Don’t use catfish photos at the DMV, one TikToker warns in a viral video.
Melody (@melodysrose) tearfully urged other users on the platform to resist the temptation to do their makeup in such a way that they would otherwise look unrecognizable without the magic of cosmetics. She says she is now having difficulty verifying her identity after someone stole her information and took a bunch of credit cards out in her name.
While there are plenty of clips online showing folks how to absolutely slay it whenever they step in front of a camera for their photo ID, it looks like Melody’s decision to do so has left her in a bind, one that she divulged in a viral TikTok that’s garnered over 759,000 views on the social media platform.
@melodysrose i am me!!!! 😭
♬ original sound – melody ♊︎
The clip begins with Melody looking into the camera, tears welling up in her eyes.
“This is a reminder to not be a bad b*tch in your driver’s license,” she instructs. “‘Cause when you have to confirm your identity with like Equifax or something, and they make you send a picture of your ID, they’re gonna be like, ‘You’re not who you say you are.'”
She then cuts her video to show off her driver’s license photo, sheets of paper masking her details on the ID. “‘Cause they’re gonna be like, ‘There’s no way in hell you’re this b*tch, but then this is what you send us?'” Melody says, referring to how she looks in the video. “Not even this like. I have a filter on, so I look way worse than this.”
Melody then transitions her clip to show paperwork that delineates all of the addresses the scammer in question used to take out credit cards under her identity.
“So the person who got credit cards and sh*t in my name, these are the addresses he used and it’s on my file and I don’t know how to remove them cause I can’t verify my identity,” Melody shares. “This is—I never lived at these. Ever.”
In the comments section of her clip, folks had a variety of different opinions.
One individual thought that there really wasn’t that much difference between her face in the video and the driver’s license picture she showed off in her TikTok. “wth, that does look like you though. literally same features!!” they wrote.
Another expressed that they thought this conundrum was indicative of a larger social issue. “Someone lied to this generation about what a ‘bad b*tch’ is. Filters have ruined our women…” they said.
Someone else remarked that they do the opposite of what Melody does and intentionally ensure that their ID photos look worse than they do in real life. “Why I take an ugly picture. And then they see me and they like ‘oh you’re a lot prettier than your picture,’“ the user claimed.
Others offered Melody advice on how to handle her issue of stolen identity.
“Step 1 file a police report do it online, step 2 go social security in person to put a pin on your social, step 3 check EDD for your work history, to verify that your social isn’t being used to work somewhere else,” one viewer suggested.
Another person urged her to put a “freeze” on her credit before doing anything else. “Step 1, put a freeze on your credit.. proceed with the rest,” they said.
The Office of Victims for Crime has delineated a series of steps identity theft victims should follow in the event that their personal identities have been stolen. According to the agency, these are the first four steps one must take, complete with links to information on how to accomplish each task:
- Place a fraud alert on your credit report
- Close out accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently
- Report the identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission
- File a report with your local police department
Cases of identity theft have “skyrocketed” in recent years according to DataProt. The outlet states that there are approximately 9 million instances of this particular crime annually.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Melody via TikTok comment for further information.
