NC small business owner shares ID theft experience, long road to regaining it: 'Hours on the phone'

ROXBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- Identity theft cases are on the rise this year, and if the numbers continue to trend upward, experts say it could be a record-breaking year for identity theft.

When your identity is stolen, it can be a nightmare trying to stop the scammers. Roxboro resident Tina Barbour knows the frustrations all too well.

She received an email saying her password to her credit card account had been changed. This caught Barbour off guard because she hadn't, and quickly learned it was a woman using her identity.

"Between everything she charged and attempted to charge it was close to $6,000," Barbour said.

There were thousands of dollars in fraud charges on her credit cards, plus she says the person also got access to her PayPal account, which she uses for her small business in Roxboro, Make Mine Homemade.

"It's hard enough as a regular citizen, but then when you add in the small business aspect to it, so I've had to change addresses, I've had to change accesses, it changes how my help helps me. It changes how my customers have their experience."

Barbour filed a police report, and the Roxboro Police Chief confirmed arrest warrants were issued for the suspect, who is living in Texas.

"Within thirty minutes of that, Texas picked her up, and I had, I guess, enough proof from like with my Discover card, she ordered DoorDash and grocery delivery and things like that," Barbour said.

The chief said the suspect was supposed to be extradited in North Carolina, but instead, further leads were developed. The case was transferred to federal law enforcement.

Barbour is disappointed and frustrated as she continues to work on regaining her identity.

"I literally spent hours on the phone, days in a row," she said.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, there were 365,758 reported cases of identity theft in the first quarter of 2025, exceeding the number of cases reported in the previous quarter. FTC data further shows that identity theft and credit card fraud have been the most common types of fraud since 2020.

Tips to protect yourself against identity theft

You should check your credit report and accounts often and report any suspicious activity. Make sure you enable two-factor authentication on your devices and accounts. Also, consider a credit freeze. If a scammer attempts to access your credit and open a fraudulent account, a credit freeze will block them. The downside for you is that during a credit freeze, you can't apply for a loan or open an account.

With all the recent data breaches, if you were part of one, many are offering identity theft protection and monitoring for free. Take advantage of that, as your information is out there, and once it gets into the wrong hands, it's very hard to get back.