A thought or two about identity theft & a victims responsibility.

[Wcross]

How can a lender who makes an error by lending to an identity thief force the victim to prove their innocence? Isn't the proof of a legal debt the responsibility of the lender? Do they not have to have a signature & proof to whom the lent money to rather than an innocent victim having to prove they DIDN'T sign for a loan?

If a lender reports a bad debt to a credit reporting agency & it is identity theft is that not slander? Did the lender reporting a bad debt slander the victim of the identity theft?

How come I can't access any & all files on my credit as many times as I feel like it? The companies who compile my reports SELL the information to lenders, why do they want to limit my access? It is MY information, am I not entitled to see it?

I am dealing with some crap right now, can you say "automated telephone system"? All because a thief decided to go after me & lenders allowed him/her to do it. Not my problem but I do intend to sue for liable & slander if any of it hits my credit reports.

[annabanana]

1. Well... May God go with you, because it sounds like an

uphill battle of major proportions.

Your argument, however, I think is sound.

[Fresh_Start]

2. Its probably already on your credit report

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idcrisis.shtm

If you have not done so already, make a call right now and put a fraud alert on your credit report
You only need to call one bureau since they share information. But I called all three so that I could get all three versions of my credit report.

Follow through and file an identify theft report.
My identity theft was through mail theft so I also filed a police report.
When I talked to creditors I could give them the police report number so they pretty much disappeared into the woodwork.

Good luck to you.

[knitter4democracy]

3. I am so glad I read this thread!

I signed up for a free Experian report last night only to find a store credit card was totally messed up. I'd signed up as a promotional thing, but then never got anything in the mail. Since I don't normally shop there except for school clothes for the kids, stupidly, I'd forgotten about it.

It was stupid of me, granted, but the store's credit company had it all screwed up. They had it under my maiden name (been married 10.5 years and was married last fall when I signed up for it), under the wrong address (even though I put the right one on everything and told the clerk about the new address on the back of my driver's license), and somehow the right phone number but I never got any of the phone calls they claimed to have done.

After a lot of time on the phone last night, I finally got a manager who took an e-check for the original balance and told me how to request all charges and fees to be dropped. He told me exactly what to write to make my case, and I'm getting that fax out today. He was one of the nicest people I've ever dealt with from a store credit card company, too. I'm totally putting that in my letter.

Anyway, if I hadn't read this and wondered what my credit report said (we usually check Hubby's, since he's the one with the money), I never would've caught that. Yay!

[Wcross]

4. You might want to feeze your credit too.

see this thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2661039&mesg_id=2661039

[knitter4democracy]

5. I might.

Certainly worth looking into.