TXMomof4 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I got a call from a collection agency about a check my dh supposedly wrote in May to a Ross store in San Antonio. The trick is, dh is in Iraq and has been for almost a year. Once I explained this to the lady, she sent a forgery affadavit out to me and the information on the check isn't even real. That isn't our account number. I've checked our credit report and there's nothing unusual on it. I'm not sure what I should do now. I'll go tothe bank to have the affadavit filled out, but is there something else I should do to protect us? I hate all of this id theft nonsense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Call the police and the FBI before you send anything anywhere. This could even be a fraudulent way to access your information for identity theft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwimmyKids Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 :iagree: The "collection agency" itself might be the scam; i.e., there never was a forged check in May. I also would prepare a brief letter to each of the Credit Reporting Agencies and ready them to send--get the proper addresses, faxes, emails . . . whatever you need. If you ever have to pull the trigger, you don't have to worry about looking up necessary information; you can just fill in details and go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertDweller Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I would contact the police and your bank ASAP. Something sounds fishy. I agree with the others that said the "collection agency" is the one doing the scamming. Notify the proper authorities before giving anyone else any information in the form of an affidavit or anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 IIRC, there was a scam warning several months back about exactly this same thing happening to people in my province. Specifically, they were targeting military families and using names of deployed soldiers. Do not release any information to this so-called collection company! Report it to your police first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I agree with the others: talk to the police and the bank before you deal with the collection agency again. Something is weird with their story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 What information on the collection agency have you turned up from researching it? As everybody else is chorusing, absolutely do NOT provide one speck of information to this outfit. Anyway, if a check were forged, your BANK would be the organization calling you ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in FL Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 It may be that the collection agency is calling all persons with the check writer's name trying to locate him and he just happens to have the same name as your husband. If nothing else is correct on the check (not your address, phone number, or bank account, DL # - etc. Just tell them they have the wrong John Doe and to stop contacting you - and don't fill out the affadavit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissel Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 WOW! I had not heard of any of this, so I did some googling and found this article: http://www.watchdognation.com/blog/victim-identity-theft-again/ I agree that I'd be very, very cautious about the agency, but I'd also take some of the steps he recommends here. Very enlightening. I hate that we have to be on guard for this stuff :( ETA that I didn't realize you're in TX. So is the author of that article. Bizarre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamace Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 You can also contact the credit bureaus and apply a credit "freeze" which means that if anyone tries to open anything in your name, someone from the bureau has to talk w/you on the phone to verify that you are the one opening an account. We had to do this b/c some private information was "lost" by my husband's work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMomof4 Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 I called and talked to the bank. There is someone with that account number, but she can't tell me who it is, since it isn't my account. I'm 100% positive that dh doesn't have an account on the side - so someone has apparently stolen his info and opened an account. Or has the same name as dh and is unreachable now. I'm going to the police station tomorrow to file a report. When I googled the collection agency, all I got was complaints - not even any company website. So, I don't think I'll be sending them my information at all. How aggravating! Why do these things only happen when dh is gone??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 BTW, there might be additional safeguards your family can use because of dh's military status. For example, you can put a alert out on all of the credit agencies so that they don't put any credit into out to companies unless you initiate it. It adds an extra step if you are trying to use credit, but may help protect you from fraud. You might also ask dh to tell his command that this is happening. It is possible that they got a roster from his unit and are going through the names. Finally, I would consider a complaint to your state attorny general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.