5 years ago I lost my wallet. Since than someone has opened two little accounts in my name. One at a jewlery store and one at a department store. They charged a few hundred dollars on each and it is there still. I have wrote the CB's about this many times. They will not take it off. I have told everyone to send me something with my signature. They can not do it. They are still making atleast 20 inquiries a month on my credit report. They are doing it over the internet so when I try and figure out where they are comming from nobody knows. I have called the police department in my city and they tell me I have to call the police where it was done. When I call them they said they can not do anything because I lost my wallet 5 years ago and that is too long. It doesnt matter if I get the things off of my credit, whoever has it will still try to get credit with my SS#. I am now trying to get a new SS#. Has anyone ever done this and if so how did you go about it. Any other help would be greatly appreciated.
Starting here would be a start. 1, 2, 3 - Do these three things immediately! Contact the fraud departments of each of the three major credit bureaus and report that your identity has been stolen. Ask that a "fraud alert" be placed on your file and that no new credit be granted without your approval. For any accounts that have been fraudulently accessed or opened, contact the security departments of the appropriate creditors or financial institutions. Close these accounts. Put passwords (not your motherâ??s maiden name) on any new accounts you open. File a report with your local police or the police where the identity theft took place. Get a copy of the report in case the bank, credit card company, or others need proof of the crime later on. Get the bigger picture The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the federal clearinghouse for complaints by victims of identity theft. Although the FTC does not have the authority to bring criminal cases, the Commission assists victims of identity theft by providing them with information to help them resolve the financial and other problems that can result from identity theft. The FTC also may refer victim complaints to other appropriate government agencies and private organizations for further action. If you've been a victim of ID theft, you can file a complaint with the FTC by contacting the FTC's Identity Theft Hotline. By phone: Toll-free 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338); TDD: 202-326-2502 By mail: Identity Theft Clearinghouse Federal Trade Commission 600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20580 Online: Online ID Theft Complaint Form http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/victim.htm
There are several folks on here dealing with that, they're probably doing something else - they'll be back soon.
I don't know how effective a fraud alert statement on your credit file will be. I had a fraud alert on my file for over a year and none of the companies that looked into my file ever tried to contact me to verify my identity. Definitely try to get those police reports. Send it to the credit bureaus and creditors as proof that you have been a victim of identity theft. They'll pay more attention to a police report. Find out the addresses for all the companies that made the inquiries and write them to either send proof that you initiated the inquiries or to remove them. If you dispute the inquiries as fraudulent with Trans Union, they will quickly remove them. Experian will be a little stubborn at first about removing inquiries but will eventually give in. Equifax will not budge on removing inquiries even if they are fraudulent but they may give in if you have a letter from the creditor who made the inquiry stating in was unauthorized.
I put a fraud alert on all three of the CB's. It has not stopped a thing. Whoever is doing this is doing it by the internet. They are not even having to show I.D. I wrote the companies six months ago and have not heard a thing. Even if I get the things removed I am afraid the person doing this will keep doing it. They have used so many diffrent addresses that the CB's will not send me a copy of my credit report because they think I live somwhere else and that I am not the real person trying to get my on credit report. I tried filing a report with the police where I live. They told me that I had to file it in the city where it happened. When I called the police where this took place they told me that they could not file it because it happend over two years ago. I didnt even know this was on my credit until 7 or 8 months ago. I am trying to get a new SS# now but I have heard it is almost impossible. I have all of the paper work. Is there any special way I need to word it. Anyone please help. This is driving me crazy.
I believe the law is that you can file within two years of the date you discover the fraud, not within two years of when it occurs.
Good information about what to do: http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html#What Should I Do If I've Become A Victim Of You can submit this ID theft affidavit - this is something new. It is supposed to be accepted by the CRA's banks, CA's, etc., as your official statement of identity theft. http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/affidavit.htm Maybe some of these will help.
So? Whoever pulled your file has seen the fraud alert. There may be other reasons why they haven't contacted you. They may have declined the application based on score, or they're not eager to issue new accounts to those with fraud alerts on their file. You say all the fraudulent addresses are on your credit report. You should file a police report for each one of these addresses. Not for having your wallet stolen but for identity fraud. The thief must be somehow associated w/ those addresses, because that is where he had asked that they send "his" cards to. Call the CRA's fraud units again, to learn more about having your true address reported on your file. Saar
Hi.... I too am a ID theft Victim 1/1999. Most of the credit was taken out over the internet as you. Everything went to another state.. I had never lived in !! 2 answer a few of your questions... You are wasting your time trying to get a new SS. They are not going to even think about it. BELIEVE ME I TRIED!!!!!! Saar.. is making a STRONG point. Find out the jurisdiction of each fraudulent address on your credit report. Then.. go to the Police dept. (YOU WILL HAVE TO PHYSICAL GO) and file a report. Next..Call the stores to find out what jurisdiction they are in. Go to their county/state and file a police report. I would NOT trust only filling a police report against the address.. Most of the time they do not stay at one address. Most have sent the fraudulent accounts to different address!! And to top it off... there might be accounts and address you don't even know about... Since you can't be to sure about this... it would only force you to have to start all over!! Once you have these police reports...Then contact the fraud departments and let them know that the account they have is fraudulent! AND you have a police reports to prove it!! Fraud will then send you an affidavit to fill out and have notarized. You need to follow those steps with all of the individual fraudulent accounts you know of. Especially make sure you get police reports (I CAN NOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH). I am telling you this for your own good. If you skip the police reports and a big accounts hits you it will be harder to prove it's not yours. I know it is a TONS of trouble.... but trust me in the long run it is worth it.. Especially when you find out about that 50-100,000 dollar account is against you and they want you to pay up!!!!!! NOW.... Hopefully.... you will not have to continue to city chase and file complaints. ;-) The police should be able to find a pattern. Once they do... You will be able to have a "concrete police report" that should be suffice. This should help you if any other accounts pop up four or five years.!! I AM SOO SORRY... you have to go about it this way... BUT... it's b/c your "concrete report" concerning your wallet was never taken out! ** The link that Breeze posted would be tons of help.... IF companies would acknowledge it and use it. INSTEAD.... of asking you to fill out theirs!! Also... it will not be up a going into a few more months... IF I am not mistake.... you will need a police report to use this feature.!! Good Luck... If you need any help I/We are here!!!
Thanks MG!! on this one, I only have second hand knowledge, thank God!! It's one of those things where a person needs help from someone who's been there.
