Chapman said some of the stolen identities belonged to people who died in the Christchurch earthquake on February 22, 2011, the Pike River Mine explosion and the Carterton balloon disaster on January 7, 2012.
He said the man used the names to open online accounts with a Telco provider and used the accounts to order high-end smartphones that were charged against the false accounts.
Chapman said the fraud was identified quickly and led to the accounts being shut down the following months, March and April.
The telco company made a complaint to police in August 2012, but by then the offender had left the country.
"The police investigation file is still active. There is no information to suggest the person in question has returned to New Zealand since his departure in May 2012.
He said over the past several months the families of victims of those tragedies whose identities had been taken were informed of the man's activities in 2012.
Although Monk was shocked to hear the news of the fraud and frustrated someone could simply steal the identities, he was happy at police response.
"It was some months ago I was made aware of it by the authorities, but I was happy with their response."
He urged people to be more careful about exposing their private information online.
