How do I fix my credit, if I am no longer me??

Back in January, I learned that someone had filed a fraudulent tax return with my name and SS#.

I went through all the hoops I was supposed to. Reported it to the IRS, filed a police report, etc.

I have not yet filed my tax return, but have filed an extension (properly).

I thought it was handled, or at least in process. Just figured I needed to be patient.

Recently, I have started getting calls from debt collectors for debts which are not mine. They won't give me the contact info for the companies alleging the debt (there are more than 1).

At first I thought it was a phishing scam. Now, I am not so sure.

So, I got online and asked for a credit report on myself. None of the agencies will give me one, because they can't verify I am me.

I believe that someone has my identity info, has changed things in my credit reports (including my current address), and now I have no access, because they can't verify it is me.

The debt collectors and the credit bureaus both have an address in Coventry, GA. I have never lived there.

I have tried calling the credit bureaus- still can't verify it's me, so they won't talk to me.

I don't have any proof of the fraudulent credit issues, because the agencies won't release the info to me. I think someone has opened new accounts in my name, using a false address. I don't even know the accounts exist. If written notification of debts has been sent, it has not been sent to my address.

Who do I contact to begin a process of fixing this? I can't even confirm the problem exists, nor review my own credit report.

BTW, the questions they ask are things like, "What is your current address?", "What's your cat's name?", and "What was your most recent debt/ payment/ etc?".

These are all questions that can be changed by someone else.

How does anybody ever prove who they are? Send them your birth certificate, SS card and drivers license?

How did you learn about the fraudulent tax return?

In reply to tuna55:

Notified from the IRS

I don't have much experience here, but the first place I would call would be my credit card company. Get someone on the phone in the fraud department and pick their brain. They have an invested interest in you and your financial well being.

You may also want to contact a company like Lifelock. I believe you can get a subscription for under $30/month and they will at least be able to monitor activity to get a better understanding of the problem.

Ooof. That sounds like a headache Paul. I suggest moving to Coventry, GA and buying an ass ton of E36 M3 on credit.

spitfirebill wrote: How does anybody ever prove who they are? Send them your birth certificate, SS card and drivers license?

Can't do that if there is no address to send it to.

All this stuff is now online, and people don't think.

Driver's license could have been altered if someone has my SS#.

Looks like the only important piece of info they needed to change was my current address. Once that is changed, I am effectively locked out, because I don't know what address to tell them I live at.

Then they can get credit in my name at the "new" address, and I never know.

wait for a canoe to pop up offering a new social security card, passport and license, take advantage

T.J. wrote: Ooof. That sounds like a headache Paul. I suggest moving to Coventry, GA and buying an ass ton of E36 M3 on credit.

That is an excellent plan.

First things first, have you contacted the attorney general?

Next, do you have an ID Theft affadavit? Go to the FTC website if you haven't. You can call it in too, IIRC.

Ok, on to the credit reporting companies--you'll need to write them a Certified Letter. The letter needs to state that

• You are a victim of ID theft
• It needs to include a copy of all documents with the errors (i.e. this Coventry address)
• all the errors you've found
• Ask the company to remove the information.

This may be difficult because you don't actually have the information, but provide tax return documents, bank statements, utility documents, etc. for the past however long you have to prove your residence where you are.

In reply to mtn:

I got the Identity Theft affadavit done early this year with the IRS stuff.

I have no documents with the Coventry address, and don't even know the address. I only know that the telephone efforts to collect a debt mentioned Coventry as my current address.

Attorney General- I am not sure how to do that, or what to tell them. "Maybe I was the victim of fraud, but I am not sure, and I can't prove it?"

Paul, the bad news is that you have already confirmed that the problems exists. Nobody changes the address of someone on the credit report for fun, plus you've got the confirmed IRS fraud.

The three big credit bureaus have a procedure that allows you to verify that you really are who you are. Their customer service people should be able to talk you through it, plus it may be on their websites. IIRC you do have to send it a bunch of sensitive documents to do this.

You really need to get access to your real credit report via annualcreditreport.com or the credit bureaus themselves before you can take the next steps, unfortunately.

As soon as you've been able to re-establish your identity with the credit bureaus and confirm what's been going on, you should be able to institute a credit freeze to prevent further damage. If you end up as a confirmed victim of ID theft (which is highly likely), you should be able to do that for free with all three bureaus.

Clark Howard has some basics about recovering from ID theft on his website: http://www.clarkhoward.com/identity-theft-guide

In reply to mtn:

I have been unable to find postal addresses for the credit reporting agencies. All three of their websites have circular links on them that point everything back to the annualcreditreport.com address, which has locked me out. The only option it gave me was requesting a report in writing, which I requested, and never received. It probably went to Coventry.

Do you know an address I can send a Certified Letter to?

But, the other problem is that I can't do ANY of the 4 points you suggested. I:

• Do not KNOW that I am a victim (because I can't see the report).

• Do not have ANY documents.

• Have not actually seen ANY errors- I only know that I am being hounded by bill collectors.

• I can't ask them to remove information if I don't know what it is.

Someone tried to fraudulently file an IRS return in my name this year as well, it is a royal pain in the butt. As soon as I found out about it, I filed all the reports with the IRS, police, FTC, etc. but I also signed up for identity theft protection, which got me copies of my credit report right away.

I did that last part with my bank, maybe you should try that instead of the online stuff...go down there and talk to someone face to face.

BoxheadTim wrote: Paul, the bad news is that you have already confirmed that the problems exists. Nobody changes the address of someone on the credit report for fun, plus you've got the confirmed IRS fraud. The three big credit bureaus have a procedure that allows you to verify that you really are who you are. Their customer service people should be able to talk you through it, plus it may be on their websites. IIRC you do have to send it a bunch of sensitive documents to do this. You really need to get access to your real credit report via annualcreditreport.com before you can take the next steps, unfortunately.

I don't actually know the address was changed. I am speculating.

Can't get the report from annualcreditreport.com- locked out.

Just called the Customer Service number @ Equifax.

Got a recorded message that it is an automated system to order a credit report. Couldn't get through for service.

I'd lawyer up.

Ok, you're in over your head. Rather than try to explain this over the internet, go in to your bank and ask them to speak with their fraud expert. Because my advice will basically boil down to "you can't do this on your own, you need to go in and have the bank do it for you"

(I work at a bank in Risk, and work closely with the fraud dude)

NordicSaab wrote: You may also want to contact a company like Lifelock. I believe you can get a subscription for under $30/month and they will at least be able to monitor activity to get a better understanding of the problem.

Maybe a company like LifeLock, but not LifeLock. They're a joke. If you can get a credit card that comes with a potential fraud alert service and live online record access, that's good enough.

SVreX wrote:

BoxheadTim wrote: Paul, the bad news is that you have already confirmed that the problems exists. Nobody changes the address of someone on the credit report for fun, plus you've got the confirmed IRS fraud. The three big credit bureaus have a procedure that allows you to verify that you really are who you are. Their customer service people should be able to talk you through it, plus it may be on their websites. IIRC you do have to send it a bunch of sensitive documents to do this. You really need to get access to your real credit report via annualcreditreport.com before you can take the next steps, unfortunately.

I don't actually know the address was changed. I am speculating. Can't get the report from annualcreditreport.com- locked out.

The fact that you can't verify your identity online with the credit bureaus or annualcreditreport.com suggests that there is a high likelihood your address has been changed.

At this point you have to talk to the credit reporting agencies to find out what their procedures are to establish your identity with them before you can get access to the credit report.

Experian's contact details are on their FAQ page: http://www.experian.com/disputes/faq.html Transunion's contact details are here: http://www.transunion.com/personal-credit/customer-support/contact-us.page Equifax seems to be trying hard to hide their contact info, all I could find that has an actual phone number on there was this third party blog post: http://www.creditaddict.com/archives/contact-information-for-experian-equifax-and-transunion/

GameboyRMH wrote:

NordicSaab wrote: You may also want to contact a company like Lifelock. I believe you can get a subscription for under $30/month and they will at least be able to monitor activity to get a better understanding of the problem.

Maybe a company *like* LifeLock, but not LifeLock. They're a joke. If you can get a credit card that comes with a potential fraud alert service and live online record access, that's good enough.

If not LifeLock then who?

Good luck SVreX this is like my worst nightmare. I hope you get it straightened out.

Just called Experian's number.

No people answering Customer Service. Automated system that ultimately only allowed me to add a Fraud Alert, but could not verify my identiy, so it did not add.