Quote:
Originally Posted by Shkspr
So is the CC company, who sent me the information, going to go after this guy once we sign the affidavit that we didn't authorize the purchase? Do WE need to decide to call a lawyer/attorney general?
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In my experience from finding about 12 accounts opened in my name:
1)
Deter. Detect. Defend. Avoid ID Theft
-- Most places you go, putting fraud alerts on your credit reports, police reports, and in some cases to get collections to stop coming after you/getting charges refunded want to see that you've filed a report with the FTC. The process appears to have changed since the last time I did so but hopefully everything you need to do so is there. This is a big step for a lot of these agencies though, shows you're serious about it i guess.
-- Most likely the CC won't go after them in any serious way, and I don't think you'll have any means to find out about it if they do/don't.
-- You shouldn't need to call a lawyer. Maybe I should have since my case got a little complex but the way it was described to me the first time I opened a police report, identity theft leads to criminal prosecution, not a civil matter. You as an individual are not prosecuting the dirty fucking felon, the county/state is prosecuting them(molson or someone else can probably explain that better than me, i'm just repeating what i was told)
-- In my experience, you will be asked to go to your local police department to file a police report should you wish/need to file one. Examples: In 2007, I lived in Cobb County, GA. ID Theft was committed by someone living in Gwinnett County GA, all accounts that were opened had Gwinnett County GA addresses. I was asked to file my police report where I lived, in Cobb County. In 2010, I now live in Wake County, NC. A collection agency came after me for ID theft committed back in 2007(it took them fucking forever to go after their money). When the crime was committed, I lived in Georgia and the crime was committed in Georgia. I was again asked to file my police report in Wake County, NC, where I was living when I found out about it.
-- Again in my experience, different police departments/officers treat ID theft drastically differently. In Georgia the officer I filed my report with actively tried(successfully) to talk me OUT of prosecuting. In NC, the officer who took my report had no interest in talking to me and was a bit pissed off that I was wasting his time. But later I got a callback from a detective in NC who was very helpful and very interested in my situation and was wililng to talk to me in detail about what would happen if I chose to prosecute.
I would recommend when you go file your police report, take all of the information you have, your FTC.gov report, your affidavit with the CC company, and some sort of proof that you didn't live at the address in question where the charges were coming from/items were being shipped... a utility bill/lease/whatever. If they give a shit about this kind of crime, which as I said many don't, they'll photocopy all of that and attach it to the police report.
And one last thing to think about. You're not the one prosecuting the fuckface criminal, the gov't is, BUT if it ever came down to a court case, your local govt most likely gets someone in miami involved, they end up taking the fuckface criminal to court in miami, and you may end up in Miami testifying. Maybe unlikely for a charge on a credit card, but not impossible.
Hope that helps!