topic Re: Unauthorized authorized user! in Credit Cards

Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 04:19:16 GMT

Ok here is the deal... My aunt was recently hospitalized (long story). My mother and I were gathering some things to take to the hospital for her. I noticed a statement laying on her counter for the Discover More card and to my knowledge she has no credit cards. Next we find 3 Discover More cards with my Aunt's name, my Grandmother's name, and my Grandfather's name. My Grandmother does not use credit cards and my Grandfather has beeen in a nursing home for the last 5 years. The card is almost maxed out with almost $7,500 of cash advances. I really wish I could get more history/info on what exactly is going on. Any opinions on what I should do?

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 04:22:00 GMT

ask the grandparents or your aunt. there's literally nothing else you really can legally do unless you obtain a general POA on your aunt

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 04:28:57 GMT

I know I am going to have to talk to my grandmother. This will crush her and she is not in good health. My aunt appears to be making the minimum payments which is mostly interest and will take 51 years to pay off! This just seems so wrong!

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

KSK1912 — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 04:52:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I know I am going to have to talk to my grandmother. This will crush her and she is not in good health. My aunt appears to be making the minimum payments which is mostly interest and will take 51 years to pay off! This just seems so wrong!

But whose name is the actual account under, or the name on the statement?

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 04:58:26 GMT

yeah. who is the source

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 05:06:40 GMT

The statement is in my grandparent's name but comes to my aunt's address. Why would the statement be coming to her house and her having both of my grandparent's physical cards in her possession if not fraudulent!

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

KSK1912 — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 05:07:37 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The statement is in my grandparent's name but comes to my aunt's address. I also notice what appears to be a "D" symbol on both of my grandparent's cards but not on my aunt's card - not sure what that signifies. Why would the statement be coming to her house and her having both of my grandparent's physical cards in her possession if not fraudulent!

Honestly, sounds like she may have something to do with it. If your grandparents are sick / in a nursing home ( God Bless them) i am sure she has an access to their ssn, or know their birthday and such. And being elderly people, i don't see them sitting on the ipad, at myfico, checking their credit. And you mentioned your aunt making the minimum payments on the account, so it means that she is aware of the accounts.

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 05:26:19 GMT

I believe she has somehow added herself as an authorized user and changed the address so my grandmother would not see the statements anymore. My grandmother is on a fixed income and she does not need this stress at this point in her life. I have to think about what I am going to do. This makes me so mad!

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

_NERD — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 05:34:33 GMT

FICO abuse.

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

KSK1912 — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 05:45:58 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I believe she has somehow added herself as an authorized user and changed the address so my grandmother would not see the statements anymore. My grandmother is on a fixed income and she does not need this stress at this point in her life. I have to think about what I am going to do. This makes me so mad!

Do you think the cards actually belonged to your GP's and she added herself as an au, or do you think she applied in their name and got the cards and then added herself as an AU? Does it show the limit on the statement, and how old the account is? I am thinking from the perspective of a lender, if i have a customer who has an AU on their account, and every single purchase is made by the AU card, this should raise some red flags with Discover, unless she is smart enough to rotate the cards and use all 3 of them randomly.

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

grillandwinemaster — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 12:43:54 GMT

If your grandparents have no knowledge of the Discover account, this is classic identity theft. If that's the case, you may have to call Discover and follow proper protocol, which may involve filling a police report among other unpleasant things. I'm sorry you have to go through that.

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 14:51:49 GMT

Yup, and that's 7500 plus 29.9% interest less inheritance for the children. that's the only one you know about. If capable of discover she could have done this with a barclays, citithank you, Chase, and so on.

Get a lawyer.

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 15:15:53 GMT

Not sure how old your grandparents are, but before you get her all upset, is it possible to pull her credit report and see how many accounts are listed? You could do the $1 trial at CCT and pull both of your grandparents reports with all three bureaus (with their permission, of course). That will give you some knowledge if this is limited to Discover or if it is widespread among other lenders.

I'd try and gather all of the facts before worrying her or putting her through the stress of next steps.

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 15:16:48 GMT

The cards say member since 1987 and the limit is $13.3k. I believe that originally the acct was opened by my grandparents. I just don't know at what point my aunt made the changes. Around 5 years ago when my grandfather went in to the nursing home, my grandmother paid off all her debts. My grandparents would never knowingly let her have free reign with one of their accounts, I do know that.

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 15:19:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Not sure how old your grandparents are, but before you get her all upset, is it possible to pull her credit report and see how many accounts are listed? You could do the $1 trial at CCT and pull both of your grandparents reports with all three bureaus (with their permission, of course). That will give you some knowledge if this is limited to Discover or if it is widespread among other lenders.

I'd try and gather all of the facts before worrying her or putting her through the stress of next steps.

This is a good idea! I definitely don't want to worry her with this until I know more

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 15:57:24 GMT

I agree with prior posters, pull the reports and see where it goes.

It might not be an AU thing, though - one of the caregivers at my grandmother's last residence before she passed took one of her credit cards, had the billing address changed to her own, and went Christmas shopping with it to the tune of $4800. She didn't authorize herself or put her name on the account anyplace, she just took the card and hit Walmart, Target, the mall... banking on the (completely normal) lack of salesperson interest in the true identity of the cardholder. We caught it when we went online a few weeks later to pay the monthly bill for medication delivery, which was billed to that account, and instead of the expected $450ish balance, it was over five grand. We contacted Chase and disputed all of the charges, and they charged it all back. When we started asking questions around the residence they discovered the "new" address matched one of the employees. She confessed when confronted by the police. They charged her with theft and fraud and all kinds of great things, and as far as I know she's still on probation. We would've preferred jail, and my uncle offered to take her out back and help her see the error of her ways ... but the police declined his assistance lol

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:09:06 GMT

My aunt has a physical card in her own name though. I am working on getting cr's for my grandmother now

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Marcos8 — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 16:26:12 GMT

Is it possible that your grandparents in their poor health asked your aunt to help manage their account for them since they may have not been able to do it themselves?

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 17:01:57 GMT

Yes that is what I am thinking might have happened. My grandfather always had flawless credit and never carried a balance. We just viewed his report, the usage started 11/2013 with a $190 balance and has climbed by an average of $1,000 per month to the 4/2016 balance of $12,774

Re: Unauthorized authorized user!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 17:06:12 GMT

I think they may have allowed her to "help" them possibly close accounts because several accounts were closed around that time. They would never give her free reign of their account because they know her history. I have a feeling they think the account is closed and is instead just being sent to the new address. I am going to take this information to my grandmother so we can call discover