credit_on_mars Posted August 8, 2003 Report Share Posted August 8, 2003 Well, back in the spring of 2002 I received a summons to small claims court by a CA because Discover Bank listed me with a CA as delinquent on an alleged account in my name. Since I nor my wife had never had a Discover Card we wondered what had happened. Of course, my investigation led me to find out I was a victim of identity theft and Discover was but one large balance I allegedly owed. They sued and I hired a lawyer. My lawyer went through the routines and we sent the State, Small Claims Court, and the CA an affidavit signifying that this was not my account and that it was a fraudulent account used by someone else, and so on. I went to court after that and again then all was quite nti8l two days ago when I received a “Notice of Pending Dismissal” with a date set for 09/08/2003 at 0900 with the JDG. HEY, ABOUT THAT!!!!!!! Now, I am considering suing them! After four DVs to these sleezy CA and yelling at their lawyers I think they have violated my character enough, huh?Admin(s) know the real me -- we chatted a lot via e-mail. Thanks for all the help and guidance braddas and sisitas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted August 8, 2003 Report Share Posted August 8, 2003 That is great news, glad to hear you are finally coming out on top of this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credit_on_mars Posted August 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2003 I really appreciate the advice and assurance found on this discussion group. Not much effects me but when accused of being a low down thief, as we are by most CA’s when they start their whining, that gets to me. Since I always paid my bills on time and fully I was shocked when they started after me. It is not only insulting, it can be scary if you take the CA’s seriously. Being brought up at the end of the Great Depression and by parents that thought to have good credit was a sign of a person’s character, when accused of not paying my bills and then having my credit ruined – I nearly flipped out. But, reading this group brought me back to Earth, so to speak, and I will be in your debt from now on. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercrusader Posted August 9, 2003 Report Share Posted August 9, 2003 Congrats on the victory!Sounds like you would be a perfect candidate for collecting a monetary award in the form of humiliation and embarrassment damages, on top of any statutory fines, attorney's fees and any other actual damages you may have incurred. You should also consider filing charges against the CA's counsel too. If filed in Federal court, you would probably rake them over the coals. If there's ever a circumstance for awarding actual damages for pain and suffering, this is it. You may have to move quickly though because you only have 1 year from the date on which the violation(s) occured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted August 9, 2003 Report Share Posted August 9, 2003 One year is no good in ID Theft cases, not everyone can catch them that fast... wonder if there may yet be another angle to go at this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercrusader Posted August 9, 2003 Report Share Posted August 9, 2003 One year is no good in ID Theft cases, not everyone can catch them that fast... wonder if there may yet be another angle to go at this.I was looking at it in terms of FDCPA: ie., a CA continues collection activity (files suit seeking judgment) despite getting 4 requests for validation and an affidavit claiming the account is fraudulent. At a minimum they should have stayed the suit until the issues were addressed. Does FDCPA not count if identify theft is involved? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted August 9, 2003 Report Share Posted August 9, 2003 I think these two things run together, just not sure on how much of all aspects since they are continually imporoving with helping people with ID Theft problems, that is not set in stone how to deal with these problems, since they cover so so many different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credit_on_mars Posted August 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2003 One year is no good in ID Theft cases, not everyone can catch them that fast... wonder if there may yet be another angle to go at this.The theft and charges occurred all in a three month period in 1995 and we moved about 9 months after that last charge. Of course, the thief changed the billing address right away and we knew nothing all that time until we moved back here to he same State. Someone paid a few payments to keep the CA’s away then dropped it. I know the address was bogus because the statements they sent all had my current address on them for all those years prior to moving here. Oh well, they can fool some of the people all of the time, all the people some of the time – but they cannot go on fooling all of us all the time! Don't matter, the case is about to be dismissed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credit_on_mars Posted September 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2003 Finally, the case against me was dismissed today with prejudice and now I can sue them back! Hey, CA's suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted September 10, 2003 Report Share Posted September 10, 2003 That is great news, congrats... best of wishes in your case against them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credit_on_mars Posted September 10, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2003 That is great news, congrats... best of wishes in your case against them!Thanks to you and swede for the good advice over the past couple of years. If not I would have gone ahead and paid them even knowing full well I had never had their credit card or any account. I was ignorant of the law and how ID theft worked, so to get them off my back I may have settled with them and attempted to work things out. I learned early on that we never work things out with CA's, they just collect what they an get away with and then forget you.Anyway, Discover Bank has to eat the thousands the thief took from them in my name. Of course, in the end we, the consumer, will pay. However, if our credit cards were safe from thieves, say with some positive identification on them, this would not happen so often.Thanks, keep up the good work.Dah Man form Mars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credit_on_mars Posted September 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 Dismisal in hand makes for a nice day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted September 13, 2003 Report Share Posted September 13, 2003 And a great weekend Now if it would quite raining here, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insider Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 Until the merchants ask for id, we are all unsafe when using our credit cards. We could have our photo on our credit cards, but unless the merchant asks to see it, what good does it do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credit_on_mars Posted September 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2003 If nothing else maybe a photo ID on the credit card with some additional method ot identify the particular card with the owner. After working in several secure working places, plus many years with the Fed, I can tell you there is a way to sesure these cards. A problem exists that people at the check out could care less about it can also be corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb9tbq Posted September 16, 2003 Report Share Posted September 16, 2003 There is something better then opting out for people that live in California & Texas... they can get their credit file locked (free if victim of id theft).No creditors extending credit can access the credit report, with out you specifically having requested a PIN # first and once it is pulled, the file is locked down again.This is great protection from new credit being established... but still have trouble with people stealing existing accounts though.Think something electronical could be done like a smart chip on your person... like in your arm under the skin... I don't know much more about this though, or how it would work for what purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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