton]

And back in the day, I Mean, sounds like this has continued on, but back in the day when this started for him, you weren't FaceTiming with people.

[Hannah Smith]

Right. Like, that was, I think video call was a thing, but it wasn't like it is now.

[Pasha Eaton]

Not like it is now. I feel like nowadays if you have really sort of any level of, like, online dating savvy, continuing on a long distance relationship with someone without FaceTiming would be a big red flag.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, that's a good point. I wonder if things have changed for him since, you know, everyone is zooming and FaceTiming. I wasn't able to find an update, but it'd be interesting to find out.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, I wonder if he's also getting hit with those, like, deep fakes that are getting better and better. Because that is another concern, I would imagine.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. You know, I found an article from July of 2025 that Facebook removed 10 million Facebook profiles that impersonated other users. 10 million profiles just in 2025. And part of this is them trying to combat the use of AI now.

[Pasha Eaton]

Okay.

[Hannah Smith]

But it's an ongoing effort and, you know, to wrap it up, Alec basically has said that, you know, this has taken a toll on him, on his personal life. Even though he has nothing to do with it, he sometimes still feels guilty that even his photo was used to harm all these people. And it's emotionally difficult and he wishes that he could do something to stop it, but he's just trying to raise awareness that this is happening.

[Pasha Eaton]

Wow. Well, I feel like his website is a noble attempt and probably the most you could ask of someone in that situation.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, and we'll put a link to that in the show notes.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, that's a wild story and actually reminds me of a documentary I just watched which is on Hulu, and it's called hey, Beautiful Anatomy of a Romance Scam. And it's a very similar situation. A man's likeness is used by multiple people scamming women who think that they're dating him, and it really unravels his world.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow, that sounds really interesting. I'll give that a watch.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah.

[Hannah Smith]

Well, that is my story for today.

[Pasha Eaton]

Today I'm gonna tell you a story about a young woman named Kristin Lewis, who I actually met way back before we first worked together. And I found Kristin's story on Reddit. I reached out to her through that Reddit post and asked her if she would tell her story to me on tape. And I'm excited to tell you about it. It's, you know, Kristin had her identity stolen. Kristin is From Arizona. She grew up in a single parent household. She said they didn't have a lot of money. It was a really good childhood. Her mother, you know, supported them and their close knit family, but money was always tight. It was always something they were thinking about. So she started working right away.

[Hannah Smith]

And where is she located?

[Pasha Eaton]

Phoenix, Arizona.

[Hannah Smith]

Okay.

[Pasha Eaton]

She's living in Phoenix. She gets a job as soon as she turns 16 and she has that job until 2011. And she's driving to work and she's on the freeway, traffic is slowing down, there's some construction up ahead. And so everyone's coming to like, not quite a stop, but you're now going very slowly.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

And the person behind her doesn't see that. And I don't know if they're not paying attention or what happened, but they hit Kristen going about 65 miles an hour.

[Hannah Smith]

And she's stopped or going really slowly.

[Pasha Eaton]

She's going really slowly. She said she's probably going less than five miles an hour by the time they hit her.

[Hannah Smith]

And so this is like my nightmare. This sometimes will happen because in LA you'll be going and then suddenly it's like, stop traffic. And I always worry about that. Like, I hope people are paying attention because you could turn a corner and then there's stopped traffic.

[Pasha Eaton]

I know. And. Or if I'm driving through the hills, I'm like, if someone's pulled over. Yeah, it's really scary. And it happened. And so she gets hit. And her car she described, like, the tires were basically flipped inside out, totally smashed up. She obviously lives, but she's messed up. You know, her back is in a lot of pain, but she's not quite sure what happened. And she goes to the doctor, her car is totaled. Of course she can no longer work by this time. She's in her early 20s, so she's been working at Kohl's this entire time, having a very steady job.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

And now she's out of work, she's in immense pain, and they don't have a lot of resources. So she goes to the doctor, eventually is able to get surgery. And that surgery happens in 2012. And so the surgery to repair the disc, that was a herniated disc, I believe is successful and she feels a lot better. But she's put on pain medication as anyone would be in that situation. And she eventually develops, you know, a reliance on this medication. And she's in very real chronic pain. Even despite the success of the surgery, the surgery did not alleviate her of all chronic pain, but it did Help a lot.

[Hannah Smith]

Right. So she's still dealing with all of this pain in her back.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. So she's dealing with chronic pain. She's becoming reliant on this medication. The doctor is not monitoring it very closely. And this is a tale as old as time. Like, not unique to Kristin. These medications are highly addictive. And, you know, if someone's living with chronic pain, who's to say they shouldn't have access to them? But it's a very careful line. And so Kristen is now also out of work.

[Hannah Smith]

Gosh.

[Pasha Eaton]

You know, it's like, what kind of job can you do if you're in incredible chronic back pain?

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, it's so sad to hear about that. Like, having an incident like that happen, and then suddenly so much in her life has changed because of this physical pain that she's dealing with that now sounds like causing her not be able to work and then sort of creating this addiction situation. It's horrible.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. I mean, even in Kristin's modest home life, she still had the benefit of one parent who could, you know, she could live with them. And this is the ripple effect of bad luck if you don't have money. And so, you know, her life gets a little tricky, and she's looking for ways to make money because she cannot work. And so she decides, okay, I'm gonna go around my house, and if I'm not using it, I'm gonna see if I can sell it, you know, online, maybe.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

She finds some stuff, and she lists it, and immediately someone reaches out about one of the items. Just a household item. She didn't even recall what it was.

[Hannah Smith]

Okay.

[Pasha Eaton]

And she knows this person, so she's like, well, great. I'll just meet you at this gas station by my house. Awesome. So she heads over there, and he just hops in the car with her because they're kind of acquainted, and she feels totally comfortable with that. And he purchases this item, and they chat for a minute. He gets out of the car. She goes home.

[Hannah Smith]

Okay.

[Pasha Eaton]

When she gets home, she gets that feeling that most women have had at least once in their life when your stomach drops and you realize, I don't know where my purse is.

[Hannah Smith]

Oh, gosh.

[Pasha Eaton]

The worst.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. That's such a bad feeling.

[Pasha Eaton]

The worst feeling. And she had been actively looking for work for, you know, many months. And so she's got all of these identification documents in her purse because she's filling out applications. And, I mean, it makes you think. Like, these job applications ask for so much information before they even ever meet with you, let alone hire you.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. Like your Social Security number.

[Pasha Eaton]

I know. I'm like, is it so necessary? So she realizes her purse is missing. She calls the gas station. She's like, but I don't think I went in. But what happened here?

[Hannah Smith]

And I'm assuming she's, like, searching her car. It's not in the car.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, it's not in the car. She luckily had her phone in her pocket.

[Hannah Smith]

Okay.

[Pasha Eaton]

So she. She had her cell phone, but her purse is gone. And she was. You know, to add insult to injury, this happens in, like, January. So now we're in 2015. So it's a few years past her accident, where in early, early 2015, she's been out of work, but she got a few gift cards for Christmas, and they were in her purse. So it's just, like, terrible. Yeah. And, you know.

[Hannah Smith]

So what does she think happened to the purse?

[Pasha Eaton]

Well, she then starts assuming this person took it.

[Hannah Smith]

The person who she met up with to sell, like, whatever she was selling that she knew. She thinks then took her purse.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yes. So Kristin thinks that this guy took her purse because she remembers her purse being on the passenger side floor of her car. He was sitting in her passenger seat, and when he got out, it was gone. But she also knows that this guy is kind of a sketchy character. And so in my speaking with Kristin, she was super transparent about her struggle with addiction. That really started when she was prescribed painkillers by a doctor after this terrible car accident that she had been trying really hard to overcome. This still, you know, it's not easy, and it did at times, put her in questionable situations with people who, you know, maybe aren't always living life on the straight and narrow. And that is how this person came into her world. So Kristin's confident that this is the person who took her purse, and she knows she's not gonna call him and say, do you have it? Can you give it back? She knows it's gone.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, Great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget.

[Pasha Eaton]

I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of, like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Robaix, and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club, the new podcast from hello Sunshine and I Heart Podcasts, where we dive into the stories that shape us on the page and off. Each week. I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk, stars, and more for conversations that will make you laugh, cry, and add way too many books to your TBR pile. Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Books is the official audiobook and ebook home for Reese's Book Club. Visit Apple Co ReeseAppleBooks to find out more.

[Betrayal Weekly Host]

Betrayal Weekly is back for season two with brand new stories.

[Betrayal Weekly Storyteller]

The detective comes driving up fast and just like, screeches right in the parking lot.

[Hannah Smith]

I swear I'm not crazy, but I think he poisoned me.

[Betrayal Weekly Storyteller]

I feel trapped. My breathing changes.

[Simone Boyce]

More money, more money, more money.

[Hannah Smith]

And I went white. I realized, wow, like, he is not a mentor. He's pretty much a monster.

[Betrayal Weekly Host]

New stories, new voices, and shocking manipulations.

[Betrayal Weekly Storyteller]

This didn't just happen to me. It happened to hundreds of other people.

[Betrayal Weekly Host]

But these aren't just stories of destruction. They're stories of survival, of people picking up the pieces and daring to tell the truth.

[Pasha Eaton]

I'm going to tell my story and.

[Simone Boyce]

I'm going to hold my head up.

[Betrayal Weekly Host]

Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Pasha Eaton]

I just think the process and the journey is so delicious. That's where all the good stuff is. You just can't live and die by the end result. It's scary putting yourself out there, especially when it's something you really care about and something that you hope is your.

[Simone Boyce]

Passion in life and you want people to like it. Let's get delicious and put ourselves out there. I'm Simone Boyce, host of the Bright side, and those were my recent guests, comedian Phoebe Robinson and writer Aaron Foster. On this show, I'm talking to the brightest minds in entertainment, health, wellness, and pop culture. And every week we're going places in our communities, our careers, and ourselves. It's not about being perfect. It's about going on a journey and discovering the bright side of becoming. Few people know that better than soccer legend Ashlyn Harris.

[Pasha Eaton]

It's the journey, it's the people, it's the failures, it's the heartache, it's the little moments.

[Simone Boyce]

These are our moments to laugh, learn, and exhale. So join me every Monday and let's find the bright side together. Listen to the bright side on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Pasha Eaton]

And so what do you do? You go on with your life. She applies to get a new license and continues applying for jobs, and she ends up meeting someone. So later that year, she meets a guy and they start dating. And now in 2016, they're out shopping in Phoenix. And they go to this place called Zia Records.

[Hannah Smith]

Okay.

[Pasha Eaton]

It's this sort of buy, sell, trade record shop. Kristin loves it. She's been going, she said, her whole life.

[Hannah Smith]

Cool.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. And so she would sell them things and collect points. And so she had a bunch of points racked up, and she was excited to use them on something once she found something she wanted. So she's there with this newish boyfriend, and she goes up to the counter and she gives him her license. This is her new license.

[Hannah Smith]

Right.

[Pasha Eaton]

She's like, I have points here that I want to use to purchase this. And he's like, you're not even allowed in here. You were banned for shoplifting. Like, you have to go. And she's like, I've never shoplifted from here. I've been coming here my whole life. I don't shoplift.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

And this new guy that she's dating is right there. And so.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, it's horrible. Embarrassing.

[Pasha Eaton]

So embarrassing. And so they go out of the store. She's, you know, embarrassed and sort of like. I don't know. It's unsettling. Like, why did he just say that about me? Her new boyfriend believes her immediately, which is a relief. And he's like, well, why did this happen? And she's like, you know, my purse was stolen. And I just have a feeling it's related to that because I had my ID in there. And he's like, okay. So they're on the same page about it. And so about another year goes by. So now we're in 2016.

[Hannah Smith]

Did she, like, try to report this or. I don't know what she would have done.

[Pasha Eaton]

She reported it at one point, but I don't even know that anything was officially, like, filed. She wasn't really sure what to do. And so about another year goes by, and Kristin's at home with her mom, and her mom comes into the room and is like, I just got a really strange call from your uncle who says that there's a warrant out for your arrest. So Kristin is stunned by this and very confused. So she and her mom dig into the Maricopa county court records to try and find more information about this warrant. And the charges for this warrant are related to intent to sell drug paraphernalia. Kristin, despite her struggle with an addiction to painkillers, knows that she has never sold drugs, and she has never sold drug paraphernalia. She's never tried to. She knows this is not her, but her name is on this warrant. So she's pretty Quickly starting to connect that this has to be related to the person who took her purse. She's also calling back to this experience at the record shop where she's accused of shoplifting, but she's never shoplifted. She's actually had points there she could have used that she was really excited about and that, you know, she's also pretty convinced that this has something to do with her purse having been stolen, and she's piecing all of that together. And she's like, this is not me. And so she is like, well, what do I do about this? I can't walk into a police station and say, there's a warrant for my arrest and then try to explain the situation.

[Hannah Smith]

So what other information did she get? Was there a picture?

[Pasha Eaton]

There was no picture. It was just text. And so she's like, well, I know this isn't me. I have a feeling this is, again, related to the Zia Records shoplifting thing.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

Like, probably the same person or.

[Hannah Smith]

But, like, who?

[Pasha Eaton]

Who? Yeah, because the person who was in her car at the gas station was.

[Hannah Smith]

A man, so probably he's not using her id.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. And so she's like, well, I didn't know what to do. We don't have the money to hire an attorney, and I can't walk into a police station and be arrested. I need to find work.

[Hannah Smith]

Because if she walked into a police station to try to figure this out and say, this isn't me, my purse was stolen, like, probably she would just be arrested.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. Without an attorney to be like, I'm gonna assert this person's rights and fight this really strongly, they would just arrest her. Because, you know, I'm sure a lot of people say, it's not me, it wasn't me.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

And she knew that, and so she just waited.

[Hannah Smith]

Gosh, what a horrible position to be in.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. Just so much anxiety, you know, she said, this happens, and then another year goes by. So she's, you know, for a year, she just. I think it was almost a year. I think it was, like, 10 months. But she said, I was just looking over my shoulder. I knew it was a waning game, but I needed to try to work. I needed to make money. I didn't have money for a lawyer. Like, what was I supposed to do? And so in 2017, Kristin is at the grocery store, and she walks out to her car with a small bag of groceries, and she sees that there's a cop in the parking lot. And she said that she just knew this was the moment she would be arrested. And she's been replaying this scenario in her head for upwards of a year. Like, what am I gonna say when this happens? I'm gonna go to jail. I've never been to jail. That's so scary. And the cop comes up to her. He says, are you Kristen Lewis? And she says, yes, I know you have a warrant for my arrest. It's not me. I can tell you what happened. And the cop listens and believes her. And so he's like, well, I do. I do have to now take you to jail because this is you, and I do have this warrant. But I. I think you're telling the truth. And so what I can do for you is I can take you home in my car, in his cop car, so that you can give your mom your car keys so that it won't be impounded and you can put your groceries away.

[Hannah Smith]

So how did this cop find her?

[Pasha Eaton]

So, yeah, she said that he was running plates. He said, I was running plates in the parking lot, which you're not supposed to do. He was just sitting there running people's plates.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah.

[Hannah Smith]

Cause it's not like she was some high level threat where they were out to find her. It was kind of like she's living her life for a year, hoping that, like, she doesn't get pulled over for something random or her license isn't running to where someone would realize that she has a warrant. Right. And then she's just going to the grocery store and they run her plates. Okay. Wow.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. And she was terrified. And so he takes her to jail. And it's really just a holding cell. It's like a smaller office. And puts her in a holding cell as if her luck cannot get any worse. She's sitting in this holding cell and she looks through, like, the grate, like, the drain in the floor, and she sees a bag of pills.

[Hannah Smith]

Oh, gosh.

[Pasha Eaton]

And she's like, okay, someone discarded this. Now what do I do? Do I tell them, hey, there's a bag of pills in here? It's not mine.

[Hannah Smith]

No, I wouldn't say anything.

[Pasha Eaton]

Well, she did.

[Hannah Smith]

Really?

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, she was like. I mean, and look, I guess you gotta just make a judgment call in that moment, but it's terrible. And so she.

[Hannah Smith]

Because she was worried they would think it was hers or something.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, she was worried if they came in and found it, they would say, did you do this? And so I think at that point they were just like, whatever. And they just kind of. And took her word for it. Because at that point she's already arrested, so it's not over. Then she's taken to what she called, like, the real jail. This is downtown Phoenix. She's put on a bus with these other people. They're all handcuffed. She's taken to the downtown jail, put in another cell with a bunch of people. And so I think about 18 hours pass. And mind you that during that time, she doesn't have her phone or anything. She's just sitting there.

[Hannah Smith]

But, like, to find yourself in that situation like she did, where you literally didn't do anything wrong. And then you're now, you know, having to go through the system and for the state to think that you have a felony drug charge when you don't. Right.

[Pasha Eaton]

And they're not gonna listen to you. So now you have a public defender. So she goes and gets in front of the judge. He lists off these charges. There are multiple felony charges, all related to possession of drugs. And she's like, I'm not even gonna bother telling this judge right now. This isn't me. I don't wanna anger him. I'm just gonna, like, stand there and say, okay, thank you. Okay, thank you. Whatever. And so he just lets her go. So she's let out of jail. There's no bail or anything. He's like, this is your court date. You're gonna get a public defender, and then you're gonna have a court date for these charges. So she just walks out of jail in downtown Phoenix. So Kristin calls her mom, gets picked up, and now this whole other process starts of she's gotta fight these charges.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

Because they don't belong to her. And she's gotta do it with a public defender.

[Hannah Smith]

And even though she has struggled with, like, trying to get off these painkillers, like, she's, like, living a life. She's trying to work. She has sounds like a boyfriend. Like she's holding down this relationship. She is on good terms with her mom, and she knows she's never been arrested for any of this, but now she has to try to prove that, I guess.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. And so it feels like her luck is starting to turn. And she gets this female public defender who sits down with her, listens to her story, believes her, and is like, okay, great, we're gonna fight this.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

She's like, thank God. Like someone cares. I've now, you know, been picked up by a cop who was running plates, taken to jail, sat there without my phone. Anyone who contacted my family for 18 hours in this small cell, and now here's this person who's gonna help me? And it feels really lucky. And then within a couple of weeks, this woman says, you know, they are gonna reassign me to a different case and get you someone new because there's a conflict of interest here.

[Hannah Smith]

Oh, gosh.

[Pasha Eaton]

And so Kristin's like, okay. She's bummed, but she's hopeful because this public defender listened to her, heard her story, wanted to help get rid of these charges. So her next public defender, who she refers to as Tyler, that was his first name, not, you know, not his full name. He is the complete opposite. She meets him for the first time when they go in front of a judge, and he does not so much as introduce himself. It's just like a hearing where it's like, here are the charges. You know, how do you plead? Not guilty. And then Tyler says to her, you need to just plead guilty and they'll give you a year. And she's like, take a year in jail for this. Like, these are not my charges. And so she's, like, chasing him down the courtroom hallways, trying to get him to listen to her story.

[Hannah Smith]

He just has no interest in listening to her.

[Pasha Eaton]

None at all. Will barely respond to an email. It's a nightmare.

[Hannah Smith]

So rude. So horrible.

[Pasha Eaton]

So horrible. So she's now like, okay, this guy is awful. I'm going to have to do my own investigation to prove my innocence. So she gets the police report and finds out that this person who identifies themselves as Kristen, they were arrested in a casino parking lot. They were in their car. They were not doing well. A security guard comes up to them, sees the arrest happening, and this person says, they're having a medical emergency. It's a woman, a young woman. And so when this person is arrested and tells the cop, I'm having a medical emergency, she's then taken to a hospital. So Kristin sees this in the police report, and she's like, well, these medical records are all gonna be under my name. This person has identified themselves as me.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow. Good thinking.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. So she goes to the hospital, because you can't just.

[Hannah Smith]

I mean, people know this, but you can't just, like, call and get someone else's medical records. Cause of hipaa. Like, you cannot.

[Pasha Eaton]

For good reason. Yeah, but I mean, if I were Kristen, I would have done the same thing.

[Hannah Smith]

But if this other person. So she's saying this other person was arrested and sent to a hospital, but had maybe given her ID or something, so that all of that would have been listed under Kristin's name.

[Pasha Eaton]

Right. So along with the police report, Kristin Is then given body cam footage of this woman at the hospital being questioned by police. And so she's looking at this woman and she's like, I recognize her. Her name is Courtney. Courtney is a friend of the man who got into Kristin's car that day.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. And Courtney has a record for drug charges. This is something that she has done before. And so it's a 37 minute body cam video on the body cam facing Courtney, who we now know to be Courtney. And Kristin's like, this is irrefutable evidence. I am not her. She is not me. She just gave them my identification. I can connect the dots of, like, how she even came to be in possession of it.

[Hannah Smith]

This feels like huge discovery.

[Pasha Eaton]

Huge. Also, she's looking through all these medical records. And you know she's had this massive spine surgery, right? Yes, she has. So there's differences in all of their medical records. This person Courtney, lists allergies that Kristin doesn't have. Like, she doesn't have the same spine X ray that Kristin would have. It's just everything is different. And so Kristin takes all of these medical records and other evidence of witnesses to her attorney. He says, I'm not going to look at it. And neither is the judge. You just need to plead. And by the way, he says more charges are imminent.

[Hannah Smith]

What?

[Pasha Eaton]

So this person has continued using her ID, Getting more charges, and he doesn't care. He doesn't even open the folder. He doesn't take one second to even try to see if she's telling the truth. And so she's like, I am not going to jail for a year. These are not my charges.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. Sort of lucky that she. I mean, it makes sense, but that she sees the camera footage and she knows this person or recognizes that she's met this person before versus a random stranger. But that confirms that that original person who she met in her car, took her purse and probably somehow gave Courtney her id, I guess.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. And so seven months and nine court dates go by. So this is like, all consuming for her. You know, she's looking at a year in jail with a public defender who could care less.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

And so she's completely lost. The final time she sees this man in the hallway, she is so frustrated. She's there with her mom. They don't have the money to hire an attorney, but she just gets so fired up. She's like, you're fired. I'm gonna find an attorney. And she said, he laughed in her face. And he was like, good luck. And that is just like so callous. He truly did not care. She's like. In that moment, it went from this adrenaline rush of, like, I have had enough. I'm gonna do something about it, to realizing, like, my family doesn't have the money to hire an attorney. And now this man who didn't like me before likes me even less. Like, it's just dismal. And so her brother sets up a GoFundMe. And in his GoFundMe, he details the entire situation. He says, my sister's life has been turned upside down by an imposter who has stolen her identity using her ID and personal information. They stole her purse. This has caused her problems. Mixed up medical records, ambulance bills, finding her name, blacklisted at certain shops that this person has stolen from. That's another thing. All of these medical bills from the hospital were getting directed to Kristen. Oh, the ambulance bills. And so she's already not making money. Didn't have a lot to begin with.

[Hannah Smith]

Oh, my gosh. It's just like a snowball effect. It's getting worse and worse for her. Oh, that's horrible.

[Pasha Eaton]

It's horrible. And so her friends, they're able to raise a little bit of money, but it's not enough. She does, however, have a friend who's a professional skateboarder, and he sees that this is happening to her, and he gives her the remainder of the money that she needs to hire a real attorney. And his. Y' all shout him out. His name is Aaron Homoki. His nickname is Jaws.

[Hannah Smith]

Jaws?

[Pasha Eaton]

Jaws. Yeah. They grew up in the same circle. And so he comes through and helps Kristin, and she gets this real attorney.

[Hannah Smith]

Thanks, Jaws.

[Pasha Eaton]

Thanks, Jaws. So Kristin is able to hire an attorney named Carrie Lackey, who I actually corresponded with to verify, you know, we fact check everything totally. And Kristin's story. And he said it's absolutely true. He said that she came to him, she was able to pay his fee, and he took one look at her case and all of the evidence that she herself had collected, and he was able to get it dismissed in two weeks. Kristin never even had to go back into court with him.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow.

[Pasha Eaton]

And one of the most disturbing details of all of this is that the security guard that was present at the casino that witnessed this arrest of this person who was impersonating Kristen, who we.

[Hannah Smith]

Later found out is Courtney.

[Pasha Eaton]

Who we later found out is Courtney. He did appear at one of Kristen's court hearings, and he pointed to her and said, yes, that's her. That's the woman from the parking lot.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow.

[Pasha Eaton]

And this really, like, solidified to any skeptics of, like, the fact that she was telling the truth. Like, yep, it's her. Don't believe her story. She's guilty, and she was there. That's her son. This was really working against her. And then that security guard, I don't know why, if he just, like, had a guilty conscience or if he realized he was wrong, but he later called the court, called the prosecutor's office or her defense attorney. He did make contact with someone. It's on her record. And said, I got it wrong. That was not her. I got it wrong.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow.

[Pasha Eaton]

And so he. I don't know what the right word is. Recanted that statement that he had seen Kristin, and she was never told that her defense attorney had that information. The public defender. And he never told her that.

[Hannah Smith]

Terrible.

[Pasha Eaton]

Terrible. He straight up didn't care. And so Kristin's charges were dismissed, but Courtney Johnson, who took her ID and used it, has never been charged with any crimes related to stealing Kristen's identity and just, you know, continued to use her ID at certain points, really? But, yeah, But Kristin, now, she hasn't had any further charges on her record, but they were never able to, like, go and take the ID from Courtney. It's still out in the world. And so this is just something that she now has to really just watch all the time. It's just never ending for her.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow. What about, like, the hospital bills? Was she able to get those? Sort of.

[Pasha Eaton]

You know, I don't know how that ended. I know she didn't pay them. She doesn't have any money to pay them. But I think she did tell the hospital this is what's going on. So maybe someone there listened to her. But I do also want to say Kristin is today doing great. Good. Yeah. She's still with the boyfriend from Sierra Records who believed her right away, which I love. And she's in chronic pain, but she's no longer suffering from addiction. And. And she's just a very warm, resilient person.

[Hannah Smith]

I love that.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah.

[Hannah Smith]

That's so good to hear.

[Pasha Eaton]

I know.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow. She went through a lot.

[Pasha Eaton]

She went through so much.

[Hannah Smith]

I mean, even before the identity theft, she went through a lot. Identity theft is so tricky. Like, I'm so glad that she got a good attorney who was able to get these charges dismissed. But it still begs the question, what are you supposed to do? How do you avoid this? And the fact that Courtney was still using her ID after all this happened? It's like, what are you supposed to do if you Find yourself in this situation, obviously, get a good attorney if you can afford that, or if you have someone like Jaws in your life. But so grateful that Kristin was able to do that. But what are the steps that you're supposed to take? Do you know?

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. Well, so I've since looked into it, and basically, if your purse is stolen, if your identification is stolen, you can report your license as lost or you can report it as stolen. You should report it as stolen.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

Because that flags it. So that would give you something to point back to if, say, someone did use it nefariously.

[Hannah Smith]

Gotcha. So ideally was that, like, let's say someone steals your purse and your license is in it, and then they try to use that. If they're pulled over or they're getting arrested. If you've reported as stolen, will that, like, pop up in a system?

[Pasha Eaton]

I think it will, because I think it changes the number on your license.

[Hannah Smith]

It's, like, interesting. It'll give you a new number.

[Pasha Eaton]

I think that's how it works. But it will at least be cataloged somewhere where your attorney, your public defender, hopefully, if they care, can look and say, oh, yeah, you did have your license stolen a year ago, and this did happen.

[Hannah Smith]

Right. So if it's on record that this is the date it was stolen, that you flagged it as stolen, and then two months later, someone uses it when they're arrested, you can prove that more easily in court.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, absolutely. And you can also put, like, if your credit cards are in there, you can freeze your credit so that the banks. If someone's trying to apply for a loan in your name, you can go to someplace like TransUnion and freeze your credit. Or Experian, freeze your credit. No free ads. And that way, if someone tries to take out a loan in your name, the bank has to go through extra measures. Just make sure it's you. Yeah, and I've since done that. And, you know, I actually, a couple months ago, had my purse in the bottom of my stroller, and it fell out at a park. And I got lucky. Someone turned it in, actually, to the police station. That's so nice. So nice. This happened on a Friday. And I thought, there's no way someone turned it in. Maybe I'm just pessimistic, but I reported my license stolen right away. Froze all my cards. Actually, what happened is I was able to go get my purse. I can't remember if it was, like, the following Monday. I think it was a Monday because we had work and I had to go to the police station and get my purse. And then the cash that was in my purse hadn't been, like, processed yet. And so they were like, but you can't get your cash today. And I was just thinking like, okay, what? What? And I think it was like 50 bucks or something. But, you know, I'm self employed. Like, I have flexibility. It's not like it's easy to just take all this time to go somewhere and do something in the middle of a workday, but I do have the option. And, you know, what if you didn't? What if you're Kristen and you're busy and you're looking for work and you need that cash? Like, it's. I don't know. I wish they had a different process for that. I felt really lucky someone turned my purse in, but I thought about how, you know, my keys were in there and I had to wait the whole weekend. Like, I happen to be married and my spouse can let me into the house. But, like, what if? So not a perfect process for that either, but I was lucky someone turned it in.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. Listening to you tell that story, it made me think about that documentary. I just looked up the name of it. The Catfishing of Tegan and Sarah.

[Pasha Eaton]

Oh, yes.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, it came out, like, I don't know, a few months ago or something. I thought it was so good.

[Pasha Eaton]

It was. It was so good.

[Hannah Smith]

And. And I guess it's different because it's about catfishing, but it also involves stolen identity. Tegan and Sarah are a pop duo. They're twins, and they got really huge in, like, the late 90s, early 2000s, and had this huge online following. And then Tegan, her identity was stolen. And the documentary goes into all the specifics of it. There's like a whole catfishing element that's, like, very creepy. But they talk about the logistical nightmare of having your identity stolen, and then it was like, causing all these issues with everyday things that you have to do, coupled with them trying to do things like play shows and go on a tour, rent a car, something like that. And how it really can immobilize you and not only cause fear, like there was a whole fear element for them here, but just like, incredible inconvenience and difficulty. And they weren't even like, at the level like what Kristin was, where she's suddenly, like, thrust into the criminal justice system when she didn't commit a crime and the horror of that, but it just really reminded me of it. It was a good doc, so I can recommend that one because, you know, you hear about these stories of identity theft. And then someone is just like, well, what am I supposed to do?

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, that story also, you know, because this person was interacting with their fans.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

And just such a sacred relationship.

[Hannah Smith]

The catfisher identity thief was interacting with Tegan and Sarah's fans pretending to be Tegan.

[Pasha Eaton]

Right. And so, you know, someone's whole perception of you is being formed by someone who's just an imposter.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

And then, you know, there's this crazy moment in the documentary where Teagan comes into contact with a person who believes that they've been in all of this correspondence, all online, and she never was. And so it's just this totally jarring experience for both of them.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, yeah. I had kind of forgotten about the details of that. So there's all these other victims in the story who are also victims of this person who's pretending to be Tegan. Right. But believe that they have this. This deep connection with her, when in reality it's this, like, catfisher person. Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

I mean, it's heartbreaking.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah, totally.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. I mean, we could go ahead and just recommend everything. Directed by Erin Lee Carr.

[Hannah Smith]

That's right.

[Pasha Eaton]

Okay. I have. I do have a wreck. I'm not all the way through it, but I feel very good recommending it. It's called Catch Me if you can. It's from the binge. I'll read you the long line. I don't want to give too much away.

[Hannah Smith]

Okay.

[Pasha Eaton]

Catch Me if youf can investigates the never before told story of a scam that happened from Los Angeles to Italy. Telling people he was a billionaire's son, a crypto mogul, and a tech genius. Ken allegedly lured victims by promising to make them rich, leaving a trail of beautiful women and broken promises in his wake.

[Hannah Smith]

Mm. Yeah, sounds good. So are you saying catch me if you.

[Pasha Eaton]

Ken.

[Hannah Smith]

Ken K E N. Yes. Gotcha.

[Pasha Eaton]

Very clever.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. Interesting.

[Pasha Eaton]

Great title. Love that title.

[Hannah Smith]

This is a series. Podcast series. Okay.

[Pasha Eaton]

Podcast series from the binge cases.

[Hannah Smith]

Cool.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, it's awesome.

[Hannah Smith]

Can't wait to listen to that one.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, I'm episode three right now.

[Hannah Smith]

Great. I love it whenever you can't even get all the way through listening to something before you recommend it, because it's that good. Well, I'm so glad that you talked to Kristin and were able to tell me and our listeners that story, because really powerful. And I'm so thrilled to hear that she's doing well.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, she's awesome. I mean, I just love that. I reached out to her on Reddit and she was like, yeah, sure. I'll get on a zoom with you person who has zero podcasting experience and we've just stayed in touch. I think she's awesome.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah. Very cool.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. Thanks for listening. We'll be back next week. Bye. If you have a story for us, we would love to hear it. Our email is the knife exactlyrightmedia.com or you can follow us on Instagram henifepodcast or blueskyenifepodcast.

[Hannah Smith]

This has been an exactly right production. Hosted and produced by me, Hannah Smith.

[Pasha Eaton]

And me, Patia Eaton. Our producers are Tom Breyfogle and Alexis Amorosi.

[Hannah Smith]

This episode was mixed by Tom Breyfogle.

[Pasha Eaton]

Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain.

[Hannah Smith]

Our theme music is by Birds in the Airport.

[Pasha Eaton]

Artwork by Vanessa Lilac, executive produced by.

[Hannah Smith]

Karen Kilgera, Georgia Hardstark and Danielle Kramer.

[Pasha Eaton]

We're siblings like you fight, you disagree.

[Simone Boyce]

It's really hard to be in a relationship.

[Pasha Eaton]

You judge each other, you lead differently.

[Simone Boyce]

And we've gotten to that edge. Hey, I'm Simone Boyce, host of the Bright side, and this week I'm joined by Hollywood powerhouse sisters Erin and Sarah Foster. They're getting real about boundaries, rejection. Plus, what's next for their hit Netflix series? Nobody wants this. Listen to the Bright side on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Danielle Robaix]

Just like great shoes, great books take you places through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget.

[Pasha Eaton]

I think any good romance, it gives me the feeling of like butterflies.

[Danielle Robaix]

I'm Danielle Robaix and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club. The new podcast from hello Sunshine and I Heart Podcasts, where we dive into the stories that shape us on the page and off. Each week I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars and more for conversations that will make you laugh, cry and add way too many books to your TBR pile. Listen to bookmarked by Reese's Book club on the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts are wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Books is the official audiobook and ebook home for Reese's Book Club. Visit Apple Co ReeseAppleBooks to find out more.

[Betrayal Weekly Host]

Betrayal Weekly is back for season two with brand new stories.

[Betrayal Weekly Storyteller]

The detective comes driving up fast and just like screeches right in the parking lot.

[Hannah Smith]

I swear I'm not crazy, but I think he poisoned me.

[Betrayal Weekly Storyteller]

I feel trapped. My breathing changes.

[Hannah Smith]

I realize, wow, like he is not a mentor. He's pretty much a monster.

[Betrayal Weekly Host]

But these aren't just stories of destruction. They're stories of survival.

[Pasha Eaton]

I'm gonna tell my story, and I'm.

[Simone Boyce]

Gonna hold my head up.

[Betrayal Weekly Host]

Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your pod.