I've lost four years of my life to someone else's crime
Lost DNI in 2021 led to fraudulent bank account opening with three credit cards, unauthorized purchases, and accumulated €30,000+ debt in victim's name. Victim blocked from mortgage approval, included in delinquency registries, and dependent on family support despite reporting to police and Santander bank.
- Lost DNI in January 2021 at a Barcelona aesthetic clinic
- Fraudulent bank account opened in her name with three credit cards and €30,000+ in debt
- Denied mortgage approval for apartment purchase in Badalona four years ago
- Suspect arrested two years ago; faces 9-year prison sentence and ordered to pay €5,000 in compensation
A Barcelona woman has spent over four years battling a €30,000 debt after her lost DNI was used for identity theft, including fraudulent bank accounts and purchases, leaving her unable to secure housing despite filing complaints.
Tania Costa lost her national ID card at a Barcelona aesthetic clinic in January 2021. It seemed like a minor inconvenience—the kind of thing that happens to everyone. Four years later, she is still trapped in a labyrinth of debt, court proceedings, and financial ruin that she did not create.
She did not realize anything was wrong for months. The clinic eventually contacted her to say someone had used her name to finance a cosmetic treatment. Then came a traffic fine for a toll violation on the AP-7 highway near Tarragona—for a car she had never driven. The calls started after that. Collection agencies began reaching out, identifying her as a Santander customer with outstanding balances. When she visited a bank branch to investigate, she discovered the full scope of the theft: someone had opened a bank account in her name with three linked credit cards and a false address in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. Using those cards, the thief had made purchases, booked travel, sent money transfers, and even bought a vehicle. The accumulated debt exceeded 30,000 euros.
The consequences rippled outward in ways that touched every part of her life. Her name was added to delinquency registries—the Spanish equivalent of a credit blacklist. Banks rejected her applications. Four years ago, she had found an apartment in Badalona and was ready to complete the purchase. The mortgage was denied. She lost the home and, with it, a sense of control over her own future. She became financially dependent on her family just to survive. The collection calls kept coming, each one a reminder that her identity had been weaponized against her.
She filed a police report with the Mossos d'Esquadra. She went to Santander and explained what had happened, hoping they would remove her from the negative registries. They did not. Instead, she found herself moving from bank to bank, repeating the same story over and over, pleading with each institution not to close doors because of debts she did not owe. "I've had to go bank by bank explaining what happened, begging that they don't shut me out for something that isn't mine," she said.
Frustrated by the bank's inaction, Tania and her lawyer, Daniel Salvador of Vosseler Abogados, filed a lawsuit against Santander for damages. They argue the bank was reckless in opening the accounts without proper verification and negligent in keeping her on the delinquency list despite her police report and explanation. The bank already knew the name of the actual perpetrator—a woman who had been arrested two years earlier and was a repeat offender.
The suspect now faces a prosecutor's request for nine years in prison and a 6,000-euro fine. She is also being ordered to pay Tania 5,000 euros in compensation for moral damages and to assume responsibility for the fraudulent debt. But the legal process moves slowly. While the case awaits trial, Tania's bureaucratic nightmare continues. She has lost four years to a crime she did not commit, and she still does not know when—or if—her life will return to normal.
Citações Notáveis
Each call was a reminder that they were destroying my life. I couldn't do anything except explain over and over that it wasn't me.— Tania Costa
The bank had the name and surnames of the real perpetrator, who is a repeat offender. The debt is not mine.— Daniel Salvador, her lawyer
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
How did she finally discover what had happened? It took months?
Yes. The clinic contacted her first about a cosmetic treatment financed in her name. That's what broke the silence. Then the traffic fine arrived, then the collection calls. Each discovery was another layer of the same crime.
And the bank—Santander—they knew she had filed a police report?
They did. She went to them, explained everything, showed them the report. But they kept her on the delinquency list anyway. That's why she's suing them now. The bank had the real perpetrator's name. They knew.
What strikes you most about her situation?
That she lost four years of her life to someone else's crime, and the institution that should have protected her instead locked her out of basic things—a home, a mortgage, financial dignity. The legal system is moving, but she's still waiting.
Is there any chance the lawsuit will actually restore what she lost?
The money might help. But four years? A home she was ready to buy? That doesn't come back. The lawsuit is about accountability, but it's also about how slowly justice moves when a person's entire life is on pause.