LifeLock

How much time do identity theft victims spend trying to clean up the mess? Tom Lesh, of Coos Bay, OR, said he’s spent thousands of hours of a 35-year period writing letters to credit card companies, banks and government agencies.

But, with yesterday’s arrest of Clark Mower, 58, Lesh’s long ordeal might be coming to an end.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Lesh, 66, said he’s known since the 1970s who had stolen his identity, but couldn’t get anyone to act on his complaints. He said he tried everyone from the IRS to the Mower’s own mother.

He’d gotten so tired and frustrated, Lesh joked that he considered taking a more direct route to resolution by hiring a hit man. He ruled that idea out, though, when he figured that with his luck, the hit man would kill the real Tom Lesh.

Mower was arrested in Seattle and charged in federal court with aggravated identity theft, Social Security number misuse and unlawful production of an ID.

Lesh said he feels like he’s been released from prison, and is so relieved that he could kiss the special agent who handled it.

Identity theft victims survey for the Identity Theft Resource Center spent an average of 58 hours repairing damage if the ID theft involved an existing account. If new accounts were opened using the ID theft victim’s information, the average hours rose to 165.

Like in Lesh’s case, 16.7% of the ITRC survey respondents who said they had successfully cleared their names reported spending more than five years at it.