ODOJ Announces 19 New Charges Against Melissa Fireside in Identity Theft Case

A Clackamas County grand jury returned a 19-count indictment Wednesday against Melissa Fireside, alleging she opened multiple credit accounts using another person's stolen identity. The alleged victim was 65 or older at the time the identity theft occurred.

The new charges allege Fireside fraudulently opened a U.S. Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program loan, a NetCredit account, and credit cards with Discover and Bank of America, all using the victim's personal information.

These charges come on top of a separate indictment returned against Fireside in February 2025, which alleged similar conduct including identity theft, forgery, theft, and computer crime. After her arraignment for those charges, ODOJ received information that Fireside may have fled the country with her son.

The Oregon Department of Justice will not be commenting further on this case due to ongoing efforts to return Ms. Fireside to the United States to face these and possibly additional charges.