how do i prove it really wasnt me....

[JcT21]

got an alert this morning that someone applied for credit on feb 21st using my info.

the inquiry showed up on my CK equifax, and it reads  "USAA FSB CC"  no other info given.  but when i did an online dispute with equifax, it listed a banking address in  las vegas address associated with the inquiry.   

how do i prove this was fraudulent and not my doing?  is there any way to find out who did this or what part of country this originated?  i activated fraud alerts this morning in hopes of stopping anything further from happening.   i havent got a new account alert yet.  

any advice is appreciated....

[takeshi74]

See if you can contact USAA's fraud department.

[JcT21]

on the 4th call i finally got to speak with someone at the usaa fraud dept.   there was indeed fraudulent activity using my social and dob.

the agent said the accounts would be closed but they would not tell me how many accounts were opened or what type.  they wouldnt tell me the address the accounts were opened with but they did tell me that they used my info and claimed they were in the military and used "lance corporal" as a title to open the usaa accounts.   ive never served or have any affilitiation with the military.

their reasoning for not telling me any account informatin was because the person who set it up used security questions that would not allow them to access the accounts.  but it looks like to me they should be able to see how many and what types.    i would love to know the billing address they used or something.

this is very upsetting.  we are so careful to shred documents and me being an IT tech, we (my family) know how to be safe online.  but i guess being as cautious as you can isnt enough when a thief is determined.    sadly, it kinda makes me think this could be extended family related

well the fraud alerts are in place and i hope that might deter a would be ID thief.

[RobertEG]

The creditor should take the inititative to contact the CRA and have the inquiry removed as not having had a permisible purpose, as it was not rellated to any initiation of credit on the part of the consumer.

You can always go through the indentity theft process of FCRA 605B to have the information blocked from any credit reports, but in this case, the creditor should, in my opinion, take the intitiative to get it removed without your having to file a police report.... they have already told you that hte inquirey lacked permissible purpose.

[Appleman]

Very sorry to hear about the case of Identity theft, but very glad you caught it with the monitoring.

As a general question, should the OP put a fraud alert on their report or what are the recommended next steps? He has contacted USAA and that was a great first step. Should he file a police report to cover himself?

If it is extended family, I say we set up a sting at the next family reunion. Just kidding, that could make things very uncomfortable around the holidays.

I am curious as to why you said it could be extended family? Was there someone who had access to your information? 

Again, sorry to hear you have to deal with this mess but glad you caught it early!

[JcT21]

USAA has faxed me a cosumer report dispute form.  they said i am to fax it to equifax to dispute the inquiry & accounts.   ive called equifax dispute this morning but they are closed on weekends.  but their 24/7 monitoring support people gave me the fax number, so i will send that over today.

i have my equifax report on ice and fraud alerts in place on all of them.  

the fraud rep from usaa i spoke with this morning informed me that the accounts are flagged for fraud but will not be closed until they finish their investigation which could take up to 60 days.

as far as the extended family goes, me and my brother n law have a rocky relationship and my sister is the only other member of my family besides my wife that knows my social sec number.  shes known it since we were kids.  in years past she has jokingly said "oh i could ruin you, you know"  ...but i never dreamed she would do that.   however with everything being usaa/military related, that is why the first person i thought of was my sister and her idiot husband. they have usaa auto insurance and he was in the military. first gulf war.   usaa said the id theif used my info and somehow puts me in the military for the purpose of obtaining credit.  previously they wouldnt tell me, but today i asked where the billing city was that the id theif used and what he told me pretty much cofirms my thoughts. it is the same city that my sis and brother n law live.

deep down im hoping my family wouldnt do this but its looking more like it was them.  the usaa rep told me in nearly all cases its almost always family that do this kinda thing.  words cant describe how infuriating this is.   i could seriously run my fist through a brick wall.  shewwwww!

EDIT:  on a happier note,  experian has removed my bk13 today.  about a month early.  that made my experian score jump from 684 to 737

[Appleman]

JcT21, great job finding something to smile about with all of this going on (scores increasing). I know that you know the value of your credit score and certainly do not need someone to screw up your hard work.

That does suck that it may be a family relationship who tried to obtain credit with your information. You would think with the amount of ways they can track us on-line that they could easily locate where the fraud originated (IP address etc). 

I would have a hard time not telling my sister and brother-in-law that the police are close to identifying the identity thief and they are just waiting for the arrest warrant to get approved (casually the next time I saw them). It would have to be with a straight face, just to see how they reacted. Dang, I'm getting mad for you! And don't punch that brick wall....

Good luck and let us know if they find anything more out about the person involved.

[JcT21]

it all started here..  http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/General-Credit-Topics/how-do-i-prove-it-really-wasnt-me/td-p/4473573

in addition to the original usaa visa,  i have learned that a 2nd card was opened up in my name with usaa amex. 

since all this started i have fraud alerts and all 3 bureaus on ice and filled out and faxed dispute forms to usaa fraud dept. as well as equifax.

i have contacted usaa many many times updating all the info i have and trying to find out how this happened and who did it.  they wont give up any info included in the applications for credit.

now the wierd part.  i got a letter from usaa informing me there is a conflict of address with the application address and my address listed on my credit reports.  the address used is my parents address, my address of 20yrs ago. 

both cards arrived at my parents house.  1 on saturday and 1 yesterday.

now, if you can help me with any input you can think of with the following questions...

why would an identity thief steal my info, only to have the cards sent to my parents address? 

why wont usaa help me in identifying who did this by letting me know what other info was used in the app process?

now that i have EX, EQ &TU on ice, does that in any way stop my creditors from servicing my accounts such as CLI reviews?

i contacted amex, they tell me no other cards are opened in my name other than my 3 known accounts.  is the fraudulent usaa card from amex serviced by usaa or amex?

is there anything else i can do to prevent anything further from happening?

does a freeze prevent inquiries from showing up?  i assume everything is auto denied immediately without a hp?

can the fraudulent inquires be removed?  ive disputed it with equifax twice online and over the phone, only for them to say its facutal and will remain, even though i tell them its id theft.

sorry if  i ramble on a bit, this is very frustrating.  in an effort to rule out any family members i asked the security rep from usaa to aknowledge if any of the numbers i gave were included in the application.  they were not, so hopefully this isnt family related.

[Anonymous]

This is the wrong forum for your issue so look it for it in General Credit where it eventually will be transferred.

[gdale6]

HI there OP,

I have merged your thread from the CC forum into this thread. Please refrain from cross posting and posting threads on the same subject it leads to confusion by the members and its not in line with our TOS. I thank you for your understanding on this.