Hi Folks,

Well, in proof of Murphy's Laws, I have discovered
that I've become the victim of identity theft. I urge
people to take care in dealing with mail and to shred
stuff with your name and address, especially unsolicited
credit card offers. The process for resolving the results
of identity theft is pretty involved.....and I am leaving
for Italy for a month in less than two weeks....what a
PitA.....my advice is to take care of your identity.

Respectfully......

On 2007-08-05 18:15:06 -0500, Joseph Crowe sbcglobal.net> said:

On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 18:15:06 -0500, Joseph Crowe wrote:

IMHO it constitutes libel * to report negative information about your
payment history to third parties based on failure to pay on a credit card
issued as the result of an unsolicited offer. Defensible only if the
accuser can prove (by matching the signature on the application to your
known signature on something else) that the person who filled out the
application actually is you.

They **damned well know** that criminals are stealing credit card offers
out of the mail, filling them out, and not paying on the bills. It's in
the news all the time.

Condolences, Joseph. I hope things go as smoothly as can be expected
in this sort of situation.

Tangentially, I feel vindicated for all the times when, well over 30
years ago, I refused to provide a credit card or SS# when cashing a
check, explaining to the clerk / merchant that neither of these items
qualifies as ID and that I didn't want that personal information
recorded on my check.

I specifically recall a time when I got into it with the manager of
the old Sears on Lafayette over this issue. If there's anything I
can't stand more than idiots, it's liars, and this guy was both. He
kept insisting that he needed a SSN "to file the papers at the police
station" if the check was bad. When I wouldn't buy any of his moronic
justifications for requiring a SSN, he finally relented and approved
the check.

Many times when I would just refuse the request and the cashier, dumb
struck, would stammer about "needing" a credit card or SS#, I would
say, "put down yours." Ditto with telephone numbers (don't get me
started on Radio Shack or car rental companies).

-KD

KD wrote:

"Joseph Crowe" sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:J3yti.2231$ox5.1302@nlpi068.nbdc.sbc.com...

On Aug 6, 12:10 am, Joseph Crowe sbcglobal.net> wrote:

We routinely (not every month, but a few times a year) get bogus
charges on our personal charge card. The most recent one got a laugh
out of both me and my husband, who routinely pays the Visa bill. He
always checks with me when he sees any charge that seems out-of-line.
The most recent one involved several charges in one month to some sort
of dating / singles service -- he took my word that I had *not* signed
up for any dating / singles services.

KD wrote:

I called the company today and the account person told me that it
was an error on their part. I'm still suspicious as hell, but she
asked me if the last four digits of my SSN were XXXX....which they
are not. What a relief. I'm still going to send them a letter and
ask them to purge my name/address from their system.

Boston Blackie (PA Robert Black, or is it the other way 'round?) wrote:

KD wrote:

That's pretty unusual IME. Personally I've never seen ANY unknown
charges on any of my accounts, much less several every month. (See my
other post for the one exception--and even that one was caught by the
company before I got the statement.)

I wonder where you've been shopping....