Identity Theft Hard to Fix

by jimmyz
(clearwater fl)

I was in my last year of college when my identity was stolen. This was about 20 years ago, and I still to this day do not know who or how it was stolen, but it was extremely difficult to get fixed.



They had made credit cards, taken out a loan, and apparently gotten fake identification using my name and social security number.



It took me almost two years to get it fixed, and this was in the days when the internet was barely functioning, and you had to call and write companies numerous times before anything would get handled.



I now use an identity protection service to monitor my credit, because if this happens again, they are not going to use my identification for almost a year without my knowledge!

Comments for Identity Theft Hard to Fix

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May 03, 2012
 Yikes!
by: Anonymous

Wow, that's scary! My first thought after reading your story was that you're a soon-to-be new college graduate. If your credit score is negatively impacted, it could actually cause you to not get a job!

I'm not exactly sure why, but people say that employers check credit scores and it can impact their hiring decision. Maybe it has to do with how they see your behavior. Someone with good credit can generally be seen as more responsible, more organized, more mature, etc. I'm sure that's not always the case, but speaking in generalities, if they have two candidates, and one has a low credit score, I can see how that could make a difference.

Of course, if you're working in finance field, or something involving money, if you can't manage your own finances, it could be seen as telling to how you'll treat the company finances.

If you have your identity stolen, which then leads to a bad credit score, people say it's best to tell your employer, and be upfront and honest before they start poking around. You may not even have a chance to explain if they're scared off and simply go with someone else without even talking to you about it!

Anyway, scary stuff, that's for sure.
Jan 10, 2011
 Identity Theft Can Last a Lifetime
by: PrepaidWirelessGuy

Seriously, when someone steals your identity, even if it's when you were a minor, it can stay with you for years, decades, even a lifetime. If you choose to fight it (i.e. have derogatory records removed from your credit report), it can be frustrating, time consuming, and expensive to fight it. For lack of a better term...it's a huge pain in the butt!


In addition to being a pain and emotional exhausting, it can prevent you from getting additional credit, or cause you to have to pay a higher interest rate on loans that you are able to get. Even fraction of percentages difference in interest rates on large loans (ex. home loans) can mean tens of thousands of dollars in extra payments.


This is why using identity theft and/or fraud monitoring services is really important, even though they do cost some money. I like to think of it like insurance. Hopefully you'll never need it, but if you have it, it could be worth its weight in gold. Thank you for sharing!

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