I seems to me that this identity theft thing is being misrepresented. Not seems, i am SURE. If someone goes to a bank, credit association, anywhere, and steals money, then that is the banks problem, not mine. The fault is the thief, not mine. Penalty, why is it my penalty? Just because somebody finds out my name, SSN, birthdate (Jordan Thornton, 511-90-9445, 2-4-72) does not mean that they can walk into a bank and have money. My ID is a matter of public record, not my fault it is available. Not my fault that a criminal can use them, in fact, of course a criminal will use them. If a bank willingly gives money to a thief, that is the banks problem, not mine. Especially a bank that i have never even heard of. I say that laws regarding this need to be changed. Banks are being criminal in this regard. For instance, forcing me to buy a service to "likely" protect me from identity fraud. That is extortion, period. That i just like sending Guido over to my house to give him protection money else he will kick my ass. Extortion. Lets do a scenario. Say someone in another state kills somebody, and leaves my name, SSN, birthday at the scene. I will be questioned by police, then set free because i did not do it, the criminal did. Why is robbing a bank different? With identity theft, a guy in another state makes a loan using my ID, then the bank willingly gives him money, then the police say i have to pay. What is up with that, the law is wrong!!!! This is bullshit some bank i never heard of saying that i owe money because they wilingly gave it away to a criminal that i never heard of. Total bullshit and the law needs to be changed.
What they typically do is use the info they have to open entirely new accounts in your name, using a different address as a "drop" for the things they buy. You'd be surprised how much credit a person with your record but not your discipline can get. Often up into six figures. They can run those new accounts up to the max in just a couple of weeks, before you and the card companies get wise. (The company that gives you a new card has no history on you so they don't get alarmed and phone you when it looks like you went to Hawaii and stayed at the Hilton for two weeks. And the other one doesn't think it's odd that you bought all that art and jewelry.) Then the fun begins. Somewhere along the way they stiffed somebody. Probably that hotel on Kauai. That hotel reported you to all the credit agencies--immediately, not after waiting two months for a payment like a bank or a store would. They even called the police. Who couldn't find you because the perp had his own driver's license to show for ID, not yours. (Although that happens and actually makes it worse but that's another story.) Yes, there are mechanisms in place for you to clean up your credit records. Yes, the banks can only hold you responsible for the first fifty bucks on each account. Yes, the courts will intervene and make everybody do the right thing if they don't move fast enough. Sure, but do you want to hear something really scary? This is all handled by computers. Scared enough?
Yes you can be held be responsible. Yes it is scary. Especially because it is all handled by computers. Anyone can pretend to be you. Those that don't know you won't question it. But awareness of the issue is where you stand to gain...or hopefully not get screwed. You need to check your credit and report anything suspicious immediately. There is someone in the world right now using my social security number, but the ss office suggested I don't change it. When I found this out, the guy only had parking tickets. He is using my number but not my name. I check my credit alot, and so far nothing but my own reckless indisgressions have popped up. I kinda wish it were a two way street and that I could frame him for my financial errors since he's using my number illegally anyway lol Everyone has to save their own ass. Banks and creditors will do what they must to save theirs, and as Fraggle pointed out, there are ways for you to combat this if it does happen to you. Stay on top of it. I have known several people that have experienced this in one form or another.
Here is what is screwy about the whole mess. A bank offers credit to someone, who says they are me. Then that someone uses the credit. Then the bank says i owe money (and a bunch of time) for their mistake for giving money to a thief.. Then the bank says i should pay for a service (extortion) to "maybe" stop this from happening again. F***ing banks are criminals.
I think the real solution is for banks to stop pretending that a SSN is some sort of magic password that proves a person is who they claim to be.
Did you know that an official policy of Bank of America is that they allow anyone to cash any check? You can take a check made out to "John Doe" to the teller and put "Pay to the order of <insert name here for which you have ID>", and they'll cash it with a smile. I found that out the hard way. The thief used a stolen ID, which costs about $20 in a crack alley. BofA's official reasoning? Keeps the lines moving. Doesn't hurt that they're not out the money; the person who wrote the check is. Obviously this policy promotes theft. The root problem that causes identity theft is that business profits from it, and Republican politicians are pro-business; they are private servants. Businesses are the enablers of identity theft. So do your part to solve the problem by voting Democrat (voting for a third party is akin to voting Republican in our two-party system). Democrats are, for the most part, public servants. The more Democrats in power, the greater the odds that there will be a crackdown on identity theft at the business level. The very root problem of identity theft is Republican voters.
That has changed completely and abruptly. The last time I got a two-party check, my own bank, where everybody knows me personally, told me I might as well tear it up. Something to do with the latest fallout from the so-called Patriot Act. They might cash a check for fifty bucks because to them that's chicken feed and besides they can always help themselves to fifty bucks from your account if it bounces. But this was a rent check and I was screwed.
That would be nice if the policy changed by law. Imagine all the theft that would go on to get the checks and driver's licenses, due to such a policy.
