Comments on: A New Crime Wave of Identity Theft: Is Your Child in Danger?

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 22:06:30 +0000

I wanted to make sure that you cant do this any longer.. And you cant! I entered my son’s information in for a cc and denied! So the legitimate credit card companies are verifying the inforamtion and declining the cards!

By: Mark in TN

Mark in TN — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 07:36:52 +0000

The ONLY reason this crime exists is because the government REQUIRES children to have a Social Security number!!! When I approached employment age as a teenager in the 70′s I got a SSN because I was going to get my first summer job. Our government has full responsibility because this was another un-needed regulation that opened up the door to criminals, and they should be held accountable.

By: Rae

Rae — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 00:31:32 +0000

How are we to get a credit report on our child’s social when then have used a different birthday and name but not social and you have to have all of that? This article has some good information, but take it a step further and help us by telling us how we can get a regular credit check on our children.
Also, I will not be giving my children their social security numbers until they need it for work. Also, if people are buying houses, and cars and student loans with these “identities” why can’t they be tracked down? They have to sign for their houses, cars, etc and there should be a name on the documents, and a way to find these people. I understand that people like this will use an identity then steal another to cover their tracks, but there has to be a way find these people.
Jennifer—I hope you can get this resolved. No one should have to go through what you’ve been through, especially since you have the evidence to prove someone stole your identity.

By: Holly

Holly — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 00:09:13 +0000

this will not stop until the millions upon millions upon millions of illegals networking across the USA are stopped. …look up NumbersUSA… register and then take action.

By: strangestranger

strangestranger — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 23:36:58 +0000

About five or six years ago my spouse received a letter about a default on a student loan from a university neither of us had ever heard of at that time and a part of the country we’ve never visited or lived. We wrote them a letter back informing them this was a case of identity fraud and wanted us to send in a copy of drivers’ license and other documents to prove they’d contacted the wrong person. I said NO Way! I feared they might use the information in an attempt to attach the information we sent to the loan, making my spouse responsible. We haven’t heard from them since.

By: Becka

Becka — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 23:31:18 +0000

ABC NEWS: Please go one step further with this article and tell parents HOW to obtain a credit report for their minor child. My attempts to do so have been stonewalled! Why won’t the credit companies cooperate?!?!?!?!!!!!!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 23:18:21 +0000

This is a dangerous problem because children can be harassed indefinitely. I was an adult victim of ID theft and took 3 years to clear my name. Long story short, I worked directly with original creditors and had documentation evidencing identity theft from those creditors. The first account was opened in 1999 and I just argued with bill collectors telling them I did not have business with whomever they were representing. I was denied student loans, car loans, and ultimately a house loan before I learned the denials were not based on income or experience, but fraud. At the time when the investigation was under-way from 2001- 2004, one credit account was inadvertently turned over to a collection attorney. No one ever said anything about turning over the account and when I presented my letter to the credit reporting agencies, the derogatory trade line deleted.

Flash forward to March 2011 when $15,000 is withdrawn from my bank account resulting from a default judgment that was improperly obtained. Think about going into your bank to pay the bills and your balance in nearly wiped out with no explanation! I obtained The original court documents and saw the judge threw out the initial claim because I had not been served and the attorney did not have my address. The attorney sent two letters to the court claiming to have had conversations with me at a place of employment (where I did not work) and sent notice of suit to me C/O that company.

Once aware of the situation, I documented a historical event line of the extent of the identity theft, police involvement. We knew who perpetrated the crime, but the husband/wife team fled the state before an arrest could be made. I found the couple on Facebook, gave the attorney’s all information to pursue the perpetrator’s of the crime and they refused to accept responsibility claiming I fabricated my documentation, including a copy of the letter from the original creditor on their letterhead. It should not have surprised me because the attorney working for the law firm who initiated thee suit and fabricated documents lost his license to practice law after a criminal conviction.

I fought the seizure of assets, gave the judge my documentation and evidence and it was thrown out. It took over 6 months to get the money back. But that was not the end, the attorney refiled the suit because my actions overturning the case reset the stature of limitations.

I went back to court again, and the judge tossed it out a second time. Now I am in Federal Court pursuing FDCPA violations and trying to shut the sleazy firm down.

The damages, I lost my job as a result of seizure of assets, had sudden damage to my credit as a result making me appear irresponsible. I had some minor health issues from the stress and anxiety of the situation. I lost the opportunity to relocate with my firm unable to afford relocation expenses and being tied to the ongoing litigation.

Laws need to be changed to hold creditors and their agents alike accountable for mishandling identify theft issues. This is an issue that could affect a minor their entire adult life.

My social is out there, and I rely on credit monitoring for peace of mind. Every 18 months without fail someone tries to open a new account. My social is out there and it is a reality I will live with throughout my life.
Despite evidence, the law firm opened a new suit within 60 days settlement and it seems double jeopardy does not apply because the initial case was thrown out on the fact i was not served properly and not the merit of the ID theft.

To this day, I am still ensnared in the system because of their unethical and uncooperative behavior.

By: George

George — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 23:11:50 +0000

Who is approving this credit? With Patriot Act, I can not even open a checking account with my own money unless I am present with picture ID. How can these people get approved?

Is it not ironic that we (especially here in Florida) will spend millions of dollars trying to track down the few who are not citizens, but vote, but have no problem in letting big corporations extend credit to criminals and then place all the blame on the children who were “forced” to get a Social Security number by the same government.

By: Sue

Sue — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 23:09:45 +0000

This is another negative by-product of illegal alien immigration, and the majority of child identity theft happens in the latino communities. Document fraud is a huge and growing business and identities can be sold and resold to hundreds, if not thousands of buyers.

By: g55rumpy

g55rumpy — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 23:03:58 +0000

and “they” will be voting for democrats this NOV