What to do if you're reported deceased?

[Anonymous]

Lol God help us if it is!

[toi34]

ATT U-Verse is a mess! ...I almost regret having switched over to them from Comcast.

But anyway, I have been fighting a fraudulent service in my name since May. The fraudster was using my middle name and a DIFFERENT address than what is listed on my credit report -- how ATT approved this account is beyond me???? I had to send three different faxes and use my lunch breaks to sit on the phone with them so I wouldn't get a collection on my credit report. It FINALLY got resolved on Thursday! Good luck OP proving your alive!  

[Dj4Money]

 I don't know how people can laugh at ID issues, they only take it serious when money is actually taken out of their accounts or credit card used without authorization.

 This can cause lost of money or spend more than you should. It was reported to TU I was deceased and because of that Hyundai Finance couldn't get access to my report. I ended up having to take a sub prime lender and a higher interest rate.

  I believe AT&T uses Experian primarly. Find out if that is the case and contact the right CA. Ask them what they need to identify you. Usually just a copy of your Birth Certificate and SSI Card.

[Anonymous]

My service has been restored but it was a royal pain. I went to the store, showed them my ID and social security card, they had to do another credit check, had to do another deposit waiver.....it ended up taking over an hour to get this sorted out.

[Anonymous]

texasmommy -  Did you have a reason for a CA to be anywhere near your AT&T account info?

If not, it could be difficult to understand why AT&T would accept and believe such a report, if no association.

If yes, that would be the first place I would look to identify the source.

HTH

[Anonymous]

Nope. AFNI had my ATT account and I settled with them in July. I cannot for the life of me figure out why they or any other CA would tell them I'm dead.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
My service has been restored but it was a royal pain. I went to the store, showed them my ID and social security card, they had to do another credit check, had to do another deposit waiver.....it ended up taking over an hour to get this sorted out.

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Thank goodness! 

[Revelate]

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@Dj4Money wrote:

 I don't know how people can laugh at ID issues, they only take it serious when money is actually taken out of their accounts or credit card used without authorization.

 This can cause lost of money or spend more than you should. It was reported to TU I was deceased and because of that Hyundai Finance couldn't get access to my report. I ended up having to take a sub prime lender and a higher interest rate.

  I believe AT&T uses Experian primarly. Find out if that is the case and contact the right CA. Ask them what they need to identify you. Usually just a copy of your Birth Certificate and SSI Card.

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Because given the rise of the Zombie Apocalypse books / TV shows / movies / etc in pop culture, it is a little entertaining to see it started by a CA in the state of Texas!  It is a little funny when viewing the situation in the third person like so many other things in life.

Admittedly there's nothing funny to the person involved with ID issues and being reported as dead is definitely a non-trivial issue, but it should be straightforward to resolve other than the paperwork mess; in your situation you could've gone to a different lender as well given the way auto loans work that didn't pull TU.  Also I'm not so sure with what I know of the auto lending industry that HFS would've extended an offer of credit in your scenario either, that was in no way guarunteed. 

Anyway, it's unfortunate but it's not the end of the world.

[Dj4Money]

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@Revelate wrote:

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@Dj4Money wrote:

 I don't know how people can laugh at ID issues, they only take it serious when money is actually taken out of their accounts or credit card used without authorization.

 This can cause lost of money or spend more than you should. It was reported to TU I was deceased and because of that Hyundai Finance couldn't get access to my report. I ended up having to take a sub prime lender and a higher interest rate.

  I believe AT&T uses Experian primarly. Find out if that is the case and contact the right CA. Ask them what they need to identify you. Usually just a copy of your Birth Certificate and SSI Card.

---

Because given the rise of the Zombie Apocalypse books / TV shows / movies / etc in pop culture, it is a little entertaining to see it started by a CA in the state of Texas!  It is a little funny when viewing the situation in the third person like so many other things in life.

Admittedly there's nothing funny to the person involved with ID issues and being reported as dead is definitely a non-trivial issue, but it should be straightforward to resolve other than the paperwork mess; in your situation you could've gone to a different lender as well given the way auto loans work that didn't pull TU.  Also I'm not so sure with what I know of the auto lending industry that HFS would've extended an offer of credit in your scenario either, that was in no way guaranteed. 

Anyway, it's unfortunate but it's not the end of the world.

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 I did get another lender.... 

 But I would have gotten a lower rate from Hyundai because they aren't a sup-prime lender (so to speak). Ford Credit isn't a sup-prime lender but they take down to 589 FICO....

 My TU score at the time was about 580 and Hyundai would have given me 14%. But I got a sub-prime lender who uses EX with a higher score of 608 and got 18.65%.

 I understand the humor in life's day to day issues, but this had the potential of being serious, say if the OP was in a emergency situation.

[Anonymous]

You'd think as long as the bill was paid, they'd keep service on. Or at the very least, verify it.

What a joke. Ill never understand why some things have to be so difficult. Like you're just going through your normal day, and this happens. Crap luck i say.

Im so glad you were able to get this straightened out! What a hassle