My ex wife's husband committed fraud using my name. What can I do?
Full Question:
Answer:
Federal legislation exists to help victims of identity theft and, as well as many state laws, which vary by state.
In the fall of 1998, for example, Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This legislation created a new offense of identity theft, which prohibits knowingly transferring or using, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable state or local law (18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7)). This offense, in most circumstances, carries a maximum term of 15 years' imprisonment, a fine, and criminal forfeiture of any personal property used or intended to be used to commit the offense.
Acts committed in connection with identity theft or fraud may also involve violations of other statutes such as identification fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1028), credit card fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1029), computer fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1030), mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341), wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343), or financial institution fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1344). These federal offenses are felonies that carry substantial penalties in some cases, as high as 30 years' imprisonment, fines, and criminal forfeiture.
There are also measures you can take against problems involving misuse of credit, social security numbers, passports, driving licenses, and others. Some of the initial steps that may be taken if you've been a victim of identity theft include:
1. File a report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took place. Get a copy of the report or, at the very least, the number of the report, to submit to your creditors and others that may require proof of the crime. Provide as much documented evidence as possible and make sure the police report lists the fraudulent accounts. Make a note of the phone number of your investigator so you’ll be able to give it to creditors and others who require verification of your case.
2. File an identity theft complaint with the FTC. The FTC is a clearinghouse for identity theft information. They maintain a database of identity theft cases that they share with law enforcement agencies for investigations. The FTC can also refer complaints to other government agencies and companies to locate identity thieves. You may call the FTC identity theft hotline at 1-877-438-4338, use its online identity theft complaint form, www.consumer.gov/idtheft, or write: FTC Identity Theft Clearinghouse, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
3. Create new Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and passwords for any new accounts you open. Avoid using easily available information like your mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers.
4. If the identity thief has made charges or debits on your accounts, or on fraudulently opened accounts, ask the company for the instructions to dispute those transactions. You should immediately close any accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Use the ID Theft Affidavit when disputing new unauthorized accounts.
5. If your own checks are rejected at stores where you shop, contact the check verification company that the merchant uses. The major ones are:
Fidelity National Information Services
(was Certegy)
(800) 437-5120
www.fidelityinfoservices.com
SCAN
(800) 262-7771
www.consumerdebit.com
TeleCheck
For annual file disclosure
Fraud, id theft department
(800) 366-2425
(800) 835-3243
(800) 710-9898
International Check Services
(800) 526-5380
CrossCheck
(800) 843-0760
www.cross-check.com
6. Contact your state’s Attorney General’s office for information about identity theft assistance and laws in your state.
7. Contact your local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to determine if another license has been issued in your name. Ask the DMV what procedures exist to prevent misuse of your identification. Some states offer a fraud alert will prevent another person from getting a license or identification card in your name. You will need to provide identification and copies of the police report, bills and other documents as evidence of your fraud claim. You may need to change your driver’s license number if yours is being used as identification on bad checks or for other fraudulent reasons. Request that your social security number be removed from appearing on your license or that a substitute identification be used as your driver’s license number.