Identity Theft Nightmare - Victim Still Battling His Creditors...

(CBS) Almost 10 million Americans were victims of identity theft last year. And the recent revelation of a major security breach at the private data broker ChoicePoint has focused even more attention on the growing problem.

Few people know more about identify theft than John Harrison. In an ironic twist, when the president of ChoicePoint wrote a book on identity theft, he went to Harrison.

The Connecticut salesman has spent over 2,000 hours trying to reclaim his life after having his identity stolen, and his home office has become a shrine to the suffering, reports CBS News Correspondent Byron Pitts.

"I had to come up with a filing system,'' says Harrison of his efforts to clear his name.

Harrison was a victim nearly four years ago, when a 20-year-old stole his identity and literally went for a ride.

"Lowes, Home Depot, Sears, JC Penny, two cars from Ford, a Harley, a Kawasaki motorcycle," says Harrison, listing off the purchases made in his name. "About $265,000 in four months."

Police arrested and prosecuted the thief, Jerry Phillips, and he even went to prison for three years.

"Sorry. You know, I wish I could make it up to you,'' Phillips said of his wrongdoing.

With an apologetic theif behind bars, Harrison thought he was lucky -- but was he wrong. Despite letters from the Justice Department confirming that he was a victim, Harrison and millions of others are still being harassed by creditors. In fact, he remains nearly $140,000 in debt.

"It keeps coming," says Harrison. "It keeps coming and you don't have a choice but to deal with it."

An Identity Theft Nightmare

Victim Still Battling His Creditors Four Years Later