Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Isn't America Great?

Okay, as you may or may not know, I haven't had the best of luck recently.
The latest:
I just got my 12th phone call from an Auto Loan/Health Insurance/Personal Loan company, saying that I've been 100% approved and qualified "based upon my online application."
The kicker: I haven't submitted an online application.
After the 4th phone call I got yesterday morning, I called Experian and placed a Fraud Alert on my credit report. They'll disiminate the info to the other 2 credit bureaus.
Each company that has called me has my correct name (well, maiden name), address, and cell phone number.
Just now, I finally talked one lady at Auto Loan place into giving me the last 4 digits of the social security number and the birthdate that was listed on the application. Neither are close to mine.
As an aside, I'm amazed that I can be "100% approved" for ANYTHING when it's obvious they didn't have a SSN or birthdate to match credit records. Isn't America great?
Do any of you readers know if I need to do anything further than a Fraud Alert? I'm really tired of getting these phone calls. I'm answering each of them to tell them that this was a fraudulent filing, and to please flag it as being reported to the proper authorities. I've assured each of them that I'm not interested in an auto loan right now.
I'm sure it's gotta be a crime somehow... identity theft attempt of some sort (although, knock on wood, I'm hoping no one has gotten credit under my name). But I also know that since it was done on a computer, I can't exactly look the person up, find out where they live, and go slash their car tires (and yes, I acknowledge that this act would be, without a doubt, a crime).
And yes - I shred all junk mail/credit apps. I'm anal about that kind of stuff. I have no clue how someone got this info.
I'm just concerned 'cause my husband and I are trying to move soon, and I don't want someone messing with my credit while I try to buy a house.
Any thoughts?

2 comments:

Kay said...

Ohhh, that's a tough question. Since they technically haven't stolen your identity, I don't know if there's anything else you can do. Just in case, though, you might want to check out this site (if you haven't done so already):

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/defend.html

Good luck!

starttothink said...

Gotcha. Yeah, that makes sense.

Thanks for the link. :)
Hope you're doin' well!