Hey Guys- I just got off the phone with Sprint Customer Service. I requested the ability to dial international. So, they said 3 business days to activate, blah, blah. That was Thursday last week. Today Customer Service calls and says they need to verify my identity. So, I answer some questions. The first 2 questions were a list of addresses. The only one I recognized was an address I had 15 years ago when I got my first cc at my parent's house in FL. So I got those 2 questions right. THEN they ask if I know a name. It is my sister's married name and can I tell them how old she is? I stammer for a minute and respond where did they get that name? I mean I've never even used it on any banking/business/etc. transaction EVER. It's certainly not on my CCR. She responds it is public record. I'm thinking excuse me? These questions aren't public record are they? And like I have a very long history with this company, I'm surprised they pulled my report at all but they went way further than that. What the hell kind of new databases of our personal info are out there? They know my siblings now who live across the country? And what does that have to do with getting a cell phone? I'm creeped out beyond words.
The wide use of "identification" information that supposedly only you know has itself created a situation where a large number of people have access to the same information to fake your identity. The very mechanism used to verify your identity leads to an increasing probability it will be compromised.
I guess the standard "mother's maiden name" can't be trusted anymore. Too many people have it, including all your relatives, any bank you ever opened an account with, many friends or acquaintences of your family, etc. At least they were trying to be sure "you" were you. Cell phone companies probably have some of the highest rates of fraudulent accounts opened with stolen identity information. As a result they also generate a lot of spurious "bad debts" not owed by the alleged debtor. In a service business where the actual incremental cost to the company of the fraudulent calls is small, the risk is low and it is easy to justify moderate levels of fraud as a cost of business. Some of the losses can even be recouped by sale of the "debt".
Really I support them verifying my identity and asking questions. I just want to know how they pulled up my sister's name during a background check that's all. The point is that if they found it "in a public record" anyone who feels like hunting can find out extremely personal information about me with little work. I found the experience of them finding my sister's name creepy b/c it means that data is in a database somewhere. When you have felons in the family, this is not good news. I have 4 people living in my household, couldn't they asked about one of them?
Not only is it in a database, but you don't even know which database. Information that is not checkable or correctable, or whose relevance is only inferred or guessed at, tends to accumulate errors. See, for example: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7118767/
Presumably, asking about a direct member of your household is exactly the sort of information that an id thief who knew you would probably know. Of course, since this information has not been checked or corrected by you, it might also contain completely erroneous information on people you hardly know. You could find yourself to be related to your college roommate's ex-girlfriend.
If you are dealing with, say, an abusive relationship, where someone has had to cut off contact with their ex-spouse, it is not clear whether there is any way to ensure that you are not tracable, even though individual maintainers of separate data may try to prevent tracing. For example, at least in California, there are restrictions on disclosures of addresses by the Department of Motor Vehicles or colleges, as well as forwarding addresses by the post office, to prevent tracing by the wrong individuals. You will likely not get an address out of the SSA either, even of someone who may be fraudulently using your SSN. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6814673/ How effectively private databases are protected is another matter.
I had to send my sister money via Money Gram last night. I had to register first and part of the registration was asking me a series of these types of questions. Several were what city was this address in, what county was this address in, type thing. One of the addresses were 25 years old!!! They also asked if I had any relationship with a person. I didn't recognize the name and said no. I don't know if it was a wrong answer or not but they wouldn't let me send the money. Western Union did it without a problem. Just quite a bit more expensive.
Since you were denied a service, probably due to information from what qualifies as a credit reporting agency, ask for their "adverse action notice". That should tell you whose report they pulled, so you can request a free copy and get it corrected. If they refuse, file a complaint with the FTC and your state AG. Information databases that have been unaudited by the consumer are likely to contain, and accumulate, many errors. There really is no mechanism to correct them, especially if the consumer is not even aware of the existance of the database.
Re: Creeped Out By Questions By Spr as stated in the msnbc link these data companies do not qualify as a credit reporting company but some are calling for them to be. what a brave new world we live in.
Re: Creeped Out By Questions By Spr There is probably still a catagory under which they are covered. For example, the insurance databases that track claims are still covered, and you can request copies of your reports from them, as well as dispute inaccuracies. If you are subject to an "investigative" consumer report, where someone actually goes out and asks people about you, you can request a copy of it. People have also requested and received copies of their ChoicePoint files. Access to a database to verify or misverify identity might not get out of being considered a consumer report, and the supplier a consumer reporting agency. 1) The information was obtained from a third party for the purpose of determining whether to extend or deny credit to a consumer. 2) Disclosure of even identity information from a consumer credit report is only allowed under specific permissible purposes. If relative lists are being used as "identifying information" to verify the identity of a consumer, then they may be covered under existing law protecting identity information, just as name associated with SSN, DOB, mothers maiden name, etc. are covered.
