Debt collection from ID Theft account, what should I do?

[SolidSnake]

2007 - I had an AT&T account back in 07-08. When I moved, I missed a couple of payments and didn't get to close the account properly.

2010 - In Nov 2010, I received a collection letter from EOSCCA asking for $2500 principal + $500 collection fees. I was shocked as my usual bill amount was around $150. I sent them a letter disputing the debt and asking for verification. They sent a printout of the account (1 page) with a hand written note on the bottom sayin that the details will be mailed out by AT&T. I never received any details but the collection account showed up on my credit report. I contacted AT&T on my own and asked them if they can verify it, they said they can't since the account  is not with them any more. The collection item stayed on my report throughout 2011.

2012 - Somehow the account was transferred to a different colection company (Afni) and they sent me a collection letter in Jan 2012. I posted here in in April asking for advice. I sent them another letter disputing the debt; did not hear from them after that. Checked my credit report and the collection item was gone. It has not appeared again. Today I called Afni and they said that they forwarded my letter to AT&T, and AT&T had taken back the account.

I called AT&T right after and they said they have again sent it to another company  ...I was able to get one more piece of crucial info from them. The rep said they sent my bills to an address which is the address for the local mall. I have obviously never lived there. But this address shows up in my Credit reports from Equiafax and TransUnion. This gave me a hunch that I might be a victim of ID theft. Something very similar happened to my brother's AT&T account and it was eventually settled (took almost a year). Yes, lightening struck twice .

Now I have a few options:

1. File a police report (but I don't know what kind of evidence they need to file a report).

2. Wait for the third collection company to contact me and dispute the debt with them, and start the cycle all over again. 

3. File a complaint with a government authority against AT&T's behaviour (I don't know if they are breaking any laws by re-routing the debt to another company every time without verifying it).

I am leaning towards option 1 and 3, but I have no idea how to go about doing it. I also like to find out if there is a way to investigate how my ID was stolen. I am afraid the Government is not very helpful when it comes to ID theft victims.  AT&T has also not been very cooperative in giving out any details. Who can I go to to find peace of mind. I think I have started to lose hair because of this debt; it has been a constant source of stress for last two years. 

I also want to know if I should ask the Credit bureaus to remove my wrong address from the report or keep it as a piece of evidence that my ID was indeed stolen. I do have older reports that can verify this. 

Below is my old forum from April; there are more details there but I have summarized everything above. Thank you for your support. 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Stressing-over-a-3-4-year-old-collection-item...

Edited to make it a bit more readable.

[llecs]

Call the police if you are 100% certain the account isn't yours. I'd keep trying with AT&T on the balance before doing so. They'll try to farm you off, but be persistent. I was in the same boat and CSR after CSR said they no longer had the account. It's a numbers game because after my 4th-5th call, they came up with statement copies and sent that out.

Pull your reports from annualcreditreport.com or directly from the CRAs. Look for past addresses that might be indicative of ID theft, like the mall address. If an address listed a mall, then think of any company you did business with within that mall. Whenever you app, the address on the app gets listed on your CR. Maybe a CSR miscued your address when you app'd for whatever at the mall? 

If certain it's ID theft, call the police and show the updated CRs with the address. But in order to show that AT&T (and any CA) was not yours, you'd want to link that address to your AT&T acct and your CRs.

If a new CA contacts you, send a DV.

Per #3, IMO, AT&T didn't do anything wrong. They don't have to validate a debt, and once they pass the debt to a CA, they no longer own it or have to share info. They do have to assist the CRA when looking at the debt, if you disputed the item on your CR.

[SolidSnake]

Well, this is completely heresay, but an ATT rep told me that if you go to Apple store, you can easily renew an account without having the social security of the main account holder. It is possible that the account was renewed from the Apple store at the mall. 

I have several credit reports from the past that show the mall address (I have credit secure service).

For a police report I would need as much evidence as possible for a comprimised identity. I 'll keep harassing ATT for more details. I actually have dealt with their dispute people before; and I should have the address for the people that can get results (customer complaint/ headquarters).

P.S. Did you change the font size? I kept it big because the text doesn't resize when I zoom-in the browswer. Oh well ...

[llecs]

This was an iPhone? *tries to wrap my head around such a scenario*. I guess someone would have to pretend to be you and show that when renewing, then request a new address for the bill. I renewed 3-4 times with an iPhone between DW and myself. I did have to show ID, but I suppose I could have changed my info at the clerk. But it would be a tip off for me because my phone would immediately stop working because of the device switch. Plus I'd lose access to any future bills. I suppose someone internal to the store would have to do it.

Keep trying with AT&T. Apple store also keeps receipts if there happens to be one at that mall. You can't charge an iPhone to the account, but maybe they have receipt of any transaction.

I had changed the font. It was very difficult to read at that size.

[SolidSnake]

This was an iPhone? *tries to wrap my head around such a scenario*. I guess someone would have to pretend to be you and show that when renewing, then request a new address for the bill. I renewed 3-4 times with an iPhone between DW and myself. I did have to show ID, but I suppose I could have changed my info at the clerk. But it would be a tip off for me because my phone would immediately stop working because of the device switch. Plus I'd lose access to any future bills. I suppose someone internal to the store would have to do it.

I don't how to quote yet so I am just going to copy and paste your post here. 

Most likely the account was renewed at an Apple store (that is my hunch because my brother went thorugh the same thing- upto 5 lines allowed per account, 5 iphones with activation fee would have cost about the same at that time). It was partially my fault because after moving I started using the account my brother had; and completely ignored the fact that I had a previous service with AT&T. It is possible that I thought I closed the account but AT&T had it open and someone exploited it. 

[RobertEG]

If you can honestly make the statement that reported information was not based on an account or account activity authorized by you, then you can assert that any such reporting must have been the result of identity theft, and thus invoke the substantial identity theft procedure provided under the FCRA.

An identity theft/police report is the basis for initiating any identity theft procedures under the FCRA, as it is the way congress excluded frivolous assertions from the process.  By making a police report, you put yourself under criminal penalty for any knowingly false statements.   Thus, it weeds out mere assertions.

In filing a police report, you are not required to "prove" anything.  You are only required to honestly state your assertion that the information is not based on any athorization given by you.

The very first thing you do with the police report is to use it to immediately get the information blocked from your credit report.  You simply send a copy to the CRA, along with your assertion that the information was not authorized by you, and the CRA is required to immediately block any reporting of that information in any future credit report they issue.  FCRA 605B. 

The FCRA identity theft process also deals with the problem of having to "prove a negative" and not being able to get information from the creditor to establish that the information was based on acts of another.  If you simply send a copy of the identity theft/police report to the creditor, it compels your right to obtain "a copy of application and business transaction records in control of the business entity, whether maintianed by the business entity or by another person on behalf of the business entity, evidencing any transaction alleged to be a result of identity theft."  FCRA 609(e).  A HUGE discovery right that they must comply with.

You can also use the identity theft report to address the collection BS you are facing.  Under FCRA 615(g)(2), you can send a copy to the debt collector, and also compel them to "provide the consumer all information to which the consumer would otherwise be entitled if the consumer were not a victim of identity theft, but wished to dispute the debt under any provisions of law provided to that person."  An adjunct in addition to an FCRA dispute or a DV request, with compulsory response.

Additionally, to prevent the OC from continually moving the collection to another, once you have placed a 605B block on your CR, section 615(f) provides "No person shall sell, transfer for consideration, or place for collection a debt that such person has been notified under section 605B has resulted from identity theft."

There is a whole lot you can do to compel the information you need to contest the matter.