unwanted charges
Complaint
Antwain Carter
Country: United States
I called in on 12-16-09 to try and get a phone line in my new apartment we just moved in and I give the lady I was talking to who worked for att she told me when I gave her my social security number and she told me I had 3 different accounts in my name and I remember the last place I lost my ssn at which was at my ex-girlfriend's house and I have a police report the lead detective in my case is detective Hicok in Kalamazoo my case number is 09-25178 so I want to get to the bottom of this thank you.
Comments
It appears they would rather accept the risk of some fraud losses rather than prevent it at the risk of rejecting potential customers. Their "loss calculation" is probably based on the marginal costs of their losses, which is small due to their high profit margins on billable time, comparing them to the marginal profits on the majority of legitimate accounts. Small amounts of fraud basically don't matter, as they have little effect on their bottom line. The result is that they generate a lot of fraudulent accounts sent to debt collectors, sometimes even when the accounts have been written off in response to fraud disputes.
Check your credit reports to see if you have fraudulent accounts showing there. They might be currently open accounts, or they might be collection accounts. You might also find addresses listed where you do not live, which might have been reported in connection with the fraudulent accounts.
As for how can someone open accounts with your SSN, the credit reporting agencies' own policies can result in multiple apparent credit files under the same SSN. That is how some people may find they have 20 or 30 illegal immigrants "sharing" their SSN.
The system was designed for the convenience of the companies using it, not the security of consumers.
The moment the other accounts under your SSN go delinquent, some debt collector will be trashing your credit, and harassing you to pay "your" account.
File an identity theft complaint with your police, and get a copy of the police report. Demand that ATT provide their business records on the fraudulent accounts, as they are required to send you under FACTA in cases of fraudulent accounts resulting from identity theft.
Keep copies of all communications, and send all letters certified for proof of receipt. These things have a way of not going away.