Woman dyes hair, steals friend’s identity to obtain driver’s license, loans, credit cards

Surveillance footage captures Jessica McCamey fraudulently obtaining a $4,000 loan at Utah Community Credit Union, Provo, Utah, April 2017 | Photo courtesy of Ciara Johnson, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A 24-year-old woman has been arrested after stealing her friend’s identity to obtain a fraudulent driver’s license, a $4,000 loan, credit cards and prepaid gift cards for herself in her friend’s name.

Jessica Ann McCamey illegally renewed her friend Ciara Johnson’s driver’s license at the Provo Department of Motor Vehicles on April 24, having her own picture taken and subsequently used on the license, according to Utah court documents.

“(The DMV) saw that I had just renewed my driver’s license and saw my new picture,” St. George resident Johnson said. “If they’d have paid attention to what they see on my previous license – I have brown eyes. She has bright blue eyes. I’m 130 pounds. She’s like 200 pounds. There’s a big difference. I’m very dominant in my features. She’s blonde. I’m Arabic. So, I don’t understand how she was able to get a license.”

Jessica Ann McCamey, booking photo posted June 12, 2017 | Photo courtesy of the Utah County Jail, St. George News

Johnson said she became friends with McCamey, of Provo, when McCamey began dating her husband’s lifelong best friend about a year and a half ago. As that relationship grew, Johnson said the couple decided to move from Provo to St. George and would stay at the Johnson’s home while searching for a place of their own.

“We hung out all the time – I mean, she’s becoming like one of my best friends, you know, because I was her only friend here in St. George,” Johnson said. “So, I became really close with her.”

Just before a planned trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, for McCamey’s birthday in March, Johnson learned her driver’s license was missing so she went to the Washington County DMV to obtain a new driver’s license for the trip.

Around that same time, Johnson said McCamey asked for her help to dye her blonde hair a dark-brown color – similar to the color of Johnson’s hair – before they left for Las Vegas.

“I got to Vegas with her for her birthday, we go shopping, we do all this stuff,” Johnson said, adding, “When I get back from Vegas – it was maybe three weeks after Vegas – I get a call from Victoria’s Secret and they’re asking me to pay off my balance and I said, “’What are you talking about? I don’t have a balance, I always pay mine off right when I use it.’”

Surveillance footage captures Jessica McCamey fraudulently obtaining a $4,000 loan at Utah Community Credit Union, Provo, Utah, April 2017 | Photo courtesy of Ciara Johnson, St. George News

Johnson said she knew someone must have stolen her Victoria’s Secret credit card or used her personal information to make the purchases on her account. While Johnson was trying to resolve the issue, she remembered a letter she received from Home Depot about two weeks prior, informing her that her account had been approved.

“I had just thought it was junk mail like I get all the time,” Johnson said, “and then I called Home Depot right after I hung up the phone with Victoria’s Secret and find out I have a $5,000 credit card opened up with them that was maxed out.”

As Johnson dug deeper, she learned she had more than 15 recent inquiries on her credit, including a Wells Fargo auto loan, R.C. Wiley, Best Buy, a signature loan in California and a loan at Utah Community Credit Union in Provo, among others.

Surveillance footage captures Jessica McCamey fraudulently obtaining a $4,000 loan at Utah Community Credit Union, Provo, Utah, April 2017 | Photo courtesy of Ciara Johnson, St. George News

“I called the Utah Community Credit Union up in Provo and they said, ‘yeah, you came in and you took out a $4,000 loan on this day, and I said, ‘no, that wasn’t me. I live in St. George. I’ve never been into your place at all.’”

Johnson said she then went to the St. George Police Department to file a police report but felt they weren’t providing her with the help she needed or taking any action so, she said she called the Provo Police Department and a detective promptly jumped on the case.

Provo Police obtained surveillance footage from the credit union on the date the loan was processed.

“(The detective) thought I was filing a false police report because he looked at my ID and looked up the footage from the UCCU and it’s the same person,” Johnson said. “But then he went and looked on my Facebook and saw who I was and found her profile and saw who she was and so then he put everything together. He called me and sent me over the surveillance and he said, “You know her but I need you to verify that it was her on the surveillance.’”

Johnson said she was shocked to find out it was McCamey, noting that McCamey was with her when she was filling out the police report.

According to a probable cause statement filed by Provo Police Officer Nicholas Patterson in support of the arrest, McCamey obtained a $4,000 loan in Johnson’s name, using Johnson’s information and providing forged documents stating she owned a home – Johnson’s St. George home – that she was renting out for income.

McCamey had already applied for and obtained a Home Depot credit card under Johnson’s name while she was living in St. George, Patterson wrote in the sworn statement.

“While she was in Provo, Jessica (McCamey) went to the Home Depot and used the credit card to purchase a total of $2,000 in prepaid credit cards,” Patterson stated.

Police arrested McCamey on June 12 in Provo.

She was booked into the Utah County Jail on second-degree felony producing a false identifying document; seven third-degree felony counts of identity fraud, theft by deception and forgery; along with two class A misdemeanor counts of unlawful use of a financial transaction card.

“A criminal history search revealed that Jessica has been arrested and convicted of the same crimes in the past several years,” according to the probable cause statement.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

 

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16 Comments

  • Caveat_Emptor June 19, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    What was striking was the driver’s license renewal process that issued a new license, when the physical characteristics were different……
    Now, in our politically correct world we may be hesitant to inquire how someone put on so much weight since their last renewal, but the color of eyes is sufficiently diferent, unless the DMV person was color blind…..
    It just shows how powerful a driver’s license is in acquiring credit.

  • knobe June 20, 2017 at 8:33 am

    If I remember correctly , the 9th level of hell is reserved for betrayers , people like McCamey , who betray those who have helped & trusted them .
    Johnson was providing shelter for this bottom feeder & she was just casing her the entire time .
    Sorry . . . but some people have sold their souls & are not salvageable ,
    she will Never be safe to let loose in society unless she has a deep ‘thief’ tattoo engraved on her forehead .

    • ladybugavenger June 20, 2017 at 2:23 pm

      The 9th level of hell? Is that a Mormon thing or is it an appellate court?

      • mesaman June 20, 2017 at 8:22 pm

        Back under your rock, bug lady. All this hatred you have against the Mormons is going to make you fatter and uglier and certainly not more agreeable or acceptable.

      • knobe June 20, 2017 at 9:05 pm

        Not familiar with Dante’s Inferno ? ( classical texts – 14th century )

        • ladybugavenger June 21, 2017 at 11:56 am

          Thanks knobe I wasn’t familiar with the term or Dantes inferno. I didn’t know where it came from. Thanks for clearing it up. And mesaman I don’t hate Mormons they are people too! I love people. I find the Mormon cult to be a brainwashed religion of deception and lies but that doesn’t mean that all Mormons are brainwashed. Here’s the difference between a believer in Jesus and Mormonism. Mormons believe they can work there way to heaven (not true) A believer in Christ knows the only way to heaven is through Jesus. We are sinners, saved by grace, to come to Jesus, confess we are a sinner, repent of our sins, ask him to come into our heart and accept him as our Lord and savior.

          Mesaman not once have you mentioned Jesus but you have spewed that I will become fatter and uglier. Why don’t you pray for me Mesaman. Wouldn’t that be the Mormon thing to do?

          • ladybugavenger June 21, 2017 at 2:18 pm

            To be fair mesaman I’m not a fan of any “religion” I don’t care what religion someone is, it means nothing to me. when someone says I’m this religion or that religion, it does nothing to influence me or give me a pre judgment of who they are and their type of character. I judge a tree by its fruit not by a religion. Are they a liar? Are they a deceiver? Are they a manipulator? Are they a thief? Do I need to stay away from that person? (Mostly, that answer is yes lol)

            Bob doesn’t believe the same as me and he doesn’t have to nor do you mesaman or theone for that matter, but are you going to treat me fair and not wish me to get fatter? (cuz I could really be better off not having that curse on me 🙂 I definitely don’t want to get fatter than I am.

      • knobe June 20, 2017 at 9:10 pm

        FYI – that is centuries Before the newbie religions like Mormons or courts in the USA .

  • Mike P. June 20, 2017 at 8:47 am

    If she would have put just half as much energy into getting a job……………

  • livebeyond June 20, 2017 at 9:04 am

    So crazy !!!!! ?

  • Who June 20, 2017 at 10:17 am

    9th level???

    • knobe June 20, 2017 at 9:09 pm

      From Dante’s Inferno/ classical texts – 14th century – the worst circle is reserved for those guilty of treachery against those with whom they had a special relationship / as opposed to something like lust or gluttony which fall into the 2nd & 3rd levels .

  • Mean Momma June 20, 2017 at 11:08 am

    Jeez! With friends like that, who needs enemies!

  • comments June 20, 2017 at 11:44 am

    I think a lawsuit against the state driver’s license division is in order. Abysmal failure on their part. And stg police were of no help? why, I wonder? I know it isn’t because they were too busy doing traffic patrols.

  • panda June 20, 2017 at 12:11 pm

    Thank Goodness for Provo Police. She’d still be waiting if she had to depend on St. George Police. They couldn’t find the side of barn with their side arm at 2 yards. They are too busy treating people inappropriately scaring the crap out of victims of crime and treating the victims like the criminal so they won’t come back, to file any more reports or complain, and when you do submit a complaint they white wash the inappropriate behavior of the officers. The only victims that don’t have to suffer from their ineptness is children who go directly to the Children’s Justice Center to report crimes. The rest of us are SOL. (Yes I know that there are a few good cops on the force in St. George, but they are the exception not the rule.)

    • comments June 20, 2017 at 2:19 pm

      Unfortunately, I think you are right. They forget all too easily that they are public servants. And I agree, there are a few good ones.

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