Having your car stolen would be enough of a nightmare for the average person. For Tristan and Greg Wilson, having their identity stolen as well made the blow much harder to take.

On Aug. 3, they say their truck was broken into near Arnprior, west of Ottawa. Tristan's purse was stolen and her Visa card was inside. Soon after, thieves made three withdrawals in less than one minute, racking up $1,000 in charges.

"Everybody thinks, you've got Visa, you've got protection," Greg told CTV Ottawa. "That's not the case. Visa's not standing behind us on this."

Their local bank branch, however, is standing behind them. It has offered to pay the outstanding bill. Visa is expecting full payment, plus interest.

"To add insult to injury, this is the last straw," Greg said. "It's another slap in the face."

Since the thieves used the Visa as a debit card, it means they had the Wilson's pin number as well.

"They're saying that I must have given my pin to somebody or I had it written down somewhere, which I didn't," Tristan said about what happened when they contacted Visa.

The Wilsons also claim that security camera footage of the criminals exists, and they say that there has been no action to track the thieves down.

"We're out the money. You've got a picture of the guys who did it. Just go and get them, it's simple but it's much easier to nail the victim," Greg said.

The terrible situation is more common than people think.

"Unfortunately theft of credit cards, debit cards, things of that nature occur every day and it's an unfortunate situation because it is a big and growing problem," said Sgt. Richard Dugal, Ottawa Police Fraud Section.

The best way to protect yourself from identity theft is to be cautious, said Sgt. Dugal. He suggests keeping your pin number a secret and changing it often, as well as keeping all credit and debit cards in your sight at all times when making a transaction.

Visa Canada is investigating the Wilsons case, and in the meantime, they are getting rid of all their credit cards, including their Visa.

With a report from CTV's Jonathan Rotondo