Here it is Dec 15th and opening mail we are getting at our P.O.Box we just opened the day before Thanksgiving....From collections we have never heard of....And 1 collection phone call early this week from a stolen ID theft for a credit card with this PO Box..HOW can that BE??????? You tell me THEY dont share information WHOLESALE? This is very alarming.......
Did you file a police report for ID theft and put a fraud alert on your credit report (reporting to one CRA is good for all). If you haven't, you need to do that.
Would you believe we have "fraud alert " on our reports and still they opened an cc account? So if creditors find your new po box in two weeks where is the safe gaurd for misinformation or mistakes in the same time line? So who is the master and who is the servent in regards to credit and the whole concept?
Something about this isn't computing. A collection agency dunning to a new P.O. box when there was a fraud alert on the CR? The two just aren't related. When was the CC opened, and how did the CC go in default/to collections so quickly? When was the fraud alert put in place? Has the claim been disputed with the OP? Is it really not the OP's? Was the collection letter addressed to the OP? Was the phone call made to the name of the OP? A lot of factual groundwork needs to be laid before any assessments can be made. If you left a forwarding address with the P.O., it is possible that the CA got the new address through the "Address correct requested" process via USPS. There are certainly other ways, too.
To clarify We have had a fraud alert for years on our credit reports. it was on there since 2oo2... We just got a dunn for a past due credit card that was opened in oct...It is fraud.. and late .not our acct. in my name tho.. WE just got a new po box 11-26 07 and the dunn reported this was on their information on this card that was late... As well we have had other collections mailed to us with the new po box opened 11 26 07 that were not mailed to our former addrress.
Once the USPS provides the corrected address, the address on the account is updated and new mail comes addressed to the new address. But we all know that. But OK, someone opened a new account in your name in Oct 07 and now you are being dunned. How it was done has relevance only to be able to prevent it happening again. For that you need hard information I would think that the Police report suggested above is essential to protect your interests. You then need to start unraveling the when, where and why the account was permitted to be opened. Have you spoken with the OC? Is there a CR pull associated with the fraudulent new card on your reports? Who? When? If yes, you have a place from which to start investigating. Once you know some of those details, you can move on to the next steps of seeing how an account could be opened without your knowledge in spite of the efforts that you have taken to prevent it. If you want to swing and hit something, you need to identify the the target. You're way too early in the investigation to see the target. The key is that it has happened, you now need the facts to get to the how.
when we rec,d the late pmt notice we called in to OC to report fraud. They told us it was opened on line.They could could not answer as to why they violated our fraud alert on our acct. They did acknoledge that that SHOULD have stopped the application. We also notified the local store and reported it as well. They are supposed to se sending us the sales slip from the numbers we sent them on the purchase. We are writing CR,S to report as well. Has any one devised fool proof language to put on your credit report alerts? or a better solution? credit freeze? Havent read much positive on that aspect yet..
Your best bet is to make sure everything done is either written or recorded. In the absence of a recording a good memorialization is essential. You need to have a good record of what has happened, what has been said, and what has been done. The police report is one of the steps that you need to take. Sooner is better than later. If you do not have a record of the conversations with the OC, write a note to your files detailing the conversation. You could also call the OC again and go over it a second time with them. I would call the CRAs (notes/recording here, too) and go over the situation with them and follow it up with a detailed letter outlining the situation and the results of your discussion with them. The sooner the CRA is on notice, the better. Ask them for their recommendation as to what to do, but assess what they say carefully. You have two current objectives: Stop what ever is happening from continuing, and Determine what has happened and who the players are. The former is the stop-loss; the latter is the starting place for solving the problem and getting its effects negated.
