Am I an ID Victim

[ID Victim]

Hello all,
Thanks for a great forum. I hope to use it as a newbie, and contribute to it as much as I can to help others.

Comming to my question,
I was contacted by a debt collection agency a couple of weeks back (twice) asking me to reimburse them certain amount of money. They said that Providian had issued me a credit card and that the card was charged 5000$ but never paid. As for me, I have never owned a credit card from providian, nor have I received any statements from them. My credit reports do not indicate that any account was opened/closed from providian either. I am now faced with a headache of dealing with one.

How do I approach this issue? What legal rights do I have?
How can I make life miserable to Providian and the collection agency?


Any response/help is much appriciated in advance.
Thanks,
ID Victim

 

[Veronica1228]

What is the name of your state? - Azirona

Hello all,
Thanks for a great forum. I hope to use it as a newbie, and contribute to it as much as I can to help others.

Comming to my question,
I was contacted by a debt collection agency a couple of weeks back (twice) asking me to reimburse them certain amount of money. They said that Providian had issued me a credit card and that the card was charged 5000$ but never paid. As for me, I have never owned a credit card from providian, nor have I received any statements from them. My credit reports do not indicate that any account was opened/closed from providian either. I am now faced with a headache of dealing with one.

How do I approach this issue? What legal rights do I have?
How can I make life miserable to Providian and the collection agency?


Any response/help is much appriciated in advance.
Thanks,
ID Victim

Send them a Debt Validation request letter by return receipt certified mail. Make them PROVE this debt is yours.

If it's not showing up on your CR you are probably okay. Did you check all three credit bureaus?

 

[Veronica1228]

In case you were about to ask....here's a site to see a sample letter.

http://www.creditinsiders.com/letters/validate.html

 

[ID Victim]

hi Veronica, thanks very much for the replies and for the link to letter. Much appriciated.
Yes, I have checked all the 3 credit reports, 3-4 times in last 6 months.
I will shortly mail the letter to the collection agency.

 

[Veronica1228]

hi Veronica, thanks very much for the replies and for the link to letter. Much appriciated.
Yes, I have checked all the 3 credit reports, 3-4 times in last 6 months.
I will shortly mail the letter to the collection agency.

Thanks for the update. Glad I could help!

 

[ID Victim]

Hi Veronica,
I found similar debt validation letter that I think is more specific. Here's the link
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/forms/sampleletter9.shtml
Can you pls express your opinion about it?

Also, what happens next? Assuming the collection agency sends me all the letters with (false) signatures of someone claiming to be me, what legal options will I have?

I forgot to mention one more thinkg in earlier post. The collection agency mentioned to me over the phone that a deposit was made to my alleged credit card. If someone really got a credit card in my name, I am not sure why he would make a deposit. If this is indeed true, do you think I should be asking them the name and account number from which deposit was made?

Statistically, what percentage of such frauds result in victims being exonerated?


As again, my thanks to veronica and for anyone responding/helping can not be expressed in words. I appriciate them so very much.
- ID Victim

 

[Veronica1228]

Hi Veronica,
I found similar debt validation letter that I think is more specific. Here's the link
http://www.creditinfocenter.com/forms/sampleletter9.shtml
Can you pls express your opinion about it?

Also, what happens next? Assuming the collection agency sends me all the letters with (false) signatures of someone claiming to be me, what legal options will I have?

I forgot to mention one more thinkg in earlier post. The collection agency mentioned to me over the phone that a deposit was made to my alleged credit card. If someone really got a credit card in my name, I am not sure why he would make a deposit. If this is indeed true, do you think I should be asking them the name and account number from which deposit was made?

Statistically, what percentage of such frauds result in victims being exonerated?


As again, my thanks to veronica and for anyone responding/helping can not be expressed in words. I appriciate them so very much.
- ID Victim

I looked at the letter and it looks good to me. I would also like Ladynred to take a look at it to get her opinion. She should be around sometime later today.

I don't know why anyone would make a "deposit" either, unless the card in question is a secured card. In which case, the fact that there is a balance due is kind of unusual. You can ask about getting more information on this so called deposit, but I don't know if they will/can provide it to you.

When you get the validation, hopefully the credit app, take it to the police station and file a report. Get a copy of the report and contact the CA to let them know you have done this.

Diane, do you know the stats that the OP is asking about? The only thing I was able to find was how much ID theft has cost businesses and FIs. I hope this means that individuals do not often suffer greatly from this crime themselves. During my search I found the follow link from the FTC. It might be of some help.

http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

 

[racer72]

Instead of a debt validation letter, send a cease and desist letter, samples are available at the same sites mentioned above. Deny the debt was ever yours, point out that you have never had a credit card issued to you by the original creditor and that they are to cease all communications with you per the FDCPA. The CA is probably fishing a debt that they can't find the original debtor, they send out claims to folks with the same name hoping someone bites. My guess after the C&D, you will never hear from them again.

 

[Ladynred]

Its also VERY possible, since there's no trace of this debt on her credit reports, that its way past the statute of limitations. If its not on ANY of the reports, it could be more than 7 years old. Has this collection agency ever mentioned when this alleged debt was last paid ??

I didn't see where ID Victim told us where she lives, and we need that to know what laws apply.

The creditinfocenter letter is a very good one to use.

I haven't seen any recent stats on how much ID theft costs individuals or the banking industry, but I DO know that even with the recent changes in laws etc. to fight it, it still takes far too much time, effort, and money of the victim to right the wrong and get it cleared up.

 

[ID Victim]

a little confused

Thanks LadynRed for your response. I live in Arizona.

Some more info:
Year 2000: establisted credit with a credit union (got a credit card)
Year 2000: I had bought a loan for my car in year 2000 from my credit card union. All bills paid on time.

I vaguely remember the collection agency mentioning that the loan was 'old', probably dating back to 2001. I never ran a credit history until late in 2004 though I have begun to do so regularly after I heard/read horror stories on ID Theft. My credit reports do not indicate that a loan obtained by someone under my name.

Veronica suggests I send them 'debt validation letter' while grandpa (racer72) suggests I send 'cease and desist' letter. I appriciate both of them for their help and concern. But then, I am a little confused as to what to do?

The debt validation letter says 'i am not refusing to pay, but dispute', while 'cease and desist' letter flat out says I don't take your stuff. Which one would have more influence? First letter deals with collection agency while the other refuses to deal directly with the bank that allegedly issued the card.

Also, is it possible to send both the letter at the same time, or combine in some way?


Again, thanks are due to veronica,grandpa,lady in red for their responses and help. Much appriciated. I do not come from finance/legal background, and am stumped about what approach I can take.

Thanks,
-ID Vicitm.

PS: I am also beginning to have doubts about completeness of credit report now. For e.g, it does not mention that car loan was purchased, or that it was paid off. This is a free annual credit report (+6$ for some extra info), and also no other reports mention that. Is that a problem that I need to fix? Should that credit be showing up on history?

 

[Ladynred]

Ok. First of all, the statute of limitations on a credit card in AZ is 3 years, so if they are claiming this Providian card was last paid in 2001 - by anyone - the debt is now beyond the SOL and is time-barred.

You have a choice. You can TRY to get more details out of the collection agency thru a validation demand letter. IF they produce any viable documentation, you may wind up with enough details to be 100% certain this is a fraudulent account. At that point, you can send them a full cease and desist telling them to get lost, the debt is fraudulent due to ID theft AND its also time-barred. Or, if you're 100% certain this is NOT your account, send them a full cease and desist telling them never to bother you about the alleged debt again as it is time-barred per AZ statute. I can link you to an excellent letter for this specific purpose.

I think I would try the validation route first, just to see if they can produce anything. Once you demand validation, they must cease all collection activity until they do validate. You can add to the validation letter that they are not to call you and all communications should be in WRITING ONLY.

As for the credit reports, did you pull all THREE reports, or did you get a tri-merge ??? Tri-merge reports lack critical details.

 

[ID Victim]

Ok. First of all, the statute of limitations on a credit card in AZ is 3 years, so if they are claiming this Providian card was last paid in 2001 - by anyone - the debt is now beyond the SOL and is time-barred.

LadynRed: I have lived in AZ for last 3 yrs. Prior, I lived in CA. I am not sure of statute of limitations in CA. If that too is 3 years, should I mention to the collectoin agency in the letter than they have crossed the limitations and should not be bothering me anymore (and also not hurting my credit history?)

You have a choice. You can TRY to get more details out of the collection agency thru a validation demand letter. IF they produce any viable documentation, you may wind up with enough details to be 100% certain this is a fraudulent account. At that point, you can send them a full cease and desist telling them to get lost, the debt is fraudulent due to ID theft AND its also time-barred. Or, if you're 100% certain this is NOT your account, send them a full cease and desist telling them never to bother you about the alleged debt again as it is time-barred per AZ statute. I can link you to an excellent letter for this specific purpose.

If sending a 'validation' letter first and then 'cease and desist' letter is an option, I think I would prefer that.
At this point, I am not sure if this is an ID Theft case. I am 100% sure I did not open an account with providian and didn't receive any statement from them. I strongly believe it to be a fraudulant claim from collection agency.
Also, I would appriciate if you can link me to the letter.

As for the credit reports, did you pull all THREE reports, or did you get a tri-merge ??? Tri-merge reports lack critical details.

I did pull 2 (2 free + 2 for 6$ each). I haven't tried all 3, only equifax and TU. Annualreport.com asks about 6$ each.

 

[Ladynred]

The SOL in CA is 4 years.

There is nothing that says they can't try to collect once the SOL has passed and negative items stay on your credit reports for 7-1/2 years. If this is a fraudulent debt and its showing up on YOUR reports, you need to dispute it with the credit bureaus as a fraudulent account.

 

[ID Victim]

Thanks everyone for her/his response. I will send the 'debt validation' letter tomorrow (5/6/05). In the meanwhile, I have one question. Do I need to 'sign' the letter? Does signing have any legal bearing? Also, if I sign, should it look like my actual signature given the doubt and distrust I have towards the collection agency?
Thanks again.
ID Victim.

 

[Ladynred]

Well, there's opinions on both sides of the fence on signing the letter yourself. On the one hand, digital signatures ARE accepted these days and should be valid. Some will say sign it as you normally would to make it legit.

On the other side is the opinion that you should be VERY cautious about actually putting your signature on any letter. Signatures have been known to 'appear' on documents you never ACTUALLY signed - meaning they lift the sig off your letter and apply it in some fashion (technology makes this EASY) to some other documents to screw you. Is that illegal.. hell yes, but its been known to happen.

Personally, I use a digital signature.. I use a script font for my name, print it and mail it that way.