My name is Sarah Roberts. Two days ago, I discovered that someone has destroyed my credit. I moved to Washington, DC a month ago for a great new job with a government agency. After three weeks of house hunting, I was finally ready to buy a new condo. I was mortified when I applied for a mortgage. My credit rating is absolutely destroyed!
Since my arrival in DC, I have applied for some smaller store credit cards (mostly so that I could benefit from the 15% discount incentive). I was surprised and embarrassed when the "instant approvals" were denied. I figured it must be associated with the recently changed address on my cards and since I didn't really need those credit cards, I didn't make an issue of it. I don't often use my credit cards - ironically, I am pretty conscientious about keeping my debt low. Had I attempted to use my credit cards more often, I probably would have discovered this problem much earlier.
Anyway - the mortgage lender was not all that sympathetic. I think he assumed that I was trying to pull a fast one. It was really dismaying to realize that he viewed me with suspicion.
When I spoke with the police, they were not all that helpful either. I had a heck of a time convincing the desk sergeant to even file a report. He was pretty skeptical of my concerns and told me that if I had kept better track of my personal information, I could have avoided this problem. At least he gave me a name for what is happening to me - Identity Theft.
My next call was to the Credit Reporting Agencies. I discovered that the person who stole my identity (I still have not figured out how) has opened several new credit card accounts using my name, date of birth, and SSN. They also bought a new Ford Focus, using my personal information (and previously stellar credit) to get the auto loan. At least the Credit Reporting Agencies could give me an idea of my exposure - though each agency had slightly different information. All told, the delinquent accounts amount to over $24, 000.
I am still reeling from the shock of it all. I don't know how I am going to repair my life. I have worked so hard to get where I am. I have diligently kept my debt low. Yesterday I received a call from a collection agency for a delinquent account of $3545 with a major furniture chain.
The final blow came this morning, when my supervisor called me in. In my job, I have to maintain a security clearance. Apparently, my clearances are in jeopardy due to my credit issues. The security officers are concerned that I have been living beyond my means and thus might be susceptible to bribery to pay off my debts and maintain my standard of living. Apparently, they have been watching my credit rating a lot closer than I have! I started to cry - which only made them suspect me more.
I can't believe this is happening to me. I did receive two phone calls today that gave me hope. Detective Jane Myer of the Alexandria Police Department specializes in white-collar crimes and fraud. She has some experience with identity theft cases and I am sure will figure out what happened so that I can start to restore my credit and reputation.
I also received a call from Trans Union, one of the credit reporting agencies. Alan Folsom works in their Fraud Victim Assistance Department. He will walk me through a program that will help me to recover from this incident. Maybe there is light at the end of this tunnel, but at the moment I am devastated . . .
I've lost my credit, I've lost my dignity and if I don't get to the bottom of this quickly, I could lose my job!
My name is Jane Myer and I am a detective specializing in fraud with the Alexandria Police Department. When I reviewed the contents of Sarah Roberts' complaint file, I must admit - I was pretty skeptical. It sounded as if Ms. Roberts was angry and embarrassed when her loan application was denied and needed to vent. However, I spoke with the sergeant who filed the report and realized that maybe his attitude affected the tone of the report.
I have dealt with identity theft complaints before, but they were always smaller offenses - someone steals someone else's Blockbuster Card and runs up a huge bill. Most of my time is spent on white-collar crimes, such as embezzlement and Internet scams.
When I spoke to Ms. Roberts today, she brought me up to date on what she learned from the credit reporting agencies. I couldn't believe it! This is a major area of fraud that I did not at all appreciate. I am eager to start investigating this, but there are serious questions of jurisdiction (Ms. Roberts just moved to the area and the identity thief has been opening accounts for several months, so the crime probably did not actually occur in this state).
The perpetrator is definitely a professional. The perpetrator was organized in their approach, buying the car before they savaged the credit rating. I would hypothesize that it is someone familiar with the credit industry - perhaps a former loan officer at a car dealership. They were smart enough to spread the purchases out across the entire state of Georgia, so it is difficult to get a fix on where they are based. Since they were using Ms. Roberts' identity, their identity is virtually invisible. Furthermore, in the short time I have had to research the federal and state laws on identity theft - it does not look promising - in some states, identity theft is not even considered a crime!
I will do my best to get to the bottom of this, but in the end I think Ms. Roberts should focus on working with the credit card companies and the credit reporting agencies to resolve her credit problems and move on with her life.
My name is Alan Folsom and I am a representative of TransUnion's Fraud Victim Assistance Department. I spend the majority of my time assisting victims of identity theft to restore their credit. I am currently working on a new case involving a young woman from Georgia who recently moved to the Washington, DC area.
In the past, she has not used her credit cards often - in fact her credit rating was excellent before this incident. When she moved to DC, she attempted to purchase a condominium. That was when she realized that her identity had been stolen and her credit essentially destroyed.
Ms. Roberts was not knowledgeable about how to prevent or detect identity theft. In fact, she had never even heard of such a thing. She is unsure how her information could have been compromised. In my opinion, she was probably a victim of a fairly experienced identity thief. Based on the pattern and sequence of the credit charges, the identity thief(ves) knew how to get the most out of the information they had stolen. Anyway - my job is to help Ms. Roberts restore her credit. The police will have to find and prosecute the identity thief.
We will help Ms. Roberts by adding a consumer fraud statement to her file and having her removed from the mailing list. Of course, this step is the equivalent to closing the barn door after the horses have escaped, but at least it won't happen to her again.
We can help her identify what accounts were fraudulent, but she will still have to work with each creditor individually to close out those accounts.
Ms. Roberts has a difficult year ahead of her. She will have to spend a lot of time and money to regain her former credit rating. I understand that her job may be in jeopardy as well unless she can prove that she is not at fault. Hopefully, things will work out for Ms. Roberts.