Melbourne Gay Man Was Victim of Identity Theft, Ex-Partner Left Him Thousands Of Dollars In Debt
Image: Luke Allen, 31. Image: A Current Affair Screengrab
A Melbourne man was the victim of identity theft after the man he was in a relationship with left him with thousands of dollars of debt.
Luke Allen, 31, started seeing partner Joshua Steele, life was good, and the couple was seemingly in love.
Allen, in an interview with A Current Affair, explained, “I was walking around Melbourne thinking that at some point Josh was going to drop on one knee and propose to me.”
In March of 2022, however, things started to go pear-shaped when Steele, after 4 years together, broke up with Allen out of the blue.
Soon after, Allen, while looking to buy an apartment, discovered that thousands of dollars in loans and credit cards had been taken out in his name.
‘We Will Not Touch You With A 10-Foot Pole’
According to Allen, the bank told him that “We’re not going to touch you with a 10-foot pole, because of your credit history, because you’re essentially bankrupt.”
After looking into the matter further, Allen discovered his forged bank statement and Steele’s bank account number on a loan application.
“I honestly did not see any of this coming,” Allen said. Allen decided to Google his ex and was shocked by what he found.
“The first time I’d done it in the entire time we’d been seeing each other and the first two articles that popped up were news articles,” he said.
Victoria Police Investigating Identity Theft
According to the articles, Steele had stolen over $186 thousand from a food company in 2018 but avoided jail time.
According to A Current Affair, not only is Steele wanted in NSW for missing a court date. He also used his job at a medical office to allegedly make false claims to Medicare – for which he was charged for.
Allen has had most of the loans cancelled and the banks are investigating the fraud.
Victorian Police are currently investigating the identity theft.
