It left one local woman questioning whether her identity had been stolen after she says a stranger with the exact same name was tied to her account.
The billing mix-up led to hundreds of dollars in mystery charges and months of confusion.
It all started with two customers with the same name, and one major mistake.
When Cassandra Morrison logged into her Peoples Gas account in August, something didn't add up.
"I see a bill for a different address for just under $40," Morrison said. "So, I call. They're like, 'Oh, we'll take care of it. Let me look into it.'"
But months later, she says the problem got worse.
"I log in to check my account again to pay my bill, and I now see a new bill," Morrison said. "Now, there's two sitting out there."
There were multiple bills. Two addresses and two different people with the same name were tied to one account.
"I don't feel safe," Morrison said. "I think someone has my information."
Morrison had concerns about identity theft and wondered if she'd be on the hook for bills, which weren't hers.
"So with the two bills, it would have been over $600," Morrison said.
She says after repeated calls, emails and even reaching out through LinkedIn, she finally got answers in February. Morrison was told she would not owe the money and that it was just an error, not ID theft.
But not long after, when she looked online at her account at her West Pullman address, she could still see the other stranger's account, in Bucktown.
The I-Team went looking for answer and did find the other Cassandra Morrison, who lives in a building on this city's Northwest Side. She didn't want to talk on camera, but she said Peoples Gas straightened out the issue, and she no longer owes the money.
The other customer in Bucktown told the I-Team her bill was forgiven because of the mix-up and not being able to see the balance. Only the other Cassandra Morrison who called the I-Team could view it.
Peoples Gas told the I-Team, "A customer account was mistakenly applied to a different customer with the same name. When the customer contacted us... we removed the charge and corrected the issue. We appreciate the customer's patience and help addressing the issue."
"I went into the station filed the police report had to go to headquarters to get one filed affidavit of identity theft and got it notarized all this running around to prove it wasn't mine," Morrison said. said.
Experts say you should regularly check accounts online and look closely to see if other addresses could be linked to your account.
Immediately file a police report and freeze your credit reports in case it is a case of ID theft.