Credit Problem...please help

[pichuchy21]

Hey all,

I haven''t posted in a really long time, work is literally working me to death. I am going to a personal dilemma and want to know if anyone can give me any feedback. Recently I received a letter from my citibank credit card stating that they were closing my account because a recent review of my credit history stated that I have a "derogatory public record or collection" confused I requested my credit report from Equifax which was the company that provided them with this information. I have never paid anything late in my life so I was a bit alarmed of what might be going on. I received my credit report today and I was sent to collections by a company called Comcast. I called Equifax and filed a fraud case cause that is not my debt. I decided to google Comcast and call them to see if they can provide me with more information. I gave the rep my name and explained what was going on...he looked me up and said I wasn''t in their system. He then ran me under my social and asked me if I knew a person names Jorge...when he gave me the last name its my damn BROTHER!!! He has the nerve to open an account in his name using my social and racked up a $1500 bill. I was in tears. How did this guy get my social I don''t even talk to him. I need this to come off my credit report its not my bill they need to go after him for that money. I have worked so hard to keep a good credit score in hopes of buying a home one day. My husband is furious, I can''t believe my own brother would be so shady. Has anyone had any similar experiences with the credit bureau? I really just want this horrible thing taken off my credit file. And paying it is not an option how can I pay for something that I didn''t use and I don''t even have that kind of money. Sorry for the long post, but I just want some feedback

 

[yssie]

Goodness, I have no words of wisdom but I'm so sorry!! How simply awful of your brother

 

[pichuchy21]

I know its so frustrating and its affecting my credit. I have worked so damn hard to keep an excellent credit score. I hope this gets fixed and as for my brother I don''t even talk to him because he is always doing things to hurt the family. He is selfish and greedy. It also sucks that citicard closed my account after I''ve had that card for so long.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 4/23/2010 8:15:17 PM
Author: pichuchy21
I know its so frustrating and its affecting my credit. I have worked so damn hard to keep an excellent credit score. I hope this gets fixed and as for my brother I don''t even talk to him because he is always doing things to hurt the family. He is selfish and greedy. It also sucks that citicard closed my account after I''ve had that card for so long.

Oh I am so sorry. I would let citicard know what happened?? Oh go to your primary bank and have them help you sort this out?? Other than that, file a police report.

I don''t know a lot about this sort of thing. That sucks your brother did this to you, I''d be livid!!!!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Call the police and file a report on the identity theft. Then call Comcast and tell them you''re fighting the action on the basis of stolen identity.

 

[steph72276]

Yep, you will need to file a police report for identity theft. Then you will need to fax the police report to all 3 agencies and fill out the forms to dispute it.

 

[pichuchy21]

Ugh what a mission...I had someone steal my identity in undergrad and I had to go through a mission to get everything clarified. It was months of phone calls, harassing phone calls, and police reports. Around the time this Comcast account was open I had a security freeze on my account due to the identity theft situation. Which is another reason how I don''t understand why Comcast didn''t follow procedure. When you have a credit freeze they are suppose to check id, etc

I think I am going to wait for Equifax to finish their investigation if its not in my favor then I will proceed from there. My husband is an officer for the city and I would be so embarrassed to have to file this type of police report and say my brother screwed me over like the con that he is

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 4/23/2010 9:00:33 PM
Author: pichuchy21
Ugh what a mission...I had someone steal my identity in undergrad and I had to go through a mission to get everything clarified. It was months of phone calls, harassing phone calls, and police reports. Around the time this Comcast account was open I had a security freeze on my account due to the identity theft situation. Which is another reason how I don''t understand why Comcast didn''t follow procedure. When you have a credit freeze they are suppose to check id, etc

I think I am going to wait for Equifax to finish their investigation if its not in my favor then I will proceed from there. My husband is an officer for the city and I would be so embarrassed to have to file this type of police report and say my brother screwed me over like the con that he is

I wouldn''t wait, and the embarrasement should be on your brother, not you or your husband.

 

[sparklyheart]

I had all my credit cards and debit card stolen, all the money (plus some) taken out of my bank account, and huge bills ran up on my cc''s.. ick. It was a horrible mess but the one thing I did was called EVERY single company where my cards were used, called every card company/bank, and disputed everything. It took awhile but in the end all of the companies were very nice and understanding. One of the companies was an internet service and they refunded everything. I am surprised Comcast was not immediately offering that. I would call them back and tell them you want to dispute the charges. As soon as you told them you had a different name than the person using your SSN they should have realized it was a scam! Since the charge is already causing a cc company to cancel your card, I wouldn''t wait any longer. Call all involved companies and get your credit fixed asap!! Good luck.. I''m sorry you are going through this! What a mess for a family member to leave you with..

.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

You''ve already gotten some good advice. You need to file a police report against your brother ASAP and then contact all three credit reporting agencies and see if it''s being reported on each. If it is then you must dispute the information as "not mine" and/or "fraud" and it will be investigated. The best, but not quickest, way to file disputes is via Certified U.S. Mail, Return Receipt Requested. The point is to create a paper trail because the CRA''s don''t always play fair or nice when it comes to fixing things.

I am so sorry that this has happened to you and I wish you the best of luck it getting it all worked out.

 

[pichuchy21]

Thanks for all the advice guys. This is a crappy situation. I will be contacting the police department tomorrow and seeing how I can file a police report since Comcast doesn''t even exist where I live I hope they can still file a report. The Comcast rep was being a butt and was saying the bill needed to be paid. I told him to find my brother and make him pay its their fault for not properly verifying who they open an account to. Luckily its only on my Equifax credit bureau. The sucky thing is that Equifax is the one that most companies use to verify credit. I am going to call Comcast again and get as much information about the account and where the service was established so I can have as much information for the police report.

 

[megumic]

I don''t know the exact procedure and I''m certain it takes a long time, but you can have your credit reports restored to their proper state. Despite your brother stealing your identity, it was still stolen. I''d take a day off of work and just literally call any and everyone to set the record straight and see what next steps must be taken to clear your name.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 4/23/2010 10:39:15 PM
Author: pichuchy21
Thanks for all the advice guys. This is a crappy situation. I will be contacting the police department tomorrow and seeing how I can file a police report since Comcast doesn''t even exist where I live I hope they can still file a report. The Comcast rep was being a butt and was saying the bill needed to be paid. I told him to find my brother and make him pay its their fault for not properly verifying who they open an account to. Luckily its only on my Equifax credit bureau. The sucky thing is that Equifax is the one that most companies use to verify credit. I am going to call Comcast again and get as much information about the account and where the service was established so I can have as much information for the police report.

Comcast was started here, and know the Chairman. His name is Brian Roberts. He''s a great guy and would be horrified to hear this story.

 

[pichuchy21]

Date: 4/23/2010 11:03:42 PM
Author: Kaleigh

Date: 4/23/2010 10:39:15 PM

Author: pichuchy21

Thanks for all the advice guys. This is a crappy situation. I will be contacting the police department tomorrow and seeing how I can file a police report since Comcast doesn''t even exist where I live I hope they can still file a report. The Comcast rep was being a butt and was saying the bill needed to be paid. I told him to find my brother and make him pay its their fault for not properly verifying who they open an account to. Luckily its only on my Equifax credit bureau. The sucky thing is that Equifax is the one that most companies use to verify credit. I am going to call Comcast again and get as much information about the account and where the service was established so I can have as much information for the police report.

Comcast was started here, and know the Chairman. His name is Brian Roberts. He''s a great guy and would be horrified to hear this story.

I just called Comcast again horrible service they aren''t even shocked by this whole thing. They told me that they have no way of verifying that the name and social security numbers don''t match. So pretty much anyone can call to establish service give a phony name and my social and thats it they get service. I can''t believe that they don''t have better security measures in place no wonder identity theft is so high these days.

I called Citibank and explained what is going on and they told me to write to them explaining the situation and to send it along with Equifax''s final decision. Hopefully everything works out and they don''t close my account. It doesn''t look good when a creditor closes your account.

 

[Octavia]

Pichuchy, I'm not surprised...I believe Kaleigh when she says that Comcast's chairman is a nice guy, but the company's customer service has been completely appalling every time I've had to deal with them. Hands down the worst of any service company I've ever dealt with. All I can say is, don't take no for an answer and keep going up the chain of command to get to someone who can actually do something -- like most giant companies, the people on the front lines don't have much power to help. They might not be able to do much on their end if they've already sold the account to a collections company (which they do VERY quickly), but they should at least be able to find out more information so you can figure out your next steps. You WILL get this worked out in the end, and don't feel guilty or ashamed. It can happen to anyone, it just really stinks that it happened to you. Sending dust for a good resolution for you.

 

[pichuchy21]

Date: 4/23/2010 11:21:19 PM
Author: Octavia
Pichuchy, I''m not surprised...I believe Kaleigh when she says that Comcast''s chairman is a nice guy, but the company''s customer service has been completely appalling every time I''ve had to deal with them. Hands down the worst of any service company I''ve ever dealt with. All I can say is, don''t take no for an answer and keep going up the chain of command to get to someone who can actually do something -- like most giant companies, the people on the front lines don''t have much power to help. You WILL get this worked out in the end, and don''t feel guilty or ashamed. It can happen to anyone, it just really stinks that it happened to you. Sending dust for a good resolution for you.

Thanks, I''m really annoyed and sad by it all. It irks me that I have worked so hard to never pay late and keep a nice credit score and here comes some a**hole and ruins it. I went through this in undergrad a few years ago and it was a nightmare, I went through a mission to get it all worked out. I even had a security alert on my credit file because of the whole thing which Comcast chose to ignore when they opened the account. I just hope I don''t start getting letters from the few cards I have saying they are going to close me too for bad credit

I will keep everyone posted, hopefully its a quick process. Equifax did sound pretty understanding and said the process can take up to 30 days, but it usually doesn''t.

 

[Octavia]

Equifax has a duty to investigate under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, so you did the right thing by reporting it. Unfortunately, sometimes they don''t investigate as fully as you''d think they would, so you might have to become a thorn in their side. Not easy or fun, for sure

 

[brightlight]

This is so much more complicated than a regular identity theft situation (which is bad enough) since it's your brother. Sorry you're going through this. Have you spoken to your brother yet? I don't really know what advice to give you about filing a police report or not. I know I would be conflicted about doing that if it was my brother. There are a few other things you can do in the mean time until the situation is resolved.

1) You can put a fraud alert on your credit file with all three credit bureaus. It stays on for 7 years I think unless you write to have it taken off. This requires that they contact you any time anyone tries to open an account using your ss number. Your report will also state that there's a fraud alert placed on your credit file.

2) You can submit a general comment for your credit file with each of the credit bureaus stating that the Comcast delinquency was due to identity fraud. This comment will be displayed along with your credit history when companies run a credit check. You can do this on-line by going to the websites for the credit bureaus.

3) Dispute the derogatory account with all three credit bureaus. Just because Equifax corrects it, doesn't mean the other two automatically will. I believe your credit reports will note that it's being disputed. You can also do this on-line.

4) Have you asked Comcast to remove it from your credit file with all three bureaus? What I'm wondering is why they didn't notice that your name isn't Jorge when they checked your credit history. When they run a ss number, a name show up in the credit report.

Be sure to contact the other two credit bureaus as well to dispute the Comcast delinquency. It's probably on those two as well. It may just be that Citi only used Equifax. Hope you get this cleared up soon.

ETA: I'm not surprised Comcast doesn't care where they get their money from as long as they get it. They also probably don't want to say anything that implies fault on their part.

Sometimes, I really hate corporations.

 

[gardengloves]

You can put a fraud alert on your credit report.

If you enter it with one of the main credit agencies it registers on the others. You will be alerted if anyone tries to open a line of credit in your name. There is a 90 day one that has to be renewed but there is also a 7 year fraud alert , but I think you'd have to have been the victim of identity theft for this level and send them a police report. The web site explains it all and how to set it up.

I've done it over the phone- its automated, pretty easy. Within days, you'll get letters from all of the credit agencies confirming its been set up. They will also send something so you can get a copy of your report for a fee. I'd order one and check to see if other accounts have been set up that you are not aware of.

If you search fraud alert, the main credit agency web sites will come up.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

 

[pichuchy21]

Ugh I swear this is going to give me high blood pressure. I called Comcast again and they sent it to their fraud department to start an investigation as well. I sent my brother a text since at this point I need everything with a paper trail. I told him that I know what he did and that he needs to call Comcast and fix this. He needs to call them and give them his social and tell them he give them my social without permission. He never replied. I don''t understand how once comcast sent the account to collections and they finally ran the social they didn''t notice that the name and social didnt match.

I already had an extended security alert on my file and its still active. Monday morning the calls will continue. Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[swimmer]

Wow, what a nightmare! I hate to bring this up, but can you find out if there are other accounts he opened in your name? If he thought he could get you to pay for his cable, who then is paying for his electricity, heat, etc? Other family members? Or perhaps bills you are about to get.

 

[movie zombie]

did you file with the police? if not, you must do this sooner rather than later. it will look like you were complicit with the fraud otherwise. you need to be able to give comcast a police report number when you call them and tell them to cease and desist with any and all collection attempts. then deal with the credit agency some more also giving them the police report number.

i''m not surprised you haven''t heard from your brother: why would you? anyone that would do this to his own sister isn''t going to step up to the plate and take responsibility. and it doesn''t matter if he pays it at this point or not because its your credit report/score that is affected. put yourself first and if he lands in jail, so be it. my guess if he did it to you, he''s doing it to others. the advice re putting an alert on your credit is more than justified: he''s got our social and could use it to open any number of accounts.

mz

 

[PumpkinPie]

wow - I don''t have any experience in this area or advice, but your brother was terrible to do such a thing to you!

 

[janinegirly]

wow, what a mess.

What is your relationship with your brother? I assume it is estranged and antagonistic?

Based on that assumption I agree with all the others--file the police report asap, why wait?? And go through the process everyone does when their identity is stolen--alert all your credit card companies. Then sign up for one of those fraud alerts (most major banks offer this) asap so you will not be responsible for any further fraudulent activity. Do not wait on this--otherwise you will be liable. In fact this should have been done as soon as you found out, it''s #1 priority.

In terms of Comcast, tell them you are disputing and until then it goes on hold and should not be accumlating "past due" fees or reported to credit agencies etc. Then ask them the process for disputing fraudulent charges. Any collection agency will be horrible to deal with-they are just told to get the money from you period. Comcast is not known as a customer friendly company. And I agree, don''t they run credit checks before opening an account? That''s the whole purpose of getting the SSN. Obviously they don''t and definitely file a complaint about that!

You have to go into business mode and take care of this if you want to preserve your credit history. The thin silver lining is at least you know who did this and seems somewhat contained. I have a friend who had her identity stolen by a shady international ring and years later she still has to monitor and be proactive. She is lucky nothing actually went through (wires were frozen in time) otherwise she would be in a deep deep hole. Scary stuff.

 

[pichuchy21]

Update: I have pulled my credit report with all three companies. The comcast collections is the only thing on there that is not mine and it was only reported to Equifax which is good cause I just need to get it taken off of one reporting agency. My brother wrote back and said he was going to make this right...a**hole! He wrote back today and claims he called and explained what is going on and needs to fax them a letter stating so he says he will do it first thing in the morning. I wrote him back and told him I will give him till Tuesday to do it or I will file a police report. Its not so easy to file a police report on this situation when the account was opened in another city and he lives in another city. I already called the police station and they might not be willing to file a report. I went through this same issue in undergrad when someone was applying for stuff in my name and I had to file a report for identity theft.

I wrote the collection agency and email explaining the situation and requesting that they remove this from my credit file. I will call Equifax in the morning and ask for a status update and request that they email or mail me something saying that this is under investigation for fraud. Then I can send that to citicards with my letter to see if they hold back on closing my account. Sucky thing is I applied for a position in law enforcement and this whole thing is going to look very bad for me. Which is why I need it to go away fast. I don''t want to not get this position because of something I didn''t even do. This account was opened in 2004 so I am pretty sure my brother doesn''t have my social anymore because if he did there would be more delinquent accounts out there. The account was sent to collections in 2007, but this is the first time I saw it on my credit report. Hopefully the bastard sends comcast their damn letter and this gets fixed soon. I have so much going on right now this is just an extra stresser I don''t need. I was in the ER less than a month ago with a panic attack and I really don''t need or want another one. He has till Tuesday and if I have to drive down to Broward County to file this report then I will.

 

[pichuchy21]

Update: finally over a month later I received correspondence from Equifax that the collection has been removed from my credit! Thank God. I will keep the fraud alert on my credit just in case rather be safe than sorry. My brother did the right thing and contacted Comcast and gave them his social and called the collection agency to make payment arrangement. I still really haven''t spoken to him, we are not really close. Thanks for all the advice & I am very happy that this got resolved. Also Citicard didn''t close my account I sent them a certified letter explaining the situation and I attached the initial fraud investigation from Equifax. So everything worked out

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 4/23/2010 8:45:27 PM
Author: FL Steph
Yep, you will need to file a police report for identity theft. Then you will need to fax the police report to all 3 agencies and fill out the forms to dispute it.

I think this is the only thing that CAN be done. How disappointing and hurtful! I am so sorry.

ETA: just saw everything worked out. Please be careful that your brother does not use your SS# in the future. People do desperate things sometimes.