Identity Theft Question

[TinkandAriel]

so....hub's best bud tried to get a loan to buy a new to him truck, and is told "sorry, too much outstanding debt"...he says "eh? I have no debt"? Turns out there's two credit cards in his name maxed to the tune of $20,000.00.
Alright, my first (hubs too) instinct is his shady ex wife whom he still lives with (OMG...long story there but we're workin on him to get the heck out of there)...seriously, can't you see how that could happen, she gets the apps in the mail, fills em out, and wa-lah....she can't get cc cards due to her past financial blunders
He says he would know if she did it, because he would notice her buying things...
Anyway, on to my questions: he thinks they'll never be able to track down who did it, and I say that's their job, they'll figure it out. What are the odds that they might figure it out, and how long do you think it takes on average? Ugh...I'd love to know for sure if she did it so he'd have a solid reason to finally leave someone who divorced him but decided he'd better stay to pay her bills for her.....

 

[kmccoy]

Hello TinkandAriel,
I am speaking from experience here. It is quite probable that the credit card companies will be able to identify the thief quite easily. Last year I was notified by Chase that someone had applied for a credit card using my name and social. They believed it to be fraudulent as the address they had on file from my other account did not match. They advised me to contact the credit bureau. My next call was to Equifax. They notified me that in the 2 days prior, 20 credit card accounts had been applied for in my name. They were all in different places of approval. I was then told that each of the applications had the same mailing address (a PO Box) and the same authorized user (my ex husband). So, he used my info, applied for the cards, had them sent to his PO box with himself as an authorized user. He had cards in his own name so no one was the wiser. Had Chase not notified me, I would have been totally unaware (as was your Hubby's friend). So, moral of the story: Have him go to freecreditreport.com, request all three of his credit reports, have them delivered via email (so he gets them immediately), have him go through them fully and find the questionable accounts, contact those companies and ask to speak to their fraudulent accounts department (they are the only ones that can help). They will be able to give him the names of authorized users and address where the bills are being sent. He will then have the info he needs to go to the police. He may not want to go to the police, but if he doesn't, he will not be able to correct his credit and he will be held responsible for the debt. My ex got off scott-free (1 year probation). He didn't even have to pay restitution. There response basically was that he was my exhusband and he looked like a nice enough guy - blah, blah. Had it been a stranger that stole my credit there would have been consequences, but not in the case of an ex. Nice system we have. Your friend should also go to http://www.ftc.gov/ and look up what else he will need to do to protect himself. That is very important. He needs to act quickly to try and save his credit. My credit score tanked by over 400 points until I had all that fraudulent activity removed. Good luck to him and if you need anything else, just post again and I will try and help. I feel his pain. As if credit fraud isn't bad enough, it feels even worse when it is someone you once loved and trusted. Good luck to him.
KM

 

[pixiewings71]

First off, freecreditreport.com is NOT free, it's a service that you need to pay for monthly. If this man is suspecting someone of stealing his identity (which seems obvious from your post) then he should just contact all 3 of the major credit bureaus and let them know, they will put a fraud flag on his info which can help.
Secondly, DBFs cc info was stolen, the cc issuer called us and asked if we'd been to xxxx and charged xxxx, we said no, they closed the account, issued a new card and started an "investigation". They told DBF he could updates on the status by calling them, so he did and was told that the matter was closed. Apparently the amount was so small that the cc company didn't care to pursue it, so the person who stole our cc got away with it.

 

[Planogirl]

You can get the free annual credit reports through annualcreditreport.com. You can also get free reports from the credit bureaus based on the fraudulent activity. You can call one credit bureau and request a fraud alert be placed and that bureau will notify the other two bureaus to do the same. Fraudulent info and disputes are some of the rare things the three credit bureaus share with each other.

This stuff is such a shame.

 

[SandrA9810]

annualcreditreport.com is the free one. That's where you can get your report once a year for free. Make sure he prints out all the reports. And get his report number, he'll need that when calling each of the three companies.

And things like jewelry and fine dining are very easy to hide and highly expensive. It wouldn't take some one long to charge up that much. Or she could be transferring over her own debt to his name. Like with Bank Of America, they send "balance transfer checks" that can be deposited into her own account, then from her account pay off her own debt. Especially if she hasn't changed her last name back to her maiden name, many might think they're still married and she's in charge of the finances. There's more than likely going to be "an authorized" user on the account to make it less obvious when using some one else's card... and that'll be an easy answer.

It might be wise to set up with a CC watch company. We use identity monitor by Citi, and it's 12.99$ a month. But I can pull up the report each and every month and check credit scores too. I can match what they have against the CC bills, and make sure there's no other outstanding debt.

 

[NotUrsula]

As noted before, notify the credit reporting bureaus, that's key. However, they won't remove the debt from his rating until he files a police report re: the identity theft, AND has the credit accounts shut down.
The collection agencies WILL come calling if the accounts do not stay current, and the police report is necessary to get them to call off their dogs.

 

[TinkandAriel]

Thank you all very much for your responses. He has notified the credit bureaus, as soon as the bank told him of the credit cards...I will tell him about contacting the fraudulent accounts department of the cards. I really, really hope they can tell him the information he needs to hear, and even though I wouldn't wish it on him, there is a part of me that is hoping that it is his ex, because he needs that solid evidence to finally get him out of this very unhealthy relationship with her....he is such a bleeding heart and he just can't believe that she would do this to him.
Ugh. He has worked his **** off to dig himself out of debt. I'd love for this to be finalized before we head to Disney so he can make peace with it all, kwim?

 

[seashoreCM]

In addition file an ordinary bill dispute using paper and snail mail for each credit card bill that is not yours and that actually comes to you.

 

[dawson5]

so....hub's best bud tried to get a loan to buy a new to him truck, and is told "sorry, too much outstanding debt"...he says "eh? I have no debt"? Turns out there's two credit cards in his name maxed to the tune of $20,000.00.
Alright, my first (hubs too) instinct is his shady ex wife whom he still lives with (OMG...long story there but we're workin on him to get the heck out of there)...seriously, can't you see how that could happen, she gets the apps in the mail, fills em out, and wa-lah....she can't get cc cards due to her past financial blunders
He says he would know if she did it, because he would notice her buying things...
Anyway, on to my questions: he thinks they'll never be able to track down who did it, and I say that's their job, they'll figure it out. What are the odds that they might figure it out, and how long do you think it takes on average? Ugh...I'd love to know for sure if she did it so he'd have a solid reason to finally leave someone who divorced him but decided he'd better stay to pay her bills for her.....

we were denied credit once and were kind of dumbfounded. it turned out that the person who did the paperwork, dropped off a "0" on the income. We were told at the time that we could get copy(s) of our credit report for free because of the denial.

Also look into your state. We live in Indiana and get free credit reports from the top three each year for free.

 

[Blue.Fairy2]

Everyone is entitled to get a free copy of their credit report once a year no matter what state you live in.

http://www.ftc.gov/freereports

 

[SandrA9810]

Actually anytime you are denied or even if you allow for a credit report to be pulled, you are allowed a copy of it. This goes for applying for a loan, CC, apartment, job, or for any reason a company needs to pull a report. It's in the fine print.

 

[Planogirl]

The company who pulls your report may promise you a copy of what they saw but the credit bureaus won't give you one based on that. Laws do vary by state.

 

[PinkRhombus]

Yeah....I still would think it's his live-in ex. With the availability of online billing, would be easy to hide it.

 

[seashoreCM]

If someone denies you credit or declines you an apartment rental or otherwise does something unfavorable giving bad credit as a reason then you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report.

Filing a police report entitles anyone to prosecute the identity thief and in so doing you can't stand in the way if the identity thief turns out to be a friend or relative. But it is up to the creditor to bring the charges, file the lawsuit, and be the plaintiff.