Businesses Facilitating 'Identity Theft'

[richlevy]

I would like to take the opportunity to publicly rant again about the selective service. They sent a reply postcard asking for my son's social security number. Of course, if you wanted to, you could mail it back in an envelope, assuming you wanted to provide your own envelope and stamp.

How many 18-year-olds just fill it out and send it back. So because of a government agency, hundreds of thousands of postcards with names and social security numbers are floating through the mail.

Stupid.

[xoxoxoBruce]

One of my ex’s worked for a collection agency for a short time. Boy, did I get an education.

I got a call one day from a guy that frantically needed to contact my neighbors at XXX address, because their nephew was in an accident. Did I have their number?
Nope.

Do you know their name?
Nope.

Do you know where they bank, is there a bank in the neighborhood?
Nope.

You know, you shure don’t know much, do you?
Nope.

I think you’re pretty stupid!
Smart enough not to tell you anything. :p

[Cyber Wolf]

That's entertaining...calling with the premise that someone's nephew was in an accident and wanting to know their bank as a means of contacting them. That's a laugh and a half.

[wolf]

My favorite was the guy that tried to get a discover card number by claiming to be a store where I had bought something ...

Oh really? What store?

*mumble* *mumble*. It's a kiosk in the mall.

Oh, okay. That's cool. I was at the mall. Which mall is that?

The big one.

Oh, you mean Willow Grove?

Yes, Willow Grove.

Oh, that mall. Which part?

The new part. I just need your credit card number.

Why?

Well, there's a problem with the item.

Item? What item?

The one purchased with the discover card.

Oh. Okay.

What kind of item was purchased?

I can't tell you that.

What do you mean, you can't tell me that?

It was purchased as a gift, and if the gift was for you it would spoil the surprise.

Oh. I see. So you want ME to give YOU a credit card number, for a kiosk I didn't shop at, in a mall that I don't go to, where I purchased an item as a present, but I'm not allowed to know what it was so I don't spoil the surprise for myself? Am I clear on this?

*dialtone*

Hello? Hello?

Dumbshit.

I know this is an older post.

But has anyone figured out just how corrupted the credit bureaus are?



The reason they can grant credit without proving who you are is because there may be "up to 20 consumers" using your SSN at the credit bureau all with different names than your own.

They will hide the file from you when they provide YOUR consumer report, but they will show all 20 files to your creditor.

I can provide the proof if you want to be shown or you can look in my profile. Since you guys don't like link posting on first posts.

I do like the forums alrighty though. What brought me here was this discussion on google search. Looks like an intersting place to hang out.

Couple of inetersting things to note.

Poster above is correct business in general cannot seem to find the right person to open the account for but when the bill comes due they most certainly can find out who the identity actually belongs to so they can plea for funds.

Try having someone call and ask for payment of a HOME mortgage and then see where you sit. Makes cell phone accounts look tame by comparison. But no less irritating.

[BrianR]

Idtheft03 - are you an insider? You sure sound like one, or at least someone who has been given the high hard one from the credit bureaus.

Not an insider just a regular person. Who is PO'd beyond all sense of reason.

With almost a half a million dollars in illegal alien identity theft. Yes there are 5 different aliases they could be the same person or different people we may never know.

No one wants to arrest anyone. All we got is a police report and no credit now.

As I said below go see the website, and you can see the Class Action a brewing.

You can also see the business site for collectors where they actually ADVERTISE the product that shows up to twenty consumers all using the SAME freaking social security number.


I cannot believe they can sell that $hit maximum possible accuracy my arse!

[tw]

from ABC News
BOTHELL, Wash., Oct. 12, 2004 — Andrew is a healthy 5-month-old, but according to bill collectors, just three weeks after he was born he walked into an Edmonds family clinic on his own, got treated for a lumbar disc displacement and was given a narcotic to help ease the pain.

His mother and father got a $94 bill in the mail for the treatment and prescription.

"To receive the mail with his name on it was very bizarre," his mother, Katrina, told ABC News affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle.

It is bizarre, and Andrew may be the youngest person ever to become a victim of identity theft.

He didn't even have a Social Security number, but someone used his first and middle names — though without the "w" in Andrew — included his correct mailing address, and got the clinic to prescribe them drugs.

In the meantime we still don't immediately identify the reasons for this problem - 1) no accurate method to prove you are who you claim to be, and 2) no accurate method to confirm others have not stolen your identity. Functions to protect your identity could exist. But even here, we don't even demand same. Without demanding both objectives from the law, then identify theft will always exist and will continue to increase exponentially. It may explain why Nigeria is a top three long distance phone calling country to the US. So profitable to steal identities in the US and to get US citizens to invest in people who cannot even prove they are who they claim to be.

We currently have the identity protection system we want as demonstrated by this thread. Not one poster demanded a solution. Some complained. But not one demanded a solution.

I have demanded a solution in my injuntive relief.

The solution is to treat the SSN as the unique indentifier that it is, and for the bureaus to purge data not belonging to a social security number OWNER when fraud is reported.

3rd mixed solution is to provide SSN searches to individuals so you can dispute through exisiting systems data that should not exist for a given NUMBER.

We don't not have the protection system we want.

Most people ASSUME that the bureaus are treating your SSN as uniquely yours.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Idtheft03

I have demanded a solution in my injuntive relief.

The solution is to treat the SSN as the unique indentifier that it is, and for the bureaus to purge data not belonging to a social security number OWNER when fraud is reported.

SS number violates principles required for identity proof and has absolutely no method so that you can protect your identity.

So lets use driver's licenses as identity proof? Again, it suffers from the exact same problem. Driver's licenses were not even created to prove you are who you say you are. They are so that cops and only cops can prove you are who you say. Again, there is absoutely no way for you to protect yourself. They are even perfect to buy alchol underage and hijacker airliners to crash into buildings. Why? The identification system must be established for reasons completely different from the principles that created SS numbers and driver's licenses. IOW to use SS numbers or driver's licenses for that purpose is akin to demanding no 'verfication and protection' system.

You seem to be missing the point I made above so I will try to clarify. Since you missed it entirely, we are not correctly using the systems we got currently.

This is not about protection as a solution at this point the crap has done left the horse.

After the fraud is discovered, is what I am talking about.

The only place else to go with that is to go to DNA, and the science is NOT perfected on that.

Retinal scanners and fingerprints fail because people will just steal eyes and prints from dead people or live ones for that matter.

There is never going to be a system that is 100% fool proof.

So you have a straw argument nothing can satisfy.

First you chastise me as complaining about the problem and not offering any solutions and then you want to pick apart the solutions.

You paint me wil a broad brush like joe hick consumer.

People like you are the reason nothing ever gets fixed.

You don't know what I personally have demanded or not demanded in law, congressional hearing, congressional office or otherwise and it is arrogant to assume you do.

This thread demostrates nothing about the identity protection system desired. At least on my part.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Idtheft03

After the fraud is discovered, is what I am talking about.

The only place else to go with that is to go to DNA, and the science is NOT perfected on that.

Retinal scanners and fingerprints fail because people will just steal eyes and prints from dead people or live ones for that matter.

You are jumping to wild conclusions such as a need for retnal scanners, DNA, etc. An effective system needs not use all that complexity.

Now what is it that you want to accomplish? Protect identity or build a system of law enforcement? SS number nor driver's license does neither because they were not even intended to accomplish these things. A good system need be built first on a foundation intended for that purpose. We are using SS numbers and driver's licenses for identity because we have nothing to do the job. This topic was discussed rather extensively in an earlier discussion: A National ID Card

Nothing posted in this thread says anything beyond discussion identity protection and identity theft identification. If you feel insulted, it came from elsewhere - and not from anything posted here. Required is a system so that you can prove who you are and so that you can prove no one else is claiming to be you. Identity protection must meet both objectives.

[xoxoxoBruce]

No matter what perfect system you come up with, if it can't be used over the phone, business isn't interested. Anything that slows the sale, or gives the customer pause, is out.

[OnyxCougar]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

No matter what perfect system you come up with, if it can't be used over the phone, business isn't interested. Anything that slows the sale, or gives the customer pause, is out.

Well, speaking from experience, (being one of the people that signs people up for services over the phone), people don't WANT to wait. Every customer I talk to wants to sign up over the phone. To facilitate that, they are more than willing to give us the following information:

Name
Address where they want service (this has to be accurate or they dont get cable where they live)
SSN
DOB
DL #
Employer name

That's it. We run a quick check through Equifax, which does not count as an inquiry. It checks against fraud alerts in their database for that SSN. IF it comes through clean, we then cross-check the ssn/name/address in our previous customer database. If we have no record of them, we set up an installation.

If it comes up with fraud alert in Equifax, we have them come into the office with 2 forms of ID and their original ss card, and make them pay a $50 deposit before we install.

99% of customers (that is not a scientific figure, just an estimate based on my experience doing this for over a year now) want us to set them up for an install, and do it RIGHT NOW. "Can you install it today??" "No, we're going to need you to come down to the office and bring some ID and your social security card with you." "You gotta be kidding me! I want cable today!" "Well, I'm sorry, but there seems to be a fraud alert on your social security number, and you should contact Equifax immediately to find out what the problem is." "Whatever. I'm going to satellite."

There has only been 2 times I've ever had a customer refuse to give me his social security number over the phone, and voluntarily come in with his ID.

Bottom line is, when customers want goods and services RIGHT NOW, the business that doesn't provide it is the loser.

The problem starts with our fast food, rush, instant gratification society.

Originally Posted by OnyxCougar

If it comes up with fraud alert in Equifax, we have them come into the office with 2 forms of ID and their original ss card, and make them pay a $50 deposit before we install.

Why does a person with a fraud alert have to pay a $50 deposit that another person doesn't have to pay?

Just curious. It seems to be penalizing victims of identity theft just for being vicitms.

It would seem to me if the person was willing to come down and personally guarantee they were the "real deal" an extra deposit would not be necessary.