"ID Theft" by spouse????

[momof5]

:cry:

I know this sounds a bit silly, but it is true. My stbx is an alkie/addict. He got a cell phone using my name, our addy, my ssn. He defaulted (of course).

When I found out about the acct (after default), I called Sprint PCS and explained that *I* never signed any contract with them. I was told that they would handle this. I never got another bill.

Here it is 2 years later.... suddenly a collection acct appears on my CRAs. Tanks my scores overnight (by 100 pts!!!). It is AFNI collecting for this Sprint PCS acct.

Neither will do anything. Can I report identity theft? We were still living together at the time. We were in SC and this happened in 2000.

[kb9tbq]

This is a hard one, cause you where still married at the time; might have been different if you where legally seperated or divorced.

You are going to have a time of this; but you should contact a lawyer to get their take on this matter, some states look at certain types of debt as joint / or family debt. Meaning both parties would be responsible.

Would still follow the procedures for covering yourself; such as calling fraud alert numbers; obtaining credit report; filing police report; and following up with each creditors fraud department to send them copy of the police report and id theft affidavit. Keep track of all your correspondences with each company you speak with.

[DR. JULIANO]

oh wow

[DocDon]

This is a simple matter of a salesperson wanting to make a buck. When you call customer service, they won't even answer your questions if you are not authorized on the account, yet you can obtain a new phone and service in someone else's name and use someone else's SSN? I don't think so.

You'll probably have to file a police report in order for the fraud department to take the issue - keep in mind though, that the sales rep who set your stbx up also committed fraud which would be your angle.

Contact the fraud department and ask how it is someone can obtain a phone and service in someone else's name when they're supposed to ask for photo ID. The sales rep should have noticed the name discrepancy (I won't give him too much credit that he noticed he was talking to a man with a woman's name). Make sure you indicate the sales rep committed fraud as well. Tell them you are forwarding the issue to the appropriate government agencies for further processing.

[admin]

With the new credit law enacated for the protection of those who are victims of identity theft in the FCRA, it's now pretty much mandatory to file a police report.

Even though this is your spouse, I would proceed as if it were any other case of id theft. It's too costly otherwise.