GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - GFY Legal Experts- Identity theft (within family)

kane · 09-02-2008, 02:15 AM

As someone who has gone through this I can give you some advice. I had a so called friend steal a few of my blank checks. He then printed new checks with my name and account on them, but a different address. He wrote around 5K worth of checks which drained my bank account and opened up around 30K worth of various credit cards and charge accounts in my name. In the end he went to jail, but for a different crime, not the identity theft. The DA told me flat out if they got him on just the ID theft, since it was his first time getting caught, he may just get probation.

Here are a few things he needs to do. First, contact the three major credit reporting agencies and put a fraud shield on his account. This way anytime someone tries to open an account the creditor is required to call the number he gives them and verify the identity. Since it was his dad there will be no more new accounts, but at least it is reported. Second, go to his local police department and tell them what happened. They will give him an ID theft kit with all kinds of things he can do to get the bad stuff removed from his credit and fix the problems. This will most likely involve him having to turn in his dad. Tell him to sit down with the cops and explain the situation. Because of his dad's health it is hard to say what they will do to him. At the very least his situation will now be an official police case so when he goes to get a job he can tell them he had his ID stolen and that his credit is screwed up because of it. He can even give them case numbers and contacts if the employer wants them to verify this. He will most likely find the police and the prosecutors to be very sympathetic to his case because they deal with this shit all the time and know it isn't his fault and that it was his dad that did this to him makes it even worse. There is a very good chance he won't need to get a lawyer, but down the road he may. At least this will get him on the track to recovering things and getting his good credit back.

That he needs money now and a job now sucks, he may have to suck it up and go to a temp service or something just to get some cash coming in to hold him over until he gets things fixed because this isn't something that happens overnight. It took me more than a year to get everything cleared up.

09-02-2008, 02:15 AM
kane Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: portland, OR Posts: 20,684	As someone who has gone through this I can give you some advice. I had a so called friend steal a few of my blank checks. He then printed new checks with my name and account on them, but a different address. He wrote around 5K worth of checks which drained my bank account and opened up around 30K worth of various credit cards and charge accounts in my name. In the end he went to jail, but for a different crime, not the identity theft. The DA told me flat out if they got him on just the ID theft, since it was his first time getting caught, he may just get probation. Here are a few things he needs to do. First, contact the three major credit reporting agencies and put a fraud shield on his account. This way anytime someone tries to open an account the creditor is required to call the number he gives them and verify the identity. Since it was his dad there will be no more new accounts, but at least it is reported. Second, go to his local police department and tell them what happened. They will give him an ID theft kit with all kinds of things he can do to get the bad stuff removed from his credit and fix the problems. This will most likely involve him having to turn in his dad. Tell him to sit down with the cops and explain the situation. Because of his dad's health it is hard to say what they will do to him. At the very least his situation will now be an official police case so when he goes to get a job he can tell them he had his ID stolen and that his credit is screwed up because of it. He can even give them case numbers and contacts if the employer wants them to verify this. He will most likely find the police and the prosecutors to be very sympathetic to his case because they deal with this shit all the time and know it isn't his fault and that it was his dad that did this to him makes it even worse. There is a very good chance he won't need to get a lawyer, but down the road he may. At least this will get him on the track to recovering things and getting his good credit back. That he needs money now and a job now sucks, he may have to suck it up and go to a temp service or something just to get some cash coming in to hold him over until he gets things fixed because this isn't something that happens overnight. It took me more than a year to get everything cleared up.