"My ex-husband stole our son's identity"
Question: My 20-year-old son applied for a Macy's charge card but was rejected. When he ordered his credit report, we discovered that my ex-husband, who has the same name as my son, opened a Comcast cable account using our son's Social Security number, then neglected to pay $453 in charges. How can we fix this? – Name Withheld, Fla.
Answer: Identity theft is frustrating enough to deal with, but even worse when a family member or friend turns out to be the culprit. Sadly, it's not uncommon. Of ID theft victims who know how their personal information was taken (and fully half do), the most common factor cited is that someone they know – a relative, friend or co-worker – stole it, the Federal Trade Commission says.
In any ID theft case, as soon as you spot something amiss, go directly to the source – in this case Comcast. Alert the credit bureaus too, but always fix the problem with the source to keep it from cropping up again. Though most bureaus allow you to file disputes online or over the phone, when a situation is as complex as your son's, it's best to send a letter and documented proof of the mistake via certified mail. You should also file a police report, which many creditors require, and include that with your dispute letter. Then, if it happens again, it'll be easier to clear up.
When I contacted Comcast, spokeswoman Jenni Moyer apologized that you weren't able to get the situation resolved at your local Comcast office (she suggested contacting the corporate customer care hotline in the future). Comcast asked the collection agency that reported your son to the credit bureaus to remove the $453 charge and send a letter to the credit bureaus, clearing your son's record.
Since then, I'm happy to hear that your son not only was able to obtain a credit card but has a solid 700-plus credit score. Repairing damage to a credit score is tricky but doable. Rebuilding the trust between your son and his father may be tougher.
Tip: Spot identity theft early by monitoring your credit report for unauthorized activity. Go to annualcreditreport.com to request your credit report free once every 12 months from each of the three major credit bureaus.
So far Money Helps has saved readers $194,442.03.
Having a financial nightmare? E-mail Donna Rosato at money_helps@moneymail.com.
Interestingly, I just got a call from a collection agency alleging an unpaid Comcast bill, I called Comcast and they said, no you are up to date. After reading this article I realized. Someone stole my ID!
alot of places also requires a police report to be filed. My mother was also a victim of ID fraud and since she's been out of the country for a while, we are unable to make a police report in the States.
Still trying to resolve the issue at the moment.
and in my experience, getting in touch with someone in the credit bureau is tough, its endless machine answering loops (Except for transunion).
This is not uncommon especially when grandfather/father/son share the same name. When a company pulls a credit profile they access several companies. They then cross link by name and shared addresses, not necessarily by SSN. Just bacause my father and I shared just a last name, my credit report showed that I was a 56 y/o male when, at the time, I was 27. I had to write to the bureau giving them my name, ssn, addresses for 10 yrs, etc. Its ridiculous. I've seen credit reports where the father had bad credit, and the son had good credit and the good credit inadvertently boosted the father's score. Its not a perfect system and if you get declined for credit then that is when you want to go over your report(s) with a fine tooth comb and get the issues resolved.
My son experienced the same thing with his father. He filed a FTC Complaint but the police report was difficult to achieve because local police departments didn't wanted to take his report (home in NJ, stationed in VA and his father lives in NC). It has been about 8 months and some new delinquent charges dating back 3 years are still appearing while others have been removed. One charge was a credit card which was still being using and when my son reported it as identity theft, his father reported it stolen and that opened other problems to say the least. My son will now spend the next few years monitoring his credit report on a monthly basis. The sad part is even with the theft charges being in the thousands, we understand no charges will be brought against his father which to us is unbelievable. Now I understand why identity theft is so prevalent.
http://www.ChildCreditReport.com has detailed info on how to protect your child's credit history. fyi.
thanks,
As a victim of financial identity theft, I hold Comcast completely accountable for the error. They issued cable service to an identity thief without confirming the identity or address of the identity theft victim before issuing the service. The Social Security number is not supposed to be used as an identifier and cases like these prove my point. If Comcast issued cable to an identity thief, Comcast should work with the identity thief and the collection agency to clean up the mess. Why should the victim bear the burden of cleaning up their credit record because of Comcast's errors? I've shared my personal financial identity theft story at http://identitythefthurts.com. Comcast should be forced to PROVE the son took out the cable service, not the other way around.
Unfortunately, parents using their children's ID's are not that uncommon; sometimes ranging in the tens of thousands of dollars, and the "kids" don't find out until they're in their 20's and are looking for their first loan. Most can be cleared up, but in many cases they have to have a police sheet to verify the offense, which means they have to press charges against the offending parent. Tough way to start…
My dad did the same thing to me and my bothers while we were minors. He would open an accont in one of our names and run the bill up until it was turned over to collections. Even worse when I turned 18 and tried to get my electric turned on I was informed I had to pay the balance before I could have service TRANSFERED. That how we found out what he had been doing. I told them to turn off the service and they refused because he was later added to the account and they needed his permission to turn it off. I was still responsible for the bill even when I told them I turned 18 before. I also had tax leins against me from the business he started and didn't pay taxes on, he continued to claim us on his taxes till I was 20. It all came back to him and now lives in a trailor paying rent cause he can't get a loan, the only vehicle he has is company owned, 6 years from retirement and doesn't have a penny saved cause the goverment it taking almost $800 a month to pay them back. Wether family of not people should be arrested when they use someone elses identity to open any type of account