Here's part 5 of a piece detailing very bad financial happenings Bankrate.com readers have suffered:
Morbidly mistaken
I moved to a different state, so I went to get a new driver's license. I had a real rude awakening when I found out I was not allowed to get a license in that state or any other. I looked into the matter further only to be told, months later, that I could not prove that I wasn't a guy (which I am not) with many warrants against me in California, or that I didn't have outstanding debts in two other states, charged up by two different guys! They all had been using part of my name and my Social Security number. As I attempted to contact all the places I apparently had issues with, I was given the runaround. After I convinced the banks and a county attorney that I was not the person they were looking for and I could prove that the Social Security number I had did legally belong to me, these agencies cut off communication with me. Then I had to go through Washington D.C., to get a license in the state I currently live in. It has taken me a whopping seven years to obtain one! All in all, the matter has been going on for 10 years. My credit score has dropped considerably and I have even applied to have my Social Security number changed.
How did this happen? My Social Security number was the same as someone else's tax ID number in another state. I also found out that if you have a person's name, address and Social Security number, it's pretty easy to get any of the three credit bureaus to send you a credit report -- which is what had happened to me. When I sent for a credit report at my lawyer's suggestion, I found out that one of the agencies had already sent my report to the party who had the same tax ID number! Not much can be done once they send out your credit report to another person. That party has all my private information; he knows all my account numbers from every financial institution I have used, as well as all my previous names, addresses, etc. All this happened even after the identity theft notification was listed with all three bureaus.
Now THIS is a horror story! Identity theft is certainly a nightmare.
For more thoughts on this issue, see these posts:
- Identity Theft Issues Everywhere
- Identity Theft is Worse than You Think It Is
- ID Theft: It's Only a Matter of Time
- Consider Security when Downloading Bank Information
Click here to read part 6 of this series.
Free Money Finance recommends Emigrant Direct and You Need a Budget.
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