Free Republic

Having your identity stolen is no stroll along the beach. Getting your name cleared takes a lot of time and effort and sometimes money. *snip* To prevent your identity from being stolen, or to prevent further identity theft after your identity has already been stolen, you might consider freezing your credit report.

Two erroneous $11 doctor bills stopped Jeanne White from refinancing her home. The 49-year-old resident of Colleyville, Texas, says she was shocked to learn in October that the two medical bills, which had been turned over to a collection agency, had caused her credit score to fall to 680 from 757 — making refinancing far too expensive. "I was told I'd have to pay $14,000 in closing costs to get a 5.5% interest rate," Ms. White says, substantially more than she would have paid with a higher credit score. When Ms. White, a retired sales manager, contacted the doctor's office,...

A mistake on your credit report can cost you literally thousands of dollars, especially in this economy. So what can you expect from a big credit bureau if you ask them to investigate and correct the error? The answer, for many consumers: About 50 cents worth of effort, conducted by offshore workers at third-party firms. That’s just one of the findings from SmartMoney’s investigation into why credit-report errors continue to pop up so frequently—and why consumers often have so much trouble getting them fixed. To follow what one consumer advocate calls an “electronic hot potato,” SmartMoney pieced together a depiction...

BALTIMORE -- Federal prosecutors have opened an inquiry into allegations that two Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee employees illegally tapped into Lt. Gov. Michael Steele's credit history. WBAL-TV 11 News reporter David Collins reported the workers obtained the report in July while executing opposition research on the lieutenant governor. In June, the Republican lieutenant governor announced he had established an exploratory committee to explore a candidacy for the U.S. Senate (Full Story). Paul D. Ellington, Steele's chief of staff, issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon in reaction to the allegations. "Lt. Gov. Steele was extremely disturbed to learn about the alleged...

With all the recent news stories of debt collectors landing in prison or being taken out of business for illegal and strong arm tactics, I thought i'd share with my fellow Freepers a great resource to help if you ever have to deal with a scumbag debt collector. http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs27-debtcoll.htm This link has resources to use if dealing with collection agencies/collectors, your rights, links to the FTC, sample letters and more. I hope this is helpful to some Freepers who've been hounded rightly or wrongly by this pretty much unregulated billion dollar a year industry.

(NOTE: this is not a joke post. I really did have this conversation this morning.) ======================================================================= After a brief discussion with a staffer at the office of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), I am pleased to report, exclusively for FreeRepublic, that his office will not accept any more illegally obtained credit reports of GOP officials. A controversy was created by two Schumer aides who illegally obtained the credit report of Republican Michael Steele, who is expected to run for the Senate from Maryland. Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, potential candidate for U.S. Senate. When the Schumer staffer was told that I...

"Lt. Gov. Steele was extremely disturbed to learn about the alleged criminal identity theft of his personal finance records by (a staff member of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.,) at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

I just received in the mail a flyer from my Congressman - Pat Tiberi of Columbus, Ohio. At first I thought this some political stuff and started to toss it. Then I read more carefully and thought this was pretty good. It said that a free credit report was now available to citizens of the state of Ohio. It looks like they are ramping up by bringing some states online over a period of time. According to the flyer, Congress has passed legislation that states we are entitled to a free credit report once a year from each of the...

George Washington sailor is suspected in identity theft By MATTHEW DOLAN, The Virginian-Pilot © September 16, 2004 Last updated: 11:00 PM NORFOLK — A sailor serving aboard the aircraft carrier George Washington conspired to steal the identities of other sailors to buy more than $100,000 in luxury goods, according to military court papers released Wednesday. Petty Officer 3rd Class Curtis L. Phillips , 27, has been charged with unauthorized absence, using a ship computer to access personnel information, criminal misconduct and conspiracy involving the theft of his fellow sailors’ Social Security numbers. At least 19 officers on the aircraft carrier...

Richfield Man Faces Identity Theft Charges A Richfield man is facing charges for stealing customers' identities while working at a bank mortgage processing office. Wells Fargo hired thirty-two-year-old Calvin Robinson through a temporary agency it says it believed was running run background checks on employees. Police say Robinson started stealing credit almost immediately after he was hired. Police say he confessed to some of the alleged crimes, but Robinson told KARE 11 he did nothing wrong. The agency said it runs background checks only when clients request the service. Wells Fargo, which fired Robinson after three days, had given him...

Spy on Me, Please by Michael Gilson De Lemos I recently learned that (here) the government has begun to use people's credit reports in what will surely be denounced as yet another bizarre, unconstitutional plot against our Civil Liberties — and milepost towards the Total Police State. FBI, CIA, and maybe even ONI agents, bravely waving Patriot Act authorizations over their heads like manhole covers, can at last find out what a wily and subtle Libertarian like me is up to, instead of, for example, reading my articles here. For my part, I hope it is all true. If they...