Identity theft - Well sort of

[Dane]

So a few days ago my father in law received a letter from BoA with 2 credit cards in it and a limit of $7500.  He didn't know who the other person on the account is and didn't apply for any cards.  So he called BoA and reported the fraud.  Well today he received 12 letters from BoA and others, all in different names.  Most were denial letters but a couple were approvals.   None of them had his name on them but all had his address.  It seems as though someone is using his address to apply for fraudulent accounts.  So my questions are:

Who would you report this to?

Could he get in trouble for some authority thinking he is committing this fraud?

Thanks!

 

[TNWNGR]

21 minutes ago, Dane said:

So a few days ago my father in law received a letter from BoA with 2 credit cards in it and a limit of $7500.  He didn't know who the other person on the account is and didn't apply for any cards.  So he called BoA and reported the fraud.  Well today he received 12 letters from BoA and others, all in different names.  Most were denial letters but a couple were approvals.   None of them had his name on them but all had his address.  It seems as though someone is using his address to apply for fraudulent accounts.  So my questions are:

Who would you report this to?

Could he get in trouble for some authority thinking he is committing this fraud?

Thanks!

 

You'd either report it to your local police department of sheriffs department, it just depends on which is responsible for patrolling your area. If none of the documents had your FIL's name on them it makes me wonder why the BoA sent him credit cards with his name on them. He should call or go by the closest  local law enforcement agencies office with the documentation he has and ask for someone to make a report.  

[Sam1]

40 minutes ago, TNWNGR said:

You'd either report it to your local police department of sheriffs department, it just depends on which is responsible for patrolling your area. If none of the documents had your FIL's name on them it makes me wonder why the BoA sent him credit cards with his name on them. He should call or go by the closest  local law enforcement agencies office with the documentation he has and ask for someone to make a report.  

yep, someone could have stolen his identity and they tried to have them sent to a different address but it defaulted to his actual address instead.  He needs to do a credit check on himself and file a report.  Even if there was little to no harm to him, the tip could lead to catching the ####ing scum who are stealing other peoples' identities. 

[Omega]

I'd have him run his credit report and put a freeze on his credit until you figure out what's going on.  And definitely report it to LEO, before they really do damage to his credit.

[buck1032]

15 hours ago, Omega said:

I'd have him run his credit report and put a freeze on his credit until you figure out what's going on.  And definitely report it to LEO, before they really do damage to his credit.

That! I had the same thing happen to me earlier this year. I have in the past had DUI's in states that I have never been it, jailed in states I have never been in, bought thousands of dollars of electronics in HI, and more credit cars than one could imagine issued in my name. I do not, nor have I ever had a credit card. Lock your FIL's credit reports at the three agencies.

[Sam1]

30 minutes ago, buck1032 said:

That! I had the same thing happen to me earlier this year. I have in the past had DUI's in states that I have never been it, jailed in states I have never been in, bought thousands of dollars of electronics in HI, and more credit cars than one could imagine issued in my name. I do not, nor have I ever had a credit card. Lock your FIL's credit reports at the three agencies.

Dang that's pretty good, the only thing I ever done was bought a round trip plane ticket from Spain to Brazil while I was in KY.

[bersaguy]

About 5 or 6 years back they caught a bunch of convicts doing life or extremely long prison sentences had gained a way of getting peoples credit information with hacking on prison computers and they were buying and having all kinds of stuff like TV's and stero's and other high end things like clothes sent to them while in prison. I don't know what ever came of it except they were caught. Really nothing they could do to them except take the stuff away they bought. A guy doing life without parole dont care if they give him another 100 years. This might be another case similar to that one...............jmho

[VERO1]

Be sure to notify the Postal Inspector in your area,as well as the above mentioned authorities.  If they get involved it kicks it up to federal charges if the persons is caught.  

[tacops]

I once managed to by gas in Tijuana and a bagel in New York City within 15 minutes of each purchase, all while sitting at my desk in East Tennessee.  Ain't technology amazing?  

[eRay]

13 minutes ago, tacops said:

I once managed to by gas in Tijuana and a bagel in New York City within 15 minutes of each purchase, all while sitting at my desk in East Tennessee.  Ain't technology amazing?  

I bought $3800.00 worth of furniture in Canada and had it shipped to Nigeria.

[tacops]

13 minutes ago, Eray said:

I bought $3800.00 worth of furniture in Canada and had it shipped to Nigeria.

That's called talent.

[buck1032]

Well if we are getting into particulars, the day I got married in Gatlinburg, that very night I was arrested in Alaska and jailed the whole time we honeymooned in Hawaii, which was 10 years after I supposedly bought $5k of electronics there. I have way more skills than I ever thought. LOL

[MP5_Rizzo]

2 hours ago, Eray said:

I bought $3800.00 worth of furniture in Canada and had it shipped to Nigeria.

Oh come on now.  You know you are sucking up to the Nigerian Prince because you are jealous that he hasn't contacted you to help him claim his millions of dollars being held by the Nigerian government.

[Dane]

The part that confuses me with this is that the only part of these letters that belongs to him is the address.  The cards and denial notices are in other peoples names with other peoples socials.  

I am going to recommend that he takes the letters to the Sheriff's department and the post office to report it.

[macville]

BTW, there is a free website/smartphone app call credit karma which will let you see if companies have been accessing your credit (like if you apply for a credit card). This would help him see if someone has stolen his identity or just using his address.

 

But many prayers for your dad because it's going to be a mess either way. An illegal in TX had stolen my mom's SS number and used it to report wages for a restaurant job in TX. My mom discovered it one year and reported it to both SS and the IRS. The lady USED IT AGAIN THE NEXT YEAR and my mom had to deal with it again. So even when stuff is reported and they know who is doing it, the government doesn't go arrest the criminals.