I have been the victim of credit card fraud. In December of 2004 I closed a credit card account. I closed it by: a. calling and asking for payoff amount b. Told the cc rep I wanted to close it c. sent check with payoff amount with "close account" on the check. That is foirst question.. Does that constitute closing an account, or is there "fine print" that they bury in the cardholder agreement that they change yearly? In February 2005, someone called the credit card company admittedly by the credit card company from a phone number NOT on the account and : a. stated that the were me b. stated that I had moved c. stated that I had lost the card, so please send a new card. d. and just for good measure, add a PIN nuymber to ther account so they could so cach withdrawals. You would think that this would set off some kind of alarms... WRONG! The credit card company told me that "they knew your security information (mothers maiden name and social security #) so we had to assume that it was you" When I asked.. why didn't you: a. call the number listed on the account @ changes b. send a notice to the address on the account @ changes "We aren't rewquired to do any of that if the caler has the security information"... The account was then run up to the max in 5 weeks (10,000).. Since I had closed the account, I had no reason to expect a bill... But heck, the bill was going to the other address anyway. "What about noticing unusual spending patterns, akak fraud monitoring?" I asked.. Credit card company told me that "we did call several times, and you approved the transactions.." That is amazing.... what did they expect the thief to say, "No that's fraud..." I eventually determined that they sent it to my 19 year old son'r apartment, oer 10 miles from me. (Crack cocaine addict). When I determined this, I told the credit card company that I gfuess I can either presecute my son or pay the bill... I decided to just pay the bill.. I wanted a couple promises in writing: 1. I was to pay only the amnount charged .. no interest. 2. I wanted a letter stating that "(cc) upon receipt of (10K) they would REMOVE the creditline completely from my credit history. They refused on both issues.... SO here I sit wondering what my options are. I am in consumer-friendly PA if that helps. Also, my credit score even with this entry is 710, as that is the only entry of 35 that has problem. I own nothing in just my name, everything is co-signed with wife. It really frustrates me that because of their poor business practices I am in this mess. Had they simply called the number on the account, none of this would have happened. Aren't their "trained" people suppose to be able to notice: a. this person doesn't sound 56 years old (son 19) b. call not from number on the account c. never had a PIN# on the account d. moved AND lost card at the same time and then determine an issue, rahter than assume no respnsibility for the situation? I realize son was wrong.... I will need to collect from him... But, if there is no law regarding this, can someone tell me wny NOT? Thanks for your help... Desparate in PA... Bud
If your son is a drug addict, procecuting him may very well save his life. Perhaps you could bring charges against him and ask the DA or Judge to sentence him to a drug rehab facility and counseling. The boy is only 19, why not use this cloud as a silver lining and try to make something good come out of it.
Without their agreement to remove, did you yet pay the fraudulent statement? Is the account closed, and have you placed a security alert on your credit reports? It is not your job to prosecute your son. It is your duty to assist in such prosecution should the DA decide to do it. File a police report for identity theft. You will have to include in that report that based on the address to which the account was changed, you believe your son is responsible for the identity theft and the fraudulent account charges. Until you do that, they have no legal obligation to consider the debt as other than yours, whether you pay it or not. Once you do that, and send them a copy of the police report, and an affidavit of fraud, with your notice to them disputing the fraudulent re-opening of your account, they are legally required to investigate, and to complete that investigation and remove the fraudulent account from your reports within certain legal deadlines. They are also blocked from selling the fraudulent account to others. One study found that 7 our of 8 fraudulent accounts were sold to CAs and JDBs before the OC legally recognized the account as fraudulent. You want to force them to have to recognize the account as fraudulent, or you may be dealing with the consequences of this fraud, and possibly others, if your son continues in this, for many years. Since you did, in fact, close the account, as they even admit, legally the account was closed at that time. Thus, your son's hijacking and re-opening of the closed account is identity theft, and not simply fraudulent charges on your already open account. FACTA provides the legal basis for you to dispute fraudulent accounts opened by identity theft, and have them permanently removed from your reports. They were also required at the time you requested that the account be closed to notify the CRAs that the account was closed. If this shows up on your CRs, it may be an additional confirmation of their receipt of your request. You will probably have to play hardball with them, but the law is on your side, not theirs. Yes, they may do any number of things claiming you authorized it when a person gives your identifying information. But that is a half-truth. If it is not requested by you, and to your benefit, it's identity theft, the law puts the liability squarely on them, and they know it. Your identifying information isn't even a PIN, which you have some obligation to keep secret. They know better than you that relatives, as well as other creditors, or someone intercepting your mail, could use that information to hijack or open fraudulent accounts. They also know that in most cases of identity theft, the victim doesn't know the account has been opened, or the address diverted, until long after charges have been run up. If their position were the law, it would be open season on all law abiding people with good credit. The law, and their resulting self-interest in minimizing their risk, is the only line of defense the consumer has. They are skirting a line of deception in trying to convince you that you are legally responsible for criminal acts committed by another, especially when Federal law, and no doubt your state's law too, specifically says otherwise. But if you don't know any better, and enough time passes, they are home free. If they were themselves honest and intending to comply with the law, instead of shifting the cost to you, they would have sent you an affidavit of fraud, and directed you to file a police report, and place fraud alerts on your credit reports with the CRAs. See, for example, Citi's policies on handling id theft: http://www.citibank.com/us/cards/cardserv/advice/victim.htm After you file your police report, talk to your local DA. Also file an FTC id theft complaint, including any details on the CC company's handling of your reporting of the incident. You may also need to file a complaint with your state AG.
By the way, their statement that they are not required to notify you at your old address of an address change is also self-serving. The banking community is well aware of the possibility of fraud by diverting closed accounts thru changing addresses, and it is common practice to do so. If this bank failed to do so, and knowing the amount of credit extended to each of their customers that could result in a loss to them, they either negligiently or deliberately chose to take that risk. In fact, FACTA calls for implementing regulations to detect red flags that may be indications of possible identity theft, including handling changes of address. These regulations are still being written. See, for example: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6a-facta.htm Here is a working paper of some proposed guidelines to assist banks in complying with FACTA: http://www.bankersonline.com/tools/facta_procedures.pdf "When a notification of a change of address is received by the bank and a request for an additional or replacement card(s) is received for the same account during the first 30 days after the change of address notification, the additional or replacement card(s) may not be issued unless the bank has notified the cardholder of the request either: ââ? â??At the former address of the cardholder and provides to the cardholder a means of promptly reporting incorrect address changes; and/or ââ? â??By such other means of communication as the cardholder and the card issuer previously agreed to." You might also ask on bankersonline.com whether there are already existing regulatory requirments to send notice to a former address when an address is changed. I smell a rat.
Your choices are not "prosecute your son, or pay the bill". They are: 1) Report the fraud, don't pay the bill, which by law isn't yours, and force them to remove all negative information, close the account, and not be able to sell it. If he is convicted, there is at least a chance the courts might have sufficient control to force him into a drug rehab program. or 2) Pay the bill and be stuck with trashed credit for 7 years, plus the possibility your son will do it again, and they will be free to assist him at your expense again, and by allowing him access to your credit, if he is a drug user, he could kill himself. If you have to draw a line somewhere, it is better to draw it sooner rather than later.
