Ongoing ID Theft War - Latest Battle Help

[Anonymous]

Good morning everyone! I thought I was done with this, but more stuff is coming up and I need some advise again. Hopefully I can get some sage advise or even some sanity back.

I am a victim of ID theft, and we are still unsure of who is using my identity, but one of them is passed away for sure. I thought that was the end of it. Now there is new stuff coming up. Luckily it was clear long enough (4 months) for me to repair my credit, get credit cards and lines of credit, refinance my cars down to a super low interest rate and close on my house in September. I started off in the 400s, got to high 700s across the board, and now am back down to 540s (FICO8). My ID thief is using my first name, a middle name (I don't have one) and a series of last names, along with my social security number. They had received a driver's license under my social, which captures prints, and that is how they found out about the thief that was registered as passed away. They passed in 2014, and it seemed like that might be in line with the timing of the debts stopping that I was aware of.

I received a letter in the mail with no envelope, in a cluster box (locked, accessible only to residents with a key and the carrier), and it was a request for updated address information in the name of my identity thief. There was no information on where this might have come from. There was no locality on the letter, no case number mentioned, so it's not a lawsuit yet, they are obviously fishing. I immediately contacted my postmaster and was advised that this was meant for the postmaster only, that it was a request for information for legal process. The postmaster took the letter from me. I didn't get a picture, but it had no contact information for the sender on it. I am worried that another one is coming and I will have to deal with even more BS.

I have a police report that was filed in my old state (I moved recently) but I am unable to update it because I am no longer local. So now, I would have to open a new police report in my new location, with zero information. I have checked every county where I know these ID thieves are running, but I find nothing in any name. The searches are getting expensive to maintain.

I also got a hit on my credit report of a new collection. I called the collection agency and someone bought a car in California and immediately skipped and had it reposessed this year. They are not the ones that sent the legal process document to my postmaster. I disputed and got it deleted by sending a copy of my driver's license, but now I have to file ANOTHER police report, ANOTHER FTC affadavit, and go through this all again. This seems a bit ridiculous that I have to file a new police report every time, because the last 10 did not include this account. How the heck am I supposed to manage this? I called my old state and they are not even actively investigating this, since the theft is happening across the country and I don't live there anymore. Ugh.

Can I somehow block my postmaster from giving information to whoever is requesting it? Do I have to file a police report every time I get a new hit, or can I provide the report that says my identity is stolen, I don't live in California, so anything that originates out of California in these other names is not mine? Is there any legal precident for blocking the connection of my social and these bogus names? The bureaus are requiring a new police report every time I request a 605(b). I tried getting a new SSN and the social security office laughed me out of the building, even with all of my documentation. 

[MugenCivicSi83]

Have you frozen any of your reports?! I would have done that ASAP a LONG LONG time ago when this first started happening to prevent it from happening again.

[Anonymous]

It's very possible someone has your personal info and is selling it on the black market. Have you had your computer thoroughly checked by a professional for malware that may be sending your info to a remote site? You need to have all of your credit reports frozen to prevent further accounts being opened in your name.

It most certainly IS possible to be issued a new number because of continued problems with ID Theft:
https://faq.ssa.gov/link/portal/34011/34019/Article/3789/Can-I-change-my-Social-Security-number

Print the above page, go back to the office and ask about it again, and if they laugh, ask to speak with their supervisor and show the supervisor the agencies own FAQ regarding the issue. You most certainly fall under reason number 3.

I would consult an attorney about the possibility of a legal name change as well.

[MugenCivicSi83]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It's very possible someone has your personal info and is selling it on the black market. Have you had your computer thoroughly checked by a professional for malware that may be sending your info to a remote site? You need to have all of your credit reports frozen to prevent further accounts being opened in your name.

It most certainly IS possible to be issued a new number because of continued problems with ID Theft:
https://faq.ssa.gov/link/portal/34011/34019/Article/3789/Can-I-change-my-Social-Security-number

Print the above page, go back to the office and ask about it again, and if they laugh, ask to speak with their supervisor and show the supervisor the agencies own FAQ regarding the issue. You most certainly fall under reason number 3.

I would consult an attorney about the possibility of a legal name change as well.

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BAM! What Norman said!

[Anonymous]

My reports are frozen and have been since I regained access to my files. They were only unfrozen when I went on app sprees this year and when buying my house. The time period when the thief got the car my report was frozen and I show no inquiry. The OC was a buy here pay here no credit lot. Most items that appear on my credit report are not traditional credit. They are items like medical bills, buy here pay here, rental companies, utilities, cable service... some of these have been going so long that they pre-date my current inquiries and I don't find out until they default on them. My favorites are when people rent apartments in junk neighborhoods in my name and get judgements for skipping rent. One place I called had actually run my credit and rattled off my entire credit file. I asked how the hell they rented to someone with an entire history in another state... he said it was long enough ago that he doesn't remember. All he remembered was that the person actually showed up for the eviction proceedings and lost. They even brought their multiple children. There's probably kids out there with my social tied to their bio moms. Scary.

I have had 2 legal name changes as well, one due to marriage. I went to 4 different social security offices on different occasions with escalating levels of documentation, and I have spoken to supervisors 3 of those times. I was advised that it is the decision at the field level, and that what they want to see is ongoing misuse of Social Security services. Since the last time someone actually WORKED under my social security number was 2013, they don't see it as a problem with my social security number.

When I was attempting to work with Social Security previously, I was told once that claims of ID theft are not really considered valid, because anyone can try to run from debt, anyone can file a police report claiming ID theft, etc... it didn't help that the only person that we could prove was using my social passed away. I understand that this doesn't really jive with their documentation, but they do what they want. They have the leverage to do so. 

I always thought that people writing to Congress was considered by most as laughable, like 'who writes their congressman over personal business', but is that an option here? I have talked to an FBI officer at my old local field office, and he said that these kinds of cases are escalated through local law enforcement, they don't take cases directly. Boo.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My reports are frozen and have been since I regained access to my files. They were only unfrozen when I went on app sprees this year and when buying my house. The time period when the thief got the car my report was frozen and I show no inquiry. The OC was a buy here pay here no credit lot. Most items that appear on my credit report are not traditional credit. They are items like medical bills, buy here pay here, rental companies, utilities, cable service... some of these have been going so long that they pre-date my current inquiries and I don't find out until they default on them. My favorites are when people rent apartments in junk neighborhoods in my name and get judgements for skipping rent. One place I called had actually run my credit and rattled off my entire credit file. I asked how the hell they rented to someone with an entire history in another state... he said it was long enough ago that he doesn't remember. All he remembered was that the person actually showed up for the eviction proceedings and lost. They even brought their multiple children. There's probably kids out there with my social tied to their bio moms. Scary.

I have had 2 legal name changes as well, one due to marriage. I went to 4 different social security offices on different occasions with escalating levels of documentation, and I have spoken to supervisors 3 of those times. I was advised that it is the decision at the field level, and that what they want to see is ongoing misuse of Social Security services. Since the last time someone actually WORKED under my social security number was 2013, they don't see it as a problem with my social security number.

When I was attempting to work with Social Security previously, I was told once that claims of ID theft are not really considered valid, because anyone can try to run from debt, anyone can file a police report claiming ID theft, etc... it didn't help that the only person that we could prove was using my social passed away. I understand that this doesn't really jive with their documentation, but they do what they want. They have the leverage to do so. 

I always thought that people writing to Congress was considered by most as laughable, like 'who writes their congressman over personal business', but is that an option here? I have talked to an FBI officer at my old local field office, and he said that these kinds of cases are escalated through local law enforcement, they don't take cases directly. Boo.

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Conacting your congressman is certainly an option, particularly if he is a "consumer friendly" type. Let him know about the SS office's unwillingness to abide by their own written policy. Make it clear that this is not so much about "your personal business" as it is about the unwillingness of govenment employees to do their job.