yeah, that can turn into a serious problem. Convincing banks, equifax etc that your identity was stolen and you really didn't puchase $20,000 in porn. :evil3:
I nearly had this happen. I don't know if it qualifies as identity theft because it didnt get very far. Basically my bank sent me a replacement card for one which was going out of date, it was a debit card btw. The card never arrived so i ordered another, happy in the "knowledge" that when u get a card it isnt active until u call them and activate it. NOT true. Anyway all i knew is i got my new card and started to use it (i also thought that once one card was in use, the old one(s) would be automatically cancelled. also not true somehow). A few days later i'm looking at my electronic statement and it says i've used my card for payments of GBP200 which i CANNOT afford. Bill paying time is coming soon and there's no spare money. I go into the bank and tell them i didnt make those payments, can you cancel them please. They said we're sorry but once the money has been earmarked to leave your account there's nothing we can do until it's been taken out. If when it's gone you still think it's fraudulent, contact our fraud department. So i asked, well who's getting the money, where's it going? they said we're sorry we can't tell you that. I said, so hang on you havent actually made the payments yet? it hasnt left my account? she said yes, so i said well stop the transaction then, because i never made these payments. Anyway it couldn't be done and they were very unhelpful about it. I ended up coming back the next day and reporting it as fraudulent, pointing out to them that there would be extra charges on my account as it was now overdrawn and that further payments were being made, and that i would require them to fix all these problems very quickly or i would have to stop eating.
In the end they gave me my money back and cancelled the other card, which showed up on my statements as having a different number to mine, which theoretically isnt possible, since the account was only allowed one card. At the end of the month i received a phone bill in my name which meant they had set up an account with my details and someone elses address, along with several other card numbers. The only way out for the bank was to cancel my account, transfer everything on my old account to the new one and start again. I never got the bank charges back but i was just glad to be able to eat again. I am currently saving in an effort to be free of the bank in question, it won't be long.
I was lucky because i noticed it very quickly. if it had gone on much longer I may have been in big trouble. the police never even phoned me back.
Seriously, the trauma must've been immense for you as the parent.
