Poss. Unauthorized Use of Personal Identity or Fraud??

What is the name of your state? Colorado

Sorry, I wasn't sure where to post this thread, since I couldn't find "Identity Theft" or anything similar to that in these forum topics.

Actually, I'm not sure what to call this, or even if it's anything to be concerned about, but this incident took me totally by surprise, and I'm not sure how I can protect myself--if that's necessary.

The following is part of the "just-in-case" Witness Statement I wrote right after receiving a very strange call. The original statement goes into way too much detail, as it includes information from a past non-related issue, that I provided to Mr. Frank.

"April 26, 2007--WITNESS STATEMENT
Telephone call
FROM: Mr. Frank of Stone Financial
http://www.stonefinancial.net/
RE: Brian XXXXX (my ex-husband as of 12 years ago)

On the morning of April 26, 2007, I received a message that a "Mr. Frank," of Stone Financial, had telephoned my mother looking for me, regarding my ex-husband Brian XXXXX. He left a toll-free number for me to call him back.

When I spoke with Mr. Frank, he stated he was trying to contact Brian, and, apparently--according to Mr. Frank--Brian had given my name and COLORADO phone number as a "reference," or secondary means of contact, for a business dealing he had with them. Mr. Frank wouldn't say what type of business deal Brian had made.

I informed Mr. Frank that I had divorced Brian 12 years ago, while both of us were active duty in the U.S. Air Force; and hadn't spoken with him or heard about, or from, him since late 1995. Since then, I had left the Air Force, and changed my name back to my maiden name. I had moved to Colorado from California only 8 months ago, and could not figure out how Brian had obtained my new phone number.

I also informed Mr. Frank that, in 1996, I had tried to contact Brian myself, through his parents in MA, to resolve a financial issue with a now-former financial institution we had shared (Waddell & Reed) during our marriage. The issue was eventually resolved, even though neither side was able to find or contact Brian, or his family."

That was the last time I ever tried to contact Brian, or his family, and I had not even thought about him since late 1996.

My primary concern is this: Since Brian had apparently gone to some length to obtain my new phone number, he may have brought a woman with him when he signed this financial contract with Stone Financial, and had her co-sign using my name, SS#, & contact information. And, since Brian has defrauded on his financial obligations with this company, Stone Financial may try to force me to pay his bad debt.

So I guess my questions are:

1) "Besides writing a witness statement, is there anything else I can do to protect myself in the event this company tries to claim I owe them the balance of my ex-husband's debt?"

2) "If my suspicions are true, and Brian did use my personal information to tie me to his financial dealing(s), would that be considered 'ID Theft," and what could I do about that, as I do not know any of Brian's contact information?

Please help; I am completely unnerved over this.

Don't get too stressed out here. Not only would his actions constitute ID fraud, he would be guilty of all sorts of felony theft. So, assuming your fears are true, there's plenty of crimes he can be charged with.

Also, don't freak yourself out by assuming that he has robbed you. Debt collectors will call everyone under the sun to try to get paid. They could have tracked you down through public records from your divorce. They've got access to your credit report so they can find you.

Here's what you need to do to protect yourself:

(1) Get a copy of your credit report and see if anything looks fishy. You are entitled by law to one copy of your credit report per year, and you can get that info here:

To order, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually. They are providing free annual credit reports only through annualcreditreport.com, 1-877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.


(1a) If anything looks fishy, immediately contact the creditor IN WRITING to dispute the legitimacy of the charges. Demand that the phony charges are removed from your account pending further investigation.

(1b) You don't need to worry about tracking down your ex. That's the job of the police. IF anything is fishy, go make a police report, bring in all your documentation, and they'll issue a warrant. This isn't the kind of thing anyone is going to care about too much, so it's not like they're going to send out a SWAT team to track him down, but 10 years from now he'll get pulled over for speeding and then have to deal with his crimes.

(2) There is no way that the company will try to claim you are responsible for your ex-husband's debts UNLESS those debts were incurred prior to your divorce, in which case you may or may not hang for them. I'm assuming they are new debts due to the length of time you have been divorced. If they call and threaten you, tell them to contact your attorney and that they are no longer allowed to contact you. You can probably get an attorney to act as your agent for about $500, if that's even necessary. You just need someone to tell them to F off.

Thanks For The Info!!!

Bretagne,

Thank you so much for your quick response! I'll go to annualcreditreport.com today and order my free credit repot.

If I actually have to get an attorney regarding this activity, I won't be paying any fees--BRIAN WILL. Crime does not pay, and I refuse to pay for someone else's criminal behavior.

Thanks again!