Identity theft can cost people money. But long after the perpetrators are caught and prosecuted, the damage to the victims can continue.

Eventually, credit experts say, the problems can be overcome if specific steps are taken.

Ralph and Denise Tillery took all the right steps after thieves accessed their bank accounts and stole nearly $20,000.

Denise Tillery spotted the problem in February when she checked her Citibank account online and saw that someone had used a debit card to withdraw almost all the money the couple had.

She did everything that experts recommend: called the police, filed a fraud alert with the credit reporting agencies and notified the bank. She also kept copies of all the documents related to the case.

Investigators found that the thieves transferred the money several times to different accounts around the United States before wiring it out of the country. They were never caught and it was never determined how the the Tillerys' personal information was stolen.

Denise Tillery said it took her several months to get her money reimbursed by the bank, which is insured against theft.

Then, she said, her case took a new twist: Citibank sent her to collections over a final $688 withdrawal made by the thieves.

"The problem is one of the accounts had overdraft protection and even though we had closed the account, the overdraft protection was still active," Ralph Tillery said. "So the bank covered the withdrawal."

Since then, the couple has received numerous threatening letters and phone calls over the debt.

"They have made my life hell," said Denise Tillery. "These collection agencies accuse you of doing things that you didn't do and they aren't even nice about it."

When contacted by The Modesto Bee, Citibank officials in San Francisco said it's obvious that an error was made by the bank. They promised to correct the situation.

"We have a number of programs to help our customers prevent identity theft and fraud and to reclaim their identity and re-establish credit if they become victims," said Citibank spokeswoman Janis Tarter. "We hope to be able to rectify this matter to the Tillerys' complete satisfaction, as we have done for many other ID theft victims, and regret that our earlier efforts left this piece unresolved."

Unforgettable ordeal

The Tillerys said they hope the situation does get resolved, but added they will never forget their ordeal.

And the Tillerys aren't alone. According to the Federal Trade Commission, about one-fifth of the identity theft victims in the United States reported they were contacted by collection agencies for up to six months after the crimes were discovered.

David R. Johnson, director of business development for the nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service, said resolving the problems caused by identity theft can be frustrating.

His agency has received so many pleas for help from ID theft victims that it recently opened up an office just to repair damaged credit.

Johnson also has personal knowledge on how frustrating it is to be a victim of ID theft.

Payroll files stolen

Last year, the company that prints Consumer Credit's paychecks was burglarized and payroll files were stolen. Several months later, every employee in the office discovered that someone was using his or her name to file unemployment claims and collect the checks.

After several months the problem was solved, he said, because the employees followed all the recommended steps for ID theft victims.

They filed police reports, requested fraud alert be placed on their credit records, filed ID theft affidavits with the Federal Trade Commission, and notified the state Employment Development Department.

The employees also kept copies of all correspondence and reports in the case, checked their credit reports regularly, and followed up with personal phone calls to investigators and credit bureaus.

"With enough perseverance and patience," Johnson said, the problems can be resolved.

Fighting collection agencies

But sometimes it can take much longer than anticipated. Just ask Melissa Badillo and her grandmother Amparo Garcia, both of Turlock.

They have been battling collection agencies for nearly two years, ever since relatives used their good names and credit ratings to pay for shopping trips and vacations.

Badillo discovered the fraud in August 2002 after she was rejected for a Chase-Manhattan credit card. She was told that a card had been issued to her a few weeks earlier.

Badillo called the credit card company's fraud hot line, she said. The card was canceled and removed from her credit record.

Then in May 2003, Citibank called Amparo Garcia and informed her that not only did she have an overdue credit card, she had six other delinquent accounts on her credit report totaling more than $25,000 in debt.

"I called the police," Badillo said.

Family arrested

Detective Kipp Loving, with the Sacramento Hi-Tech Crime Task force office in Turlock, said it didn't take long to identify the culprit in both Amparo Garcia and Badillo's cases. It was Mary and Ricardo Garcia. Ricardo is Amparo's son and Badillo's uncle. He's married to Mary.

Loving arrested the couple in August 2003 and they pleaded guilty. Mary was sentenced to 18 months of home detention. Ricardo was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

Since then, Badillo said, her grandmother has received numerous calls and notices from collection agencies and several from a Spanish-speaking New York lawyer representing one of the credit-card companies.

"He said he knows that she's really the guilty party," Badillo said. "He called her three other times and said he knows she's a front."

The reason the creditors continued to badger Amparo Garcia is probably because the fraud went undetected for more than six months, Johnson said.

The longer the fraud lasts, the harder it is to dispute because there are more transactions to investigate, he said.

"Plus there's a suspicion of why you didn't take action earlier," Johnson said. "If you knew the person who was using it, the credit companies wonder if you let them get away with it."

The lawyer stopped calling about three months ago after Amparo Garcia sent him copies of police reports and court files.

But Amparo Garcia still gets bills from other collection agencies, Badillo said, including one last month for $1,611.99.

"They demanded their money in 10 days," Badillo said. "It seems that this never ends."