Welcome to Bugs and Brooms!

I have been a little busy lately trying to deal with some identity theft issues.  For me, this has been going on for years (at least 8, probably longer).  I have had numerous fraudulent accounts opened in my name using my social security number.  Although I have started legal action to permanently resolve the problems, it will be some time before my credit reports are cleared and all of the creditors are dealt with. 

What really bugs me about this stuff is the fact that I had a 7 year fraud alert on my accounts.  Things did clear up a little during this time though there were a few bank/credit agencies that didn’t do proper checks on the applicants before issuing the thieves money or items in some form or another.  The transactions have included phone bills, propane gas bills, automobile loans, credit cards, lines of credit, and personal loans (the ones that I am aware of anyway).  I have had to deal with each of these individually by proving I was not the applicant.  As soon as the fraud alert expired, the culprits were back at it!  I have been completely amazed!  And the problem is so wide spread at this point that I don’t think I can get a handle on it on my own.

So, the last couple of incidences have driven me off of the deep end.  The first was a repo company coming to my house here in Bloomington to collect a car that was purchased in my name by someone in Florida.  I don’t know anyone in Florida and I have never owned the make or model of the car in question.  Of course, it is completely up to me to provide proof that it was not me which is a lot of work for someone who has moved around a lot over the past few years.  I finally filed a police report as well as a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. 

I have been trying to get copies of my credit report from the three reporting agencies but because their systems are automated and require you to verify recent information on your credit report, I haven’t had much luck.  Today, I was finally able to add a 90 day fraud alert to my accounts (hopefully) and request a copy of my report from all three reporting agencies (hopefully). 

I have contacted police several times in the past about this problem and have been told, repeatedly, that nothing can be done because it has happened outside the local authorities jurisdiction!  Yes.  All of the problems have occurred in places that I have never lived - New York, Florida, Georgia (the states that I know about).  So, I have contacted an attorney as a last resort.  Yes, I am sure the final fees will be way more than I should have to pay as a victim of a crime, but that is how the system works right now. 

I will have a lot more on this topic later on and my final attempt to protect myself will be to place a security freeze with the credit reporting agencies.  Fun, fun, fun!

And if you are ever a victim of identity theft, don’t wait - take the appropriate steps to protect yourself immediatly!  This stuff can snowball completely out of control in the blink of an eye.  I will keep you all posted on my progress…..

Tags: Identity Theft, Money Matters //