We need a serious change to whatever laws permit this type of thing. The legal doctrine going forward should be that ANY company, bank, lender, etc. that forces you to give them your personal information is 100% liable for ANY and all consequences of negligent or fraudulent misuse of that information. I can’t understand how current law could possibly throw the losses related to fraud and the responsibility for cleaning up the aftermath onto the shoulders of the victim. It’s insane, and only encourages more fraud because there’s no incentive for the possessors of the personal info to be diligent in guarding it.
Same thing should go for the credit rating agencies. They should be fully exposed to liability for incorrect information in credit files due to error or fraud, and THEY, and not the victim, should be responsible for correcting the fallout from identity theft. I’ve heard too many horror stories of innocent victims of identity theft having to spend years of their lives, and jump through tons of hoops, having To clean up the mess themselves.
You want all of my personal info for some loan, credit card, hotel reservation, etc.? Then YOU should be liable for the financial consequences of any fraudulent use of that info, including putting everything back the way it was. I guarantee that if these companies and agencies were responsible themselves, identity theft would disappear tomorrow. They’re so lax with info because it’s not their problem when it’s misused.
It sounds fishy but I'm not a lawyer...maybe that's how the legal system works now.