Just call me Jose

[Anonymous]

I've got a bunch of addresses on this guy and have googled all of them and his phone numbers. I never heard back from the investigator from the Sheriff's office today. I'm assuming that this means this was not another dead end.

More to follow.

[Anonymous]

The investigator contacted Comcast and found Jose Astorga. He went and saw Jose at his new address. The investigator did not find anything on Jose that contained my social. Jose does have a tax ID number but no social security number himself. My investigator fully believes that this guy is illegal and at some point, more than 5 years ago probably, he used my social security number for SOMETHING.

The investigator will never be able to find out he got it.

The investigator will never be able to find out where he used it.

The investigator told Jose that if he still had my social, he should never use it again.

The investigator told me to keep an eye on my credit report every 6 months or so.

Case closed.

[niecey89]

Good that they found him but something about it just does not sound right. No charges, no arrest for fraud, no nothing? Just watch your credit. Now he will just think well may be I should use it more. I would not take that as final

[Anonymous]

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niecey89 wrote:

Good that they found him but something about it just does not sound right. No charges, no arrest for fraud, no nothing? Just watch your credit. Now he will just think well may be I should use it more. I would not take that as final

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What can I do? We don't know where he got it or where he used it. Should I call a lawyer? If so, what kind?

[niecey89]

I will contact one of my detective friends on this and see what they say. It has to be some kind of recourse for this. I do not see just a slap on the hand and saying "bad boy and do not do it again" is good enough

[Anonymous]

Agreed.

I did ask the investigator to send me a copy of the report because I know this will come up again if I ever want to to buy another house or get another job with a clearance. I'd like to say that it was investigated instead of starting the whole process over again.

Thanks for your help and for caring. I'm just at a loss as to what my options are.

[Anonymous]

This is a criminal matter not civil, so you should not waste your money hiring a lawyer. Are any of the addresses in different states (ie identity theft in more than one state)? If so, I'd give your nearest FBI office a call (the # is in the phone book of your nearest biggest city, or online I bet). A call to ICE also may be in order (your SS# would be a lot harder to use from another country).

Thank you for starting this thread, shnapple; it's brought up a lot of good points for all of us to watch. GL!

eta: If "no" to the 'more than one state' question: I'd give the office of your state attorney general a call and ask them for advice (and mention that local law enforcement does not appear to be doing a competent job on this). Many, many state attorneys general/employees do outstanding work on behalf of us "folks".

eta #2: if you did want to contact your local FBI office, you can go to fbi.gov and at the top-left you click "contact local office" and click on the map for your local area

Message Edited by JayToo on 09-24-2008 11:28 AM

[Anonymous]

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JayToo wrote:
This is a criminal matter not civil, so you should not waste your money hiring a lawyer. Are any of the addresses in different states (ie identity theft in more than one state)? If so, I'd give your nearest FBI office a call (the # is in the phone book of your nearest biggest city, or online I bet). A call to ICE also may be in order (your SS# would be a lot harder to use from another country).

Thank you for starting this thread, shnapple; it's brought up a lot of good points for all of us to watch. GL!

eta: If "no" to the 'more than one state' question: I'd give the office of your state attorney general a call and ask them for advice (and mention that local law enforcement does not appear to be doing a competent job on this). Many, many state attorneys general/employees do outstanding work on behalf of us "folks".

eta #2: if you did want to contact your local FBI office, you can go to fbi.gov and at the top-left you click "contact local office" and click on the map for your local area

Message Edited by JayToo on 09-24-2008 11:28 AM

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All addresses were in Virginia. I did not call the Attorney General for my state but did look up identity theft on their website. (Interesting info on an Identity Theft Passport found here: http://www.vaag.com/FAQs/FAQ_IDTheft.html)

This theft did not result in any financial loss, so I'm not sure what the benefits to me will be with pursuing this. I just want to make sure I'm covered in the future if this causes any problems...

[niecey89]

I talked to one of my detective friends about your situation. They informed me that you should of course report it to the FBI for identity theft. Also if he is an illegal and the investigator did nothing as far as an arrest. Then go report the findings to immigration department. They said please do not wait until something seriously damaging happens with your social security #.

[Anonymous]

AWESOME!!!! By the way, if the investigator is not doing his job then you should definitely request his supervisor or a new investigator.  You are the one doing all the leg work. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!