Identity fraud is a significant issue for millions of consumers and can lead to severe financial loss in some situations. In many cases, people use this crime as a way to make car theft easier, as they can use a better credit profile than their own. Recently, one Texas woman was arrested for targeting an older person and using their identity to apply for and acquire multiple auto loans. 

Using identity fraud to commit car theft isn’t unheard of, but this woman took things to the extreme

According to KSAT, police in San Antonio, Texas, arrested Cassandra Trevino, 42, on April 7th. Her changes include identity fraud and exploitation of the elderly. Sadly, the woman had somehow gained access to the identity of an 87-year-old and then used it to apply for numerous auto loans. Notably, she had the person’s driver’s license with an altered birthday and other identifying information like their social security number. 

As is the case with many people who commit identity fraud, Cassandra was actually somewhat successful. The report says there were multiple occasions where she left dealerships with cars. However, they would soon become wise to her scheme and then repossess the vehicles. She applied for 46 car loans between October 30th of last year and February 11th of 2025, which is massive.

So, how did Cassandra get caught after committing identity fraud and using the stolen information so many times? The local police say that she left her actual forms of identification in one of the vehicles she had repossessed. Naturally, this led the authorities straight to her. It is still unclear how she got the person’s information, but many believe it happened with an online scam. This is a developing story. Sadly, older adults are often targets for fraud, and it’s clear that the suspect knew this.