Identity theft

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes of this day and age and thousands of people fall victim to this crime every year. Identity theft is a federal crime. It occurs when one person's identity, which can be name, social insurance number or any account number, is used or transferred by another person for unlawful activities.
For the past month a dear and close friend of mine has been dealing with the consequences that identity theft has brought on, and the consequences have been staggering ever since a coworker gained access to bank account numbers, emptied out bank accounts and retrieved other useful information via access to this account. The fall out and the consequences of having all ones money stolen, is probably the lesser evil of it all, the biggest concern is the lack of having a trustworthy identity right now, credit cards had to be cancelled, accounts had to be closed. Due to not really having an identity, loans and credits have been denied, so there is no money to pay the outstanding bills. They recently found out too that the perpetrator tried to apply for loans in their name, which thank god was found out by the bank trying to verify some information, at least someone has done their job.
But the ever increasing bills and excessive bills, due to more phone calls, penalties on late payments, the costs of it all are getting higher and higher.
What a helpless feeling and what an awful predicament. I never felt so helpless in being a friend, not knowing what to do, how to help or even what to say.
The perpetrator has been arrested in the meantime,but one's struggles continue and no one knows what was done with all this valued information and what damage is still to come.