I have been the victim of identity theft a couple of times. A year ago, someone opened an online bank account using my information. I am sure that information had been obtained through one of the many data breaches that have happened in recent years. This episode was easy to clear up. Just call the bank in question, tell them that it was fraudulent, and it’s a done deal. Identity theft is so common nowadays, it’s become routine.
That wasn’t always the case. About 25 years ago, I was the victim of identity theft. I had just divorced my first wife and I needed a car, seeing as how she had gotten most everything in the divorce. I went to a small used car dealer, and it turns out that they were a bit, shall we say, shady. The finance manager had a scam going- he would file finance paperwork for several cars using the information of customers and by cutting and pasting their signatures onto multiple sales contracts. He would then take the checks for the car sales that had never actually happened. Since the dealer hadn’t sold those cars, they never missed the checks. He was also making money on the side by selling people’s financial information.
You can complain to the credit reporting agencies, but their investigations are a joke. In the end, it took me about two years to clear my name.
I solved it by becoming a pro se litigant. I sued several collection agencies and one fairly largish bank- SunTrust. I wasn’t greedy about it. Each entity I sued, I settled out of court for a few hundred dollars and for removing the credit line from my record. The Suntrust people were vindictive. They reported the “forgiven” loan to the IRS as income, and I wound up having to pay the IRS about 8 thousand dollars in taxes on the income when they subsequently audited me. I tried telling the IRS that my identity had been stolen, but back then it was such a new crime that they didn’t believe me.
Years later, SunTrust and their lawyers turned out to be just as shady and I wound up suing them half a dozen times with the mortgage scandal that caused my bankruptcy. It’s why I won’t do business with Truist to this day, that being the bank that SunTrust morphed into.
7 Comments
SoCoRuss · February 18, 2025 at 10:44 am
Thanks for the story. Some times with all the state, national and international stuff we talk and rant about, I think its the personal experience stuff that others may have had done to them and them sharing what happened and how to stop or fight back and protect others from the great fucking also that helps the group the most.
It kind of a bond between brothers from different mothers. I know its sappy but what the hell if its true.
Steve · February 18, 2025 at 11:13 am
Identity theft can be tough. They got my SS number stolen back in 1990. Ran up over $1M total. Cell phones – $55K, apartments in Houston and OKC, 10 credit cards all maxed out, and a boatload of international calls. It took 5 years to clean it up. Actually had the Secret Service call the house. At one point it was so bad that I was told by the SSA that I needed a new SS number.
Andrew · February 18, 2025 at 11:36 am
Wasn’t it Florida a few years (maybe a dozen?) ago that a guy used a stolen ID to buy some guns and then got in a high speed chase with the police?
Forget name and year but I swear it happened.
BOTAN · February 18, 2025 at 12:14 pm
On your dealings with SunTrust/Truist.
My wife had her Truist debit card stolen (Jan 2024) and the perp ran up about $1000 worth of purchases at 2 Lowes and a gas station. The card got flagged when the perp tried to get $400+ of stuff at WalleyWorld because WalleyWorld required the security code. A friend worked at Lowes and was able to get a photo of the perp making the purchases. We recognized the perp as a neighbor and turned the information over to the police and he was arrested. It took over a year of complaining to finally get Truist to refund the funds as the card is a Visa. The perp is still in jail. His public defender asked if we would drop the charges if he, the perp, returned the money?
Sorry, NO! He is still in jail and can’t get out until he pays back child support. The manager at the local Truist told my wife she didn’t have a case even when presented with photos of the perp making the purchases and his arrest record for the crime.
Dirty Dingus McGee · February 18, 2025 at 1:37 pm
Went thru that headache starting in 1999. 3 different car loans, 2 different bank loans, 7 credit cards, in 3 different states, a total fuckin nightmare.Ended up in bankruptcy before it was over even the IRS got involved. Only help was from a local radio host when I called in, set me up with a former IRS guy that had went into private law practice. Even then it took around 6 years before I was able to relax any, and work on reestablishing any type of normalcy with credit and banking. And yes, the “big”bank, Nations Bank at the time, was the hardest to deal with. They had a car loan for a Porsche, which as far as I know has never been found, and a secured loan against the title on a nonexisting BMW 7 series.
Boneman · February 18, 2025 at 3:01 pm
What chaps my arse is that so much of the “skimming”… the out and out theft is just written off. Had (a seemingly paltry amount, I know) nearly $800 sucked out of a checking account by someone that managed to somehow (still have no idea) duplicate a debit card … (this PIN bypass option should be ILLEGAL).
The money was refunded but I wanted the perpetrator CAUGHT. Nope… nobody seemed interested….. Seriously… what with cameras ubiquitously placed at nearly every point of purchase these days you would think it would be simple enough but again, no interest in doing it.
oldvet50 · February 18, 2025 at 3:49 pm
I never could understand how ID theft could work. I cannot comprehend how I could be liable for anything I did not actually do myself. This is based on the fact that, in Florida where I live, if I accept a bad check from someone and failed to write down their DL number – even if I know them personally – I cannot prosecute. This actually happened to me. The logic, as it was explained to me, is I failed to practice due dilligence to protect myself. Is a private individual the only entity that must use due dilligence? Evidently, from what I am hearing.