20-year-old Nyaira Thomas really isn’t comfortable with being herself, in person or on paper.
20-year-old Nyaira Thomas really isn’t comfortable with being herself, in person or on paper. The vain and desperate Florida woman has been accused of stealing another’s identity in order to foot the bill for thousands of dollars worth of plastic surgery. She is currently on the run and Lakeland Police are on the hunt for the woman.
Not comfortable in her own skin, officers say Thomas stole another woman’s identity and personal information to pay for a butt lift, lip injection and breast implants. She opened a credit application at Watson Clinic in Lakeland with a fraudulent identification card of a woman living in Illinois. Detectives would later locate a Lake Wales address off of a credit application report and identify Thomas as the criminal responsible for the theft.
On February 20th, Thomas first went under the knife for her breast augmentation surgery. She had liposuction of her flanks during the visit as well, and the fat from that area was placed in her buttocks, according to a police report. More comfortable with herself following the procedures, investigators stated that Nyaira then received an injection of Juvederm into her lips one week later, on Feb. 27th. The total cost for the two days’ worth of procedures was $11,025.
This isn’t the first time that Floridians have showed their desperation to improve their looks. Last year, Florida investigators pulled the plug on a massive crime scheme involving identify theft and plastic surgery. Mastermind Terilyn Riggins led the ring, stealing more than $50,000 to foot the bills of numerous plastic surgeries and dental work in just under a year’s time.
Fourteen Central Florida women were eventually arrested in the scheme and charged for participating in a plan to steal the identities of over a dozen people. The stolen information helped to pay for cosmetic surgeries, including breast implants, breast reductions, and tummy tucks. When interviewed by police, more than fifty percent of the women captured stated that 28-year-old Riggins had aided them throughout the entire process.
Riggins was able to tap into the credit card accounts of her victims and impose a small fee to people looking to get procedures done, in turn covering the charges for them. This became a full time, lucrative gig for Riggins. In some instances, the medical offices involved were able to spot the fraud before moving forward with surgery, but this wasn’t always the case.
Investigators discovered Riggins’ cell phone number was used to call a credit card company over 300 times in less than a year, and that the phone number was tied to sixteen accounts with the credit card company. Some of the victims of identity theft were observant enough to spot the charges, while others paid their bills without noticing. Much like the charges Thomas will face if caught, Riggins was arrested and charged with several felonies, including grand theft, scheme to defraud, and identity theft. Thomas will also face charges of forgery if caught.
The 2017 Identity Fraud Study, released by Javelin Strategy & Research, found that $16 billion was stolen from 15.4 million U.S. consumers in 2016. This number has continues to climb year by year. Anyone with information on Thomas’ whereabouts should call the Lakeland Police Department at 863-834-8993.
Sources:
Florida Woman Commits ID Theft To Pay For Plastic Surgery: Cops
Woman Used Identity Theft To Fund Clients’ Plastic Surgery Procedures
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