Stolen Identity

Many Marshall students wait for refunds to be placed on their Marshall OneCards at the beginning of each semester, not realizing the money could vanish as fast as it was received.

Paul Milam, freshman pre-business major from Hurricane, W.Va., noticed while using the card on a daily basis that his money started to quickly disappear in early January and he was not the person splurging with the funds.

"I would have expected something like this from my other credit card," Milam said. "I've used it online, but the Marshall OneCard I use only for food and groceries."

The Marshall OneCard serves as a debit card, offered by Higher One financial services and for students identification on campus by having a photo of each student on his or her ID. The photo ID may help Milam prove his identity at the registrar and bursars office, but it did not help prevent his identity from being stolen.

The card itself was never stolen from Milam but $843 were spent at a Wal-Mart and $145 at Main Event, a bowling alley, both located in Texas.

The account number was also used to purchase gas, Milam said.

While these purchases were being made in Texas, Milam said he was still using the card regularly to purchase lunch at the Huntington Mall food court.

"I have only ever used this card at Wal-Mart and restaurants," Milam said. "Somewhere, someone wrote my number down at (one of the locations) or something."

Milam and his family are preparing for what could become a lengthy battle to get his stolen funds back, and press charges against the thieves, Milam said.

"I have paperwork and stuff to do but the (female employee at Higher One) I talked to assured me the way this happened and the fact I used it like everyday before they tapped it out, shows that the charges were fraud," Milam said. "The problem is how are they getting these numbers."

Milam finally obtained a refund from Higher One in mid-February for the expenses that he did not cause more than a month after the incident occurred.

"The money that was stolen off my Marshall card, all the hoops I jumped through, I now have a full refund," Milam said. "Unless the merchants say otherwise."

Milam said he is willing to go to court if the businesses decide to charge him for the items he did not purchase, but he is unaware of their decisions at the time.

"I won't know until like the end of March, 90 days after they received the documents reporting the dispute," Milam said.

Students who think they may be victims of identity theft should contact one of three major credit bureaus; Experian, Equifax or TransUnion, according to the MUPD Web site. Students should also call the Federal Trade Commission identity theft complaint hotline at (877) 438-4338.

Whitney Johnson can be contacted at johnson253@marshall.edu.

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