| A conversation with … Diana DeGarmo |
| By Jay MacDonald • Bankrate.com |
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Teenage "American Idol" contestant Diana DeGarmo worked hard to prepare herself for success in show business. Unfortunately, one less ambitious fan decided to help herself to DeGarmo's bank account the easy way: by stealing her identity.
DeGarmo, runner-up to season-three winner Fantasia Barrino, used TV's most popular show as a career springboard. To date, she has toured the country twice, with and without "Idol," performed on a USO tour to Iraq, released her first album "Blue Skies," and starred in two runs of the multi-Tony Award-winning musical "Hairspray."
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| At a glance |
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Not bad for a 19-year-old.
But just as her career was lifting off, DeGarmo discovered someone had stolen her identity and was tapping her credit cards.
Bankrate caught up with DeGarmo on Broadway for an update.
 Shortly after "Idol," you became the victim of identity theft.
 Well,
somebody tried to steal my identity. This young fan
decided to also attempt to take my credit card information
and was purchasing things online.
Even the spyware that she was using
on my computer was actually being purchased technically
by my credit card. That was such a mess. I'm still
dealing with it now and it's been almost a year, just
trying to clean it up.
The sad thing is, anybody is susceptible
to this, it can happen to anybody. I mean, don't think,
oh, I'm safe, I've got this (spam blocker). It truly
can happen to anybody.
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