Sigh. A Family Member Stole My Identity
Posted by Cap in Credit Related |What a bummer.
Earlier today, I was preparing to open a Discover More card as I never had a Discover card before. I especially wanted to take advantage of the recent holiday promotion along with the occasional decent rotating 5% cash back the Discover Card offered.
Like always, I decided to check my credit report and score before opening a new account, just to make sure everything is all peachy. Figuring I can kill two birds with one stone by taking Quizzle.com for a spin, I signed up for a Quizzle account to grab a free credit report and score.
As I was taking screenshots of the Quizzle website for the upcoming review, I noticed an unfamiliar account in my credit report:
A joint account opened just last month, with a balance of $20,000. Eh?
Digging further, I found out a family member went and opened a joint account under my name and their name, to take advantage of a 12 months 0% balance transfer offer.
Damn.
I won’t go into too much detail on who did it and how’d it happened, since a few other family members do read this blog. But let’s just say that I’m a bit disappointed and wished they would have discussed this with me.
Although I often advise against opening joint accounts with family and friends (spouses and certain scenarios are exceptions), I would have been willing to open this joint account — as long as I was given proper notice and time to prepare and plan my credit, because I had other 0% balance transfer on other accounts.
Here are some quick tips on avoiding identity theft by a family member, especially if you live in an environment where it may be plausible:
- Place a credit freeze on your credit, this prevents access to your credit history and will require verification before any accounts are opened in your name.
- Opt-out of pre-screen offers. This can reduce the amount of offers you get in the mail and reduce the chance someone use one to open an account.
- Keep your mailing and billing address consistent. If you use another address for residency purpose or whatever else, be mindful of the type of mailings that particular address may receive.
- Check your credit report frequently. Remember, we get three free reports per year, so you can spread the three reports throughout the year.
So what will I do now? Well, I think I’ll discuss the situation with the family member. I don’t think I’ll take any legal action as I’m positive they’ll pay this account off (plus I love and care about them). One silver lining in this is that the account in question is a joint account and isn’t solely in my name only (edit to add: this doesn’t mean I’m absolve of the financial responsibility for the account).
According to the FTC, 9% of identity theft cases are committed by a family member or relative. If you’re in a situation where you can’t resolve an identity theft by a family member amicably, the resources below should help you further.
- When You Personally Know The Identity Thief – Identity Theft Resource Center
- Identity Theft Victims Guide – Privacy Rights Clearing House
- Fighting Back Against Identity Theft – Federal Trade Commission
17 Comments to “Sigh. A Family Member Stole My Identity”
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November 6th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
All I can say is that he goes for want he wants
November 6th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
That’s a rough situation. I hope you can work it out.
November 6th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
That is a hard situation and it sounds like it sucks! My account was recently compromised so I had to get a new checking account, new checks, etc…but at least no money went missing and I know for sure it wasn’t a family member.
Give them time to fix it, and if they don’t I’d prosecute, otherwise they might try it on others not so studious about checking their accounts.
Good Luck!
November 6th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
sorry to hear cap. hope all goes well in working it out.
November 6th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
I never actually knew you could opt-out of pre-approved offers! This might actually mean my mailbox could become home to spider webs (because really, what other mail do we actually get by post anymore???).
Thanks for the info…
November 7th, 2008 at 5:13 am
Ouch. Good luck. I am surprised that people can just go in and open an account like that…is a persons social security number necessary for that? Im just asking because I have never opened a jonit account and am uncertain as to how to go about doing it.
November 7th, 2008 at 6:39 am
You’re “a bit disappointed”, that’s it???
I would be fuming if I were you. I don’t care if that person will repay that debt in time. What they did is identity theft pure and simple.
Ok, my over-reaction moment is over and I really hope you work it out with them. But, still, don’t take this so lightly.
November 7th, 2008 at 7:11 am
That’s a great story – uh, not the family fraud part (fraud is bad), but the fact that you were smart enough and diligent enough to catch it as soon as you did.
That’s what it’s all about in today’s world… KNOWING. Glad Quizzle could help you out!
Quizzle has been following your blog for a long time and we love the real, honest, practical financial advice you provide.
Keep up the great work!
November 7th, 2008 at 10:48 am
You are taking it amazingly well. I would probably be under arrest by now if it were me. That being said, as an attorney, I want you to know that there are some legal repercussions that you should be aware of before you proceed. First and foremost, the account is a joint account, which means that the other person can walk away and you will be held responsible for the amount due. The credit card company does not have to go after your family member first or at all – they can come after you for the full amount. Second and most importantly, if you don’t object to this now, with the credit card company, you can’t later disclaim any responsibility for the amounts due. You will probably be considered to have ratified the family member’s actions after the fact.
I understand that you love this person, but their actions are reprehensible. The old adage of burn me once it’s your fault, burn me twice it’s mine may apply here. They were willing to open a credit card in your name – which is a federal offense. There is no reason to believe that they haven’t done other things or won’t in the future – like walking away from their debt and leaving you holding the bag.
November 7th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Gregg: Yes a SSN is required for that. Signature is obviously a moot point if they just write down whatever. Generally things are made easier when other personal information (such as address) is the same as yours or they have access to your information. Certain credit card application will have two specific sections of personal information for joint accounts. It all varies but basically, if someone has enough of your personal information, it will be pretty easy to open an account in your name.
Thanks for the comments though guys. I’m pretty pissed off but again, there’s obviously a reason why I’m taking it rather well (in the posting anyway hah). I would write more about it if I could but yeah…
This isn’t to say my reaction means this is a non-issue. Ggrrl makes a good point that as joint account holder, you’re legally responsible for the debt in question (hence my frequent mentions of avoiding applying for loans etc. as a cosigner).
Thanks for pointing it out and I’m aware of the possible repercussion if I choose to not dispute this account. I haven’t made up my mind completely yet on how I’ll handle this, as I’m playing out different type of scenarios — but for other people reading, if you ever encounter a situation like this, its in your own best interest to protect yourself.
Again, I want to stress that I’m taking it fairly well because I have a firm grasp of my own finances, and I have good idea on why this happened along with why the family member may have decided to take this action. Again, I wish I can elaborate further but yeah, that’s life for you!
November 7th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Wow. There’s so much wrong with that!
It’s too easy to do what they did!
And I re-read this twice: “(plus I love and care about them)”
Unfortunately, your family member doesn’t seem to have the same level of respect for you.
I’m impressed with your level of calm with this. I woulda gone ballistic, level 11.
November 7th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
That is awful and you are a saint for not being angrier. Please keep in mind that if you don’t report it ASAP, you are now liable for the debt. Why are you so sure this family member will pay it off, they are obviously a bit dishonest. Mr. M had his sister steal his identity and she ran up a $10k balance. As soon as he found out he gave her a few days to pay it off (ie beg from mom) before he turned her in to the police. They’ve been estranged ever since, but he could barely pay his bills let alone someone elses shopping spree. I hope this works out for you and they pay it off.
November 11th, 2008 at 2:25 am
Wow. I can’t imagine not reporting this immediately as fraud, family member or not, or at the very least, making them transfer the balance and closing the account.
A few years ago my father opened an account and listed my sister as an authorized user, not joint owner, on the account without her knowledge. She obviously never signed anything accepting responsibility for the account, nor was it required in this situation. When my dad quit paying on the account, the delinquency was reported on my sister’s credit report and ruined her credit, causing all of her legitimate credit card interest rates to go up.
Once she found out what had happened, she disputed the account, claimed fraud, etc. The credit card company was less than willing to admit that she was an innocent party. It finally took her making a local police report, contacting the CA AG’s office, CA Consmer Affairs office, and the federal agency responsible for oversight of credit card companies before they removed the account from her credit report. Fortunately, it was resolved in two to three weeks b/c of her persistence and the helpful info on identify theft from the CA state websites.
However, none of her other credit card companies lowered the interest rates they had raised even when informed of what had happened. So hopefully you’re right and your family member doesn’t screw you over and ruin your credit!
November 12th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I can’t believe you’re not furious and enraged about this! Another commenter says you’re a saint for not being so upset, but I think you’re being a doormat.
If you hadn’t discovered this on your own, when were you expecting Joe/Jane Relative to tell you? Why are you confident this person is going to pay off the balance, when they obviously didn’t have the credit rating to get the account on their own or have enough confidence that you would co-sign if asked?
Not only has this person deceived you, but they’ve also put you on the spot where you risk looking vindictive and mean if you take legal action against a family member, however if you do nothing and accept it, you’re at risk for liability *and* you’ve encouraged that person to do it again!
Personally, I’d rather risk looking vindictive and mean by letting this person and the rest of the family know that my love and affection for my family is not to be used as leverage against me now or ever.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Just a quick update before the comments keep flooring in, but the situation is almost resolved. Account will be paid off within a week and it may be closed or I may take the necessary actions to have it wiped from my credit history.
Dar: You make a lot of good points but the family member in question actually has good credit and the means to pay off the account. I wasn’t making a fool hearty assumption while stating that (we’re obviously close enough where I know their information as well as they know mine). You should note that I also mentioned in the post that I actually would have been willing to open the joint account with them had they simply asked. In either case, none of these excuse their action.
November 12th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I’m confused. If your family member has good credit and the means to pay off the account, why would they have needed to use your name in the first place?
April 30th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Hmmm.. i would definetly leave prosecution as a possibility. If they opted not to pay I’d take them to court, but if they admit to there wrong and give you their word they’ll pay as they say let sleeping dogs lie(pardon my english i am french and new to australia)