Fraud or incompetency

[duchess295]

I just received a delinquent bill for a credit card account that is not mine. I find out that the person on the account has the same name and same last 4 digits of my ss# but birthdates are different. I'm thinking that because I was in the system, as I did have a credit card account with this company years ago, that someone just found the name and last 4 digits and put it together. I'm thinking this was a company employee error, not fraud. What do I do as now my credit is tarnished?
THANKS!

[Debt Guy]

These things are hard to fix.

There are so many "debt dodgers" out there who bombard the credit reporting agencies and creditors with "not mine" disputes that they don't believe anyone. That unethical behavior makes it hard for those who are suffering from an error or even identity fraud.

The right thing to do is write dispute letters to the creditor and to the three credit reporting agencies, include all documentation and explanation you have and see what happens. My guess is that nothing will happen. The creditors computer files are where the error resides and nothing will change when two computers talk back and forth to each other.

The practical thing to do is to treat it as identity theft. File a police report and go to [url]www.ftc.gov[/url] and download the fraud affidavit. Mail a copy of the police report and the affidavit to the creditor and the three CRAs. That might rattle someone at the creditor awake to see what happened.

Or it might not. Ultimately, you may have to file a lawsuit against the creditor/data furnisher to get it fixed.

Alternatively, you can just add a statement to your credit file and do nothing. Is this mistake hurting you? Are you being denied credit? Are lenders pricing up the interest rate on loans?

If not, is it worth the effort for the principle of the thing? If so, then fire and fall back.