I never thought it would happen to me, but it did.
In July 2003 my identity was stolen. Why would someone steal my identity? I had bad credit, a poor credit rating and no money. Apparently, all identity thieves want is your information because the thieves were able to get credit from companies that had refused me credit just weeks earlier. So, no one is immune from these vultures.
But, I was lucky. I monitor my checking account almost daily.
One Saturday morning during a daily inspection I noticed money missing from my account. I immediately went through all the checks that had been cashed and found a forgery. The signature wasn’t even close to mine but the bank cashed it anyway. Furthermore, I was shocked when I discovered my driver’s license number on the back of the check. It was obvious that not only had my checks been stolen but my identity had been stolen as well.
I took immediate action and removed as much money from my checking account as the ATM would allow. I then began checking all of my credit card statements to see if there were any charges I didn’t recognize. All seemed well. So, I prepared to race to the bank first thing Monday morning.
When I arrived at my bank, I quickly sought out an account representative and explained my predicament. The account representative helped me close my account and open a new one. I filled out the necessary papers to get back the money already taken from my account and obtained a notarized statement (Affidavit of Forgery) from the bank that the check I found was indeed a forgery.
Next I went home, called the sheriff and reported the forgery. A deputy came to my house, took my information and issued a case number. The very next day I went to the county clerks office and obtained a copy of the crime report.
Finally, I called the credit bureaus to notify them that I had my identity stolen and requested a credit watch be issued for me.
It was not long into this ordeal, I realized that I was alone. The Social Security Office told me I could not get a new number and it was my responsibility to monitor my account. The driver’s license bureau told me I could not get a new license number and it was my responsibility to monitor my record. The sheriffs department had no interest in what I had found out about my case and wouldn’t take my information. Nobody cared and I was on my own.
During the next few days several bills and notices of credit began to show up in my mail box. I called the credit department of a store that had issued the thieves credit to inquire how much of my information had been stolen. I was able to determine that they knew my address, social security, driver’s license and birth date. I had to take action and take it quickly.
- I began setting up files on all of the stores, businesses and bill collectors claiming I owed them money.
- I made several copies of the crime report and the bank’s notarized statement (Affidavit of forgery) concerning the forged check.
- I created a signature document and had it notarized to prove that my signature was not the signature on any of the forms presented by collectors.
These items would be my weapons for the up and coming battles with businesses and their debt collectors. I was determined not to pay for anything that was not created by me.
