Hi all, I'm about to go back to grad school and I'm doing a full inventory of my papers to make sure everything's in order for this next big step. I did an Experian credit report (free) and I've discovered that there are two Citi credit cards attached to my identity. I've never owned a credit card and live just fine with an ATM/Debit card, cash, and student loans. (Yes, I know I should have one and use it, etc. to build up credit.) I called Citi to explain to them that they can't be lines of credit I've requested and in the middle of the explanation, I was disconnected. And then again. And then again. Finally, I found someone who would hear me out, but she said I had to snail-mail the following information to CitiBank's PO Box in South Dakota: Complete name (and any other derivations I've ever used) Social Security Number Phone Number(s) Date of Birth Current and Past Addresses The partial CC#s that show up on my Experian report The entire Experian Report My experience of the issues Obviously, that's not something I'm willing to do. So now I have some questions: 1) Would I be better off just acquiring control of the accounts and using them? They've, apparently, never even been used. They just exist... tied to my name. 2) If so, how would I go about doing that? 3) If it's not better to somehow gain access and control of the accounts tied to my name, how in the world am I supposed to safely cancel the accounts?
You should first rule out the possibility that you're an authorized user on these cards and you didn't even know it. This actually happens to people quite often. Now, if you're 100 percent positive you're not an AU and you never opened these accounts, then I don't think it's a good idea to just keep them open, request new cards, and assume control over them like nothing ever happened. Instead, contact the CRAs to notify them that fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name, file police reports, and you should be able to cancel the cards immediately with Citi without snail-mailing a bunch of info. as well. At the very least, have them immediately place a fraud alert on the card until you can jump through whatever hoops you need to in order to get the accounts officially closed.
