“We checked the lender,” he said. “Cobalt Lending appears in at least two similar fraud cases from the past year. Those cases involved fake employment records and false addresses. They are linked to an investigation involving one person using the alias Rook.”
The name made my stomach tighten. It sounded casual, but it clearly was not.
“And what does this have to do with my family?” I asked.
“We found partial financial activity tied to your case,” he said. “Some of it traces back to a payment app linked to a phone number under your sister’s identity.”
I went quiet for a moment before asking, “Are you saying Dani did this?”
“I am not accusing her of opening accounts,” he said carefully. “But her information is connected to the activity network.”
I struggled to process what he meant and said, “That does not sound like her.”
He replied, “People behave differently when they are under pressure or influenced by others.”
After the call ended, I forwarded him the photo I had taken of the man leaving my parents’ house. I then sent an update to my company’s HR contact explaining that I was involved in a fraud investigation.