| Prepared
Witness Testimony The Committee on Energy and Commerce W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, Chairman Identity Theft: Assessing the Problem and Efforts to Combat It. Mrs. Michael Kane
Identity Theft has been referred to as the "invisible assault", and
I should know because unbeknownst to me, a woman was able to steal my good name.
A little over two years ago, I was offered a free credit report. My credit was
perfect and I was expecting to receive a report that reflected that. Imagine my
surprise when my report history came back 33 pages thick.
I assumed there must be some sort of mistake with the credit agencies. Perhaps
my name was mingled with another Michelle Kane; I have heard of that happening.
After all, I have always been very careful with the use of my credit cards and
Social Security Number. Boy, was I wrong!
Unfortunately, the credit agencies were not mistaken. A woman from Schenectady,
New York had been using my Social Security Number for approximately two years
and had managed to charge over $70,000 in my name. She stated out small, opening
a few credit cards, then gained more confidence obtaining a car loan and
eventually a mortgage.
The perpetrator, who is also named Michelle Kane, said she received the Social
Security Number from a friend and thought she was able to use it. However,
investigators believe she obtained it through her place of employment. She
worked for a vision company and had access to insurance company databases. The
Schenectady, New York Michelle Kane did get caught and served a year in prison
thanks to the fact investigators hired by the mortgage company work so
diligently.
Even though this woman went to jail, the task of clearing my credit history
still existed. The red tape and the jumping though hoops started from the very
beginning. The first step of reporting the crime was not very simple. I first
called the Schenectady Police Department and they were unable to do anything
unless I filed a police report in person. I then called my local police
department they were unable to do much because it was not in their jurisdiction. It did not get any easier with the three credit agencies (Transunion,
Experian and Equifax). They sent the information, but it was up to me to
decipher it. The agencies listed the creditors, however many times just as an
abbreviation. One of the biggest hassles was getting a phone number to the bank.
Sometimes it was listed and sometimes it was not. To get a phone number that was
a 1-800 number that corresponded to the correct department in the bank was a
rarity. I.e., My husband and I spent countless hours trying to contact Verizon
NE. No one in the company knew who this was; did NE stand for North East, New
England, Nebraska? Which division of Verizon was this; wireless, landline or
Internet?
Aside from the financial burden of huge phone bills trying to track down the
banks, and the countless hours wasted trying to sort though the red tape, the
biggest problem is proving your identity to the creditors and convincing them
you didn't make the charges.
Over two years have passed and I am hopeful that my credit history will soon be
cleared. I am hopeful that this does not come back to haunt me. And I am hopeful
that there will be improvements for the rest of the victims out there. My Suggestions for Improvement:
The
Committee on Energy and Commerce |
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
