Identity Theft

Back in 2002, some [long string of profanities deleted] individual obtained two cell phones in my name, using an old address of mine as a billing address. In three months, they ran up a $700 bill. I only found out about this last week, when I checked my credit report to find out why I can't get a car loan.

Has anyone here been through something like this before? Any tips or advice? I've already filed a dispute with the credit bureaus, filed a police report, and tomorrow afternoon I'm going to call the cell phone company's fraud department. Is there anything else I can do? I need to get this problem resolved ASAP, and with as little headache as possible.

(Paying the $700 is not an option I'm willing to consider.)

Do you have any friends that are lawyers?

I ran across the same situation a couple years ago. I had not been with Sprint for some time & the Idiots (Sprint) sent a top of the line phone with My credit to some low life Ghetto Trash. Make a Police report to protect Yourself in case more charges occur! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Sub Umbra: Yes, I hope to speak to him shortly.

freeze12: What a coincidence, my trouble is with Sprint too. How did things end up for you? Did you have any difficulty dealing with Sprint?

you might want to read this LINK

Expect dealing with Sprint to be an exercise in total exasperation. They will not just remove this from your bill. They will make you believe the problem is being corrected, but it never will be. They will never let you talk to the same person twice, forcing you to retell the whole story every time. Whenever they say it is resolved, ask for it in writing.
Keep a log of every call to Sprint including first and last name of the person you talk to, date, time and points discussed/commitments made. You will need this information to escalate your problem resolution later or for legal proceedings against Sprint. Communicate to them both on the phone and by formal letter with copies retained for court evidence. Remember that you are not the party who has been defrauded. Sprint has, and it should be their loss.

[ QUOTE ]
vtunderground said:
Sub Umbra: Yes, I hope to speak to him shortly.

freeze12: What a coincidence, my trouble is with Sprint too. How did things end up for you? Did you have any difficulty dealing with Sprint?

[/ QUOTE ]

It took numerous calls to Sprint as they do not care & nobody there knows what they are doing..besides being transferred from person to person. I finally settled it but get this... I kept getting a letter from Sprint for about a year saying: Balance due $0.00 Sprint is a horrible company in My opinion & does not care what it does to get customers.

Here is an article on the international reach of credit card fraud:

New York Times

-Bill

UPDATE:

I notified Sprint PCS of the fraudulent account, and mailed them copies of my lease for the past three years, a notorized affidavit detailing the identity theft, and a copy of the police report. In return, they deleted the fraudulent account, and sent me a letter of apology. (Total time between detection of identity theft and resolution: 2 1/2 weeks. Total cost to me: $14) It was a pretty stressful 2 1/2 weeks, but at least everything worked out in the end. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Glad it worked out for you so quickly.

You may want to check your credit report again to insure it is up-to-date.

Michael

That's great.

great to hear. Now just keep watching just in case.