Comments on: Identity Theft: Not Dead Yet http://larrydownes.com/identity-theft-not-dead-yet/ Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:59:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Mrs_H http://larrydownes.com/identity-theft-not-dead-yet/comment-page-1/#comment-532 Mrs_H Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:14:13 +0000 http://larrydownes.com/?p=806#comment-532 A former employee used my social security number and falsified signature to buy a car, run up about $30K in credit card debt, and make other purchases. As you said, most of the companies accepted my proof that I'd never lived in the state where the purchases were made and was in fact not the person who signed any of the contracts. Two companies (Americredit and Capitol One), however, refused to accept my attorney's documentation, and continue to ruin my credit over 10 years after the fact. When we reached the seven year credit reporting history deadline, they sold the debt to another subsidiary, and came after me again -- so the whole process seems never ending to me. Since the car I never saw was repossessed, it's impossible for me to get credit of any kind. Luckily, I can pay cash for my cars and my home was paid off at the time of the identity theft. But it truly sucks having a great net worth and a bad credit score due to identity theft! So while I agree that people overuse the term, it is a real problem for anyone unlucky enough to get scammed by an idiot who uses one of these fly-by-night sub-prime credit companies instead of a reasonable company that accepts actual proof. A former employee used my social security number and falsified signature to buy a car, run up about $30K in credit card debt, and make other purchases. As you said, most of the companies accepted my proof that I’d never lived in the state where the purchases were made and was in fact not the person who signed any of the contracts. Two companies (Americredit and Capitol One), however, refused to accept my attorney’s documentation, and continue to ruin my credit over 10 years after the fact. When we reached the seven year credit reporting history deadline, they sold the debt to another subsidiary, and came after me again — so the whole process seems never ending to me. Since the car I never saw was repossessed, it’s impossible for me to get credit of any kind. Luckily, I can pay cash for my cars and my home was paid off at the time of the identity theft. But it truly sucks having a great net worth and a bad credit score due to identity theft! So while I agree that people overuse the term, it is a real problem for anyone unlucky enough to get scammed by an idiot who uses one of these fly-by-night sub-prime credit companies instead of a reasonable company that accepts actual proof.

]]> By: http://www.processingbrokerage.com http://larrydownes.com/identity-theft-not-dead-yet/comment-page-1/#comment-527 http://www.processingbrokerage.com Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:57:42 +0000 http://larrydownes.com/?p=806#comment-527 Larry, Great post. I fully agree that the term "identity theft" is being kept alive by firms that have vested interest. Enforcement is poor on these type of cases because people are looking at the wrong people, it needs to be driven by the banks, card associations, and the government to create better tools for people to keep their information safe. Steve Williams Larry,

Great post. I fully agree that the term “identity theft” is being kept alive by firms that have vested interest. Enforcement is poor on these type of cases because people are looking at the wrong people, it needs to be driven by the banks, card associations, and the government to create better tools for people to keep their information safe.

Steve Williams

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