Credit bureaus enable couple’s identity theft
Yet another story of financial identity theft.
A married couple in Doylestown Pennsylvannia discover they are the victims of two financial identity thieves. Businesses and credit bureaus extended 19 credit cards to two women who fraudulently presented the victim’s credentials to apply for credit in their name.
When the 19 accounts were opened, why didn’t the businesses or credit bureaus contact the customer by letter or phone to verify these accounts? A simple phone call or letter would have been cheaper than recouping the stolen merchandise, but the businesses can write off the losses as a tax deduction and keep on extending credit to identity thieves.
But guess who will have to clean up their ruined credit and deal with these 19 fraudulent accounts?
THE VICTIMS.
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – A Fox 29 News report Wednesday on a pair of identity thieves is getting results. Police have received several tip calls since our story and have identified one of the two women.
Police say two women stole a married couple’s information and used it to open 19 credit card accounts in the last few weeks.
The surveillance image was captured just before Christmas when the women tried using bogus credit information to buy more than $3,000 worth of gift cards and merchandise at a Kohl’s Department Store in Mays Landing.
The couple targeted in the identity theft and credit card scheme spoke to Fox 29 reporter Nefertiti Jaquez.
“I never thought that this would happen to us. It’s horrible, it’s absolutely horrible.”
“I got a phone call asking was I trying to open or become an authorized user on my husband’s Circuit City account. And I said, ‘my husband doesn’t have a Circuit City account.’”
They want to remain anonymous because they fear retaliation.
“It’s scary. I feel like they just…like I wake up in the morning and I don’t want to answer the phone. I don’t want to open the mailbox.”
“Their information was used to open lines of credit at various businesses,” said Chief Stephen White of Doylestown Police.
Detectives got a lead after people saw our report and identified one of the two women.
“Based on the Fox News reports, we received two phone calls this morning that identified one of the women,” said Chief White.
However, no arrests have been made so far. That’s disconcerting to the hardworking pair who has spent their entire lives building good credit just to have this happen.
“I don’t think they realize what they…it’s like they got a gun and came into our house and took everything.”
Police believe the suspects may be just a part of a bigger ID theft ring. They are warning people to check their credit reports.
Tags: Identity Theft Victims