Concerns about identity theft

[newfie56]

What is the name of your state? North Carolina

My 89-year-old father recently broke his hip and is in a nursing home. I did his taxes for him and, on a whim, decided he should also take advantage of his annual free credit report. He gave me permission, and I tried to do it online, but was not able to do so. The error message said that the information I had provided did not match the information they had on file. I printed out the form to send it in -- again with my dad's permission (I think it may have also asked for his signature, which he provided). We couldn't find his social security card to copy (another red flag) and so I found another tax document to copy and include, along with a utility bill showing his address, to complete the required application for the annual free credit report. My brother, who lives nearby and picks up my father's mail, reported to me that he received a response to the credit report request, and they said they could not grant the request, based on the information that was provided to them.

Until he broke his hip, he had lived in the same house for eight years. He does not have any loans or credit cards (though he does have an ATM card). His memory and his clarity of thought are diminished (for example, he's spent thousands of dollars on Publisher's Clearinghouse items, hoping to win the big prize -- something that he, a Depression baby and a lawyer himself -- would never do with a clear mind) and he lived alone until he broke his hip. I know he received calls from telemarketers and worry he might have given some information that could have made him a victim of identity theft. Further, as someone who's been a victim of identity theft myself, I know that mail relating to identity-theft activities could be sent to another address, reducing the likelihood that my siblings and I (or he)would learn of it.

How can he complete his free credit report application -- something he wants completed -- when his applications are denied? Why is it that a business (for example, a cell phone company) can check a person's credit report but not the person himself?

I appreciate any guidance.

 

[Dandy Don]

Post the name of the company that offered "free annual credit report" here so we can see if it is a legitimate company or not. The three official major credit bureaus (Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax) offer this service as well but there are other disreputable companies doing it also.

You need to contact one of the three major credit bureaus directly to discuss your grandfather's account information with them but I foresee a problem with you doing even that--unless you have official guardianship papers, how is the credit bureau company going to know for sure that you are who you say you are (an interested relative) and how will they be able to protect against the fact that you might also be a scammer/identity thief?

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[newfie56]

It was a legitimate site, linked through the Federal Trade Commission site at www.ftc.gov. Here is the link for the form I printed out and mailed:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/include/requestformfinal.pdf

The one I did online was www.annualcreditreport.com, which is also linked through the FTC's website.

I do not have any guardianship rights or POA -- just my father's verbal request to make sure he has not been the victim of identity theft. I tried to call one of the agencies and, of course, they would not talk to me. I tried to get my father to call while I was visiting him, but he didn't want to take the time.

Someone told me that if a person hasn't bought anything on credit, and has had no credit cards or loans for a long time, it may be that there simply is not a credit report in his name. This would be my father, a product of the Depression who buys everything with cash. He likely has not had a mortgage in 20-25 years.

Is it possible that we are hitting these walls because there simply is no credit report on him anywhere?

 

[Dandy Don]

If there was no credit report (which would be most unlikely, given the length of time your relative has been alive and doing business), the company will be able to tell you that there is no credit report. You could also possibly get one from a private investigator who was willing to "bend the rules" a little bit, but under ordinary circumstances a regular person will not be able to get someone else's credit report.