Dispute debt due to identity theft

Since about mid-2020 I’ve been dealing with identity theft a little bit on and off. It hasn’t been a big deal as, until now kinda, nobody has successfully gotten any money out of it (at least as far as I know).

First, someone opened a checking account and attempted a loan in my name, but the bank flagged it and sent me a letter and I called them and they shut it down. At that point I filed an FTC report and put a alert on my credit account.

Several months or a year later, someone attempted a FEMA loan or something after a natural disaster in my name, but due to the credit alert, it got flagged and blocked and again I called at shut it down. At this point, not wanting to even deal with having to call banks who were so hard to reach anyway, I put a credit freeze on since I have no plans for any loans anytime soon.

Just now, apparently someone opened up an eBay account with my info and racked up a few hundred dollars in charges that they didn’t pay. It got charged off to a debt collector and I got a letter from the collector last week. Obviously I will dispute the debt as it’s not me, but…

  1. When I take a dispute-debt form letter, should I add to it that I know my information was stolen and I had frozen my credit as part of the rationale? Or is it better to leave that out at first?
  2. What happens when you dispute a debt with a collector? I assume they don’t often just walk away quietly. Do they expect some proof? What would they need. What if they insist it’s my debt?

Thanks, Fred

Fred,

Sorry that You are being treated this way , but it is very common in todays environment.

Don’t volunteer any info, When You contact them or they call You, Only answer yes, that’s correct, or No, That’s not me. You did a freeze which is great. Did You do a freeze on all 3 major credit bureaus?
Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. They each need to be done separately. If this is the case then eBay didn’t verify your info with them, unless You have an EBAY Account.

Having an account with an institution means they can check your credit even if it is frozen.

The Bank Account that was opened? Some banks open accounts without a credit check. Some require a credit check to open any account.

I had an account at TD Bank. Someone opened an account in my name over the web. TD opened the account, and then asked the person if they wanted to transfer money from my older account. TD basically told them that I had an account there. I was tipped off when TD sent me an email thanking me for the new account. Worked with them to close all my accounts and moved my banking elsewhere. Just food for thought.

The credit Bureau will try to get all your info. If they call you don’t give out info.!!!
Call their main 800 number from their website. Have them connect you to the person working your case after you have. verified that they work there.

In the 1st 60 days there were 2 credit cards attempted to open, One Bank Account, and a NJ Unemployment Claim.

Now I have an Equifax Account. I use that to monitor my financial info every month. Still have the freeze.

Also think about the email address that you are using. I have 1 email address which I use for banking and investments. I have a 2nd email for friends and family. I have a 3rd email for shopping.

When I buy something online, the merchant sends me an email to email #3. The Credit Card, bank sends me an alert to email #1… I don’t use Gmail, or Yahoo for banking.

I now see things from 2 sides for transactions. If you do online banking invest in a VPN to mask where you are so advertising can’t track You easily.

If the Debt Collector finishes off with anything other than a complete vindication, then they will likely send the debt to another collector who will start the process again.

I am sure others will offer some other advice also.

Mike

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Oh, yeah, you reminded me. I also had a phony unemployment claim in my name. So it was a bank account/loan, then an unemployment claim, then a disaster loan.

I did freeze with all 3 credit bureaus. And I have an old eBay account I rarely use but it doesn’t show any such activity.

So someone must have opened a new account in my name and eBay never checked. I’m not sure how someone racks up debt with eBay as I always paid upon purchase. But perhaps if you sign up as a frequent seller or something you can get invoiced later.

Back on my path forward, it was my instinct not to reveal details up front, but… wouldn’t they just show me paperwork indicating I do owe? It’s my name, probably social, etc? Are they just going to take my word for it if I swear it? Am I going to have to offer proof like a police report or something?

A Police report and an online report to FTC is recommended. As far as the old EBAY Account, did you have a PayPal ID attached or a credit card? Just check that out. Also change
ID’s and Passwords for Banks, Brokerages, EBay and PayPal if you have.
If there are other emails or phone numbers attached to any accounts call the fraud dept of that bank, etc and have those removed as not yours.

Lastly get a recent credit report from all 3 agencies . Look for additional addresses, names , phone numbers that you don’t recognize/. Check again a few months later to see if anything new popped up. Watch the hard inquiries for credit on all the 3 bureaus. If you see anything that wasn’t you file a dispute with that bureau. I look for any inquiries every 2 - 3 months and I have alerts with Expirian to notify me of any Inquiries or new accounts.

The last attempted Fraud is just under 2 years ago now. It gets better with time.

Paypal has had many attacks recently with Phishing Fraud Emails. Email appears to be from PayPal but it was sent to an email that I had, but not the one I use for PayPal. My PayPal account has no activity in past 6 months. No extra phone numbers or emails attached.

The email says that I need to reply to PayPal about a pending BitCoin purchase that is pending. Don’t reply…

When the crook opened an eBay account in your name, they had to have provided a credit card, checking account or digital wallet account (PayPal) in your name or you shouldn’t be be on the hook with a creditor. If it is eBay coming after you, how did the account get opened without a verified payment method?

That aside, your only responsibility to the debt collector is that the debt is not yours and they should not contact you further about it. It is their responsibility to prove that the debt is yours, not your responsibility to prove that it is not.

I was contacted by a debt collector for something that was with a vendor I had never heard of in a state I had never been to for a transaction that they admitted was over the statute of limitations and for which they could not sue. Still, it took me multiple letters before they stopped with the “helpful” emails and texts for how to pay off my debt. They made phone calls too, but I stopped answering my landline years ago, preferring to simply erase voicemails from all the non-legitimate calls I received.

Here is a collection of Fool articles from recent years for how to respond to a debt collector:

https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/10/02/dealing-wi…
https://www.fool.com/credit-cards/2014/12/19/the-smart-way-t…
https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/banks/articles/how-to-handle…
https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/personal-finance/articles/6-…
https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/personal-finance/collections…
https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/credit-cards/articles/how-mu…
https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/banks/articles/4-things-to-n…

Fuskie
Who notes your primary responsibility is to know and protect your rights, and if you think your rights have been violated, you can file a complaint at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/


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Thanks for the replies. Good point about PayPal. I checked by PayPal account however and there is no recent activity or debt. So I’m not sure either how Simone can rack up debt with eBay but they did. Perhaps some subsidiary.

I’ll go ahead and do a new FTC report shortly.

That aside, your only responsibility to the debt collector is that the debt is not yours and they should not contact you further about it. It is their responsibility to prove that the debt is yours, not your responsibility to prove that it is not.

Yes but thinking ahead… what happens if they produce a piece of paper with my name, address, maybe SSN, etc and claim that proves it’s mine? Does that count as “verification”? Do I then tell them it’s identity theft and produce the FTC report? Or what comes next?

It’s way to early to get into that. Too many variables.

Ordered via eBay, ok from what IP address? eBay had what shipping address, what Credit Card, etc? Fill disclosure of who opened that account and how?

See where I am headed. Let them provide their info 1st.

Lastly, When dealing with debt collectors insist that they only contact you via US Post Office.
NO emails, text messages or phone contact… It can be painfully slow but protects your rights.

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what happens if they produce a piece of paper

This is actually pretty unlikely. By the time a debt reaches a debt collector, it usually is just a row of data in a large file that has been bought and resold possibly through a number of parties. The original debt holder has written off the debt for the pennies they received from the first purchaser and is not a party to any current actions.

Usually, debt collectors depend on either a consumer acknowledging the debt voluntarily and agreeing to pay it, or not admitting the debt but being willing to negotiate a payoff just to keep the collector from harassing them. The debt collector doesn’t actually care whether you owe the debt or not - they just want to get paid, preferably more than what they paid to buy it.

Fuskie
Who notes all you have to do is say the debt isn’t yours and they should not contact you anymore about it; if they feel they have a strong case, they can actually sue to collect, but that costs them money and it is usually more than a threat, but if they do, then you’re going to need legal representation to prepare a defense showing the debt is in fact not yours; whatever you do, do not ignore a court summons because failure to respond will likely result in a default judgement against you…


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Thanks for all the info! I do always like to know what comes next before I make a move… because otherwise how do I know if it’s the right move?? So all that info was perfect.

FYI I checked my credit with all three bureaus and there’s no inquiries which are out of place, nor any false accounts, and all three reports show that I have a freeze on file. So no idea how eBay let someone rack up debt at all, and without pulling credit, but too bad for them I guess. :person_shrugging:???

It may have nothing to do with eBay. It could be the debt collector bought a debt for DeltaOne80 and is pursuing DeltaOne70 through DeltaOne90, hoping that one hits. That is why you insists they prove the debt is valid. If they can’t, they are supposed to desist.

Fuskie
Who would like to think the debt collection industry is ethical but that is not always the case…


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