It happens to us at one point or another in our lives. Something that is personal like your ID is stolen and fraudulent accounts are opened in your name. Or perhaps you have pictures on the internet and someone has copied and pasted them on to their profiles and steal your identity. Well the former has happened to me and the latter has happened to my friend recently.
I found out that my ID had been stolen when I actually received a letter from the collection agency demanding payment for having an account with MCI and not having paying it. I challenged it and the Agency was so asinine that they put the onus on me to provide proof it wasn't mine. I decided that it was worth it. What they wanted was proof that I was not living at the billing address at the time of the charges. They also wanted my copies of my IDs. So I sent them bank statements from 2003-2005 as well as copies of my passport and drivers license with my reference numbers blacked out. Within two days they announced that I was right and withdrew the charges as well as informed the credit agencies that the derogatory had to be removed.
Many people are unaware that in New York State they are by law entitled to free copies of their credit reports once a year. And many people do not take advantage of this privilege. There are three credit agencies affected by this ruling:
-Experian
-Trans Union
-Equifax
Contact the agencies and ask for a copy of your reports! In the current environment, given the tight credit requirements, you have to keep as good a credit history as possible. And this means making sure the information is accurate and that everything listed in the report is yours.
Unfortunately, there is little recourse for the latter situation. My friend William has pictures online and he recently discovered that some jerk is using them on a hook-up website as his own. When william found out about this, he contacted the administrator of the website and they said he must register as a user (HUH???) and then submit a copy of the photo as well as a pic of himself with his own website. That is plain asinine. Apparently, we need to have some kind of legislation in place that will protect innocent folks from having their pics stolen and used by other for less than noble causes. Sad... As for those pathetic losers who have nothing else to do with their times except to steal others pics because they are so small and sadly lacking, well get a damn life. How pathetic is it that you have to lie about your attributes especially if in the end when the person meets you they will discover that the pic on the profile is not you, dimwit! Sheesh...
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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