These people dont even have the right person!!!!

[ddumasemt]

On 15 Dec. I was contacted by the Eaton Group about a Capital One MC account in the amount of $2164.00. The "lady" only verified my name and address then started reading me a mini miranda. The person she was looking for is Derek J. Dumas but she had the last 4 of my social so naturally she started foaming at the mouth in order to get money from me. I told her she had the wrong Derek Dumas and that I could not help her in finding this person because I dont know him. This Money Beggar has my SSN# my Mailing address AND my home phone. THEY actually believe that I owe them this money and there is no convincing them otherwise.

I want to send them a letter but I really dont know if DV is appropriate in this situation which is clearly misidentfication. So what do you guys suggest? DV or No DV??? that is the question.....

Thanks for reading.

Derek G. Dumas

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

Do you have any idea why/how they've identified you as the debtor? Names are pretty easy to mix-up (it's happened to me a number of times) but SSNs and such usually aren't.

Do you have any idea if your identity has been stolen...have you looked at your bureau reports recently to see if anything is there that shouldn't be?

[Methuss]

Well #1. If that is your real name, please edit it out. We prefer people not give out details of their finances along with their real name. Collectors and creditors have been known to come here and read too.

As for the creditor mis-identifying you, there is a simple solution. File an identity theft report at your local police station. Mail a copy, certified to the creditor along with a copy to each credit reporting agency along with an affidavit of identity theft (from the FTC web site). That slams the door and nails it shut. Once they get that documentation, they are required BY LAW to cease all collection efforts, stop credit reporting against you, and never to sell or transfer it to anyone else...forever.

Be aware that filing a false police report is a crime, so don't do this unless you are sure it isn't your debt (possibly sold between companies).

[ddumasemt]

I edited my name out like you suggested. Sorry if it caused a problem. I know darn well its not my account. Because I called CAPONE and gave them the acc # and they are sending me a letter stating that I do not have any accounts in active collections nor is that account attached to my social. Just to hit them where it hurts, I will mail a validation letter and I ll do the police report tomorrow...Thanks for the help ya'll. This Discussion Group is the reason my scores have gone from 486 to 689 across the board!!!!

Later.

D

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

You are free to do as you wish of course, but one note of caution...

I would not advise filling out a police report of identify theft unless you have significant reason to believe your identy has actually been stolen/used to open this account.

The issue you describe sounds more to me as if you've just got a lazy CA who has decided this is your account; not that someone opened up an account in your name/ssn, etc.

I would try to know for sure, as much as possible, before I file a police report.

Just my $0.02

[jasen]

Unlike Robert, I will file a report on any derog that I know is not mine. It doesn't really matter to me whether it's actual identity theft, bonafide error, or a lazy CA. The fact is, someone is attempting to take money from me and hurt my credit over an account that's not mine. The report saves you time and stress. It secures you the right to not have to deal with it again. You can DV these people for years, and they can legally just ignore you for years- meanwhile poisoning your credit report over a tradeline that's not yours.

The only time I see this as being dangerous is if the account is really yours, then you could be charged with falsifying a police report. However, if it's not yours, but they say it's yours, I call that identity theft, whether accidental or deliberate.

I've had to file this 3 times myself, and once for my wife. Sent a copy to the CA, and the tradeline magically disappears. I've found it better to not send it to the CRA's, as they have the tendency to lock your report down on fraud alert when they get them these days, and that's a bit of a pain. Most CA's are pretty quick to delete when they get a police report, without having to involve the CRA.

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

Unlike Robert, I will file a report on any derog that I know is not mine. It doesn't really matter to me whether it's actual identity theft, bonafide error, or a lazy CA.

You are free to file whatever you want, I tend to not like to lie to people who have the power to arrest me for doing so...most people, our most recent past President nothwithstanding, don't get away with it and I'll take a "ding" on my credit report over time in jail any day.

[Methuss]

You are free to file whatever you want, I tend to not like to lie to people who have the power to arrest me for doing so...most people, our most recent past President nothwithstanding, don't get away with it and I'll take a "ding" on my credit report over time in jail any day.

It's not a lie. If someone says you owe money on an account which is not yours it is either identity theft or fraud. In both cases filing a identity fraud report deals with it and you are not being dishonest. If a CA misidentifies you as a debtor and refuses to correct it, that is still identity fraud...the CA is associating a debt to you that is not yours.

The danger is if you try to use it to shirk a debt that is really yours. You could go to jail for that. But if it really is not yours, you are doing nothing wrong saying so in a police report.

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

It's not a lie. If someone says you owe money on an account which is not yours it is either identity theft or fraud. In both cases filing a identity fraud report deals with it and you are not being dishonest. If a CA misidentifies you as a debtor and refuses to correct it, that is still identity fraud...the CA is associating a debt to you that is not yours.

The danger is if you try to use it to shirk a debt that is really yours. You could go to jail for that. But if it really is not yours, you are doing nothing wrong saying so in a police report.

While it may be too late for the OP's case (although we don't knwo what the OP has actually done to convince the CA that the debt isn't his); aren't you leaving out another avenue to be explored - that being that a CA is simply in error and is willing to correct it?

I know that CAs hear "it's not my debt" all day long and so, tend to ignor it and also that a lot of CAs operate as much outside the law as they think they can get away with but they are not all like that; some actually do try to do a decent (or at least a fair) job.

It just seems to me that using the identify theft/police report route on something that might be cleared up with much less effort is akin to using 10 megaton bomb to swat a fly.

[rmuse00]

I had an experience with a CA that would not validate a cable bill that clearly was NOT mine. I gave them the opportunity to correct their records twice. Gave them 60 plus days to provide validation, which they did not! They had verified with EQ twice. I had NO cable from 1999 through 2006. CA said I defaulted on a cable bill in 2004? WTF! They had an account with my first and maiden name, sort of common. When I told them I had proof that I never lived at the address they claim I lived at during the time the cable account was defaulted on they balked. So, they were NOT doing what is required per FDCPA! They cleared my report within 3 business days! I should have sued! If I had claimed ID theft perhaps they would not have felt the fear I heard in the womens voice when I told her she had just saved herself from a suit! They need to be held accountable for not doing what is required of them. Because they never even tried validating I knew they were just being lazy. I had no other proof that it could be ID theft since there was no other account on my reports that I could connect to any ID theft. However, if you really feel ID theft has ocurred then yes, definitely file the police report.

[Robert Nashville/Savannah]

...

No one is suggesting not filing an ID theft report with the police if you have reason to believe your ID has been stolen; in fact that is exactly what should be done.

I will also say that people need to be willing to prosecute ID thieves. Unfortunatley, that is often not the case because very often, the “thief” is a parent, sibling or other relative. Let me be plain, anyone and I do mean anyone who steels another person’s ID is scum and should be treated that way no matter what relationship might exist between the thief and the victim.

That said, I also think it is worth the time and effort to try and know if your ID has been stolen and to gather as much evidence of same before filing a report.

In the case of a lazy or incompetent or out of control CA, I would suggest a lawsuit is a MUCH better approach than the ID theft report as the report basically just gets them off the hook and they move on to their next victim.

I know going the route of a suite takes more effort but if consumers who have been wronged aren’t willing to make a bad CA pay a price for being a bad CA then they will simply continue to be bad (and probably get worse).