4 ms·

I recently had my identity stolen and used for the first time. My data has been leaked so many times who knows where it was taken from (40+ hits on haveibeenpaw

by xzel 5y ago

I recently had my identity stolen and used for the first time. My data has been leaked so many times who knows where it was taken from (40+ hits on haveibeenpawned). The process of clearing the debt in my name was pretty enlightening. I feel like it’s only going downhill from here.

bigwavedave 5y ago
> I recently had my identity stolen and used for the first time. My data has been leaked so many times who knows where it was taken from (40+ hits on haveibeenpawned). The process of clearing the debt in my name was pretty enlightening. I feel like it’s only going downhill from here. I'm sorry, that's a really crappy experience! I hope you can get things cleared up soon. Back before I realized how easy it is for someone to steal my identity or even what any mitigating steps would be, I had an identity theft and fraud that went unnoticed for so long that I had a summary judgment executed against me by the thief's creditors- imagine my surprise when 1/4 of my paycheck suddenly vanished. Unfortunately, there was no recourse for me- I ended up having to pay for the fraud with 1/4 of my paycheck for a little over a year.
- spaetzleesser 5y ago
  "Unfortunately, there was no recourse for me- I ended up having to pay for the fraud with 1/4 of my paycheck for a little over a year." Really? That seems insane. You didn't do anything wrong. I would think the creditors themselves are responsible since they didn't check who they were dealing with properly.
- seanmcdirmid 5y ago
  > Unfortunately, there was no recourse for me- I ended up having to pay for the fraud with 1/4 of my paycheck for a little over a year. What country are you in? Or was it just not hiring a lawyer over the debt?
- hiram112 5y ago
  1/4 of your paycheck for a year was garnished (roughly 25% of your WHOLE salary for the year) and you were not able to resolve the issue, and lost all that money? That is ridiculous. In the US, you'd almost certainly be able to file a lawsuit against the company who leaked the info (if you know... and it wasn't the gov't itself). And 1/4 of my salary would be well worth the legal fees.
- conk 5y ago
  This doesn’t add up. How was a summary judgement issued without you ever being served? Why didn’t you appeal the decision after being made aware of the issue?
  - xzel 5y ago
    If you have moved recently and or a few times, and not updated your mailing address etc, they might struggle to get in contact with you. I only noticed mine almost 9 months after the fact due to my credit score dropping ~200 points.
- xzel 5y ago
  Yeah it sucked but honestly it could have been a lot worse. My credit score rebounded pretty quickly. I also only caught it until after it made it to collections, so very close to where you were. Luckily I work freelance so there weren't any wages to garnish.
- hellbannedguy 5y ago
  In order to garnish a paycheck, the creditor needs to take you to court, and a judge needs to issue a Judgement. This is why mandatory arbitrations need to be abolished. I can almost guarantee this was a MD. Arbitrators usually side with the creditor--99.99% of the time. If you do get a Judgement against you, you do gave rights. You can keep certain personal property, but if you make a decent income, they can take part of your wage. (Stealing credit us bad, but so is Mandatory Arbitration. Obama talked about getting rid it it. Trump never talked about it. I would like to see Biden do something, but then again he's from Delaware. He might decide enough is enough though with his advancing age?)
mhb 5y ago
In order to create an incentive for a solution to the problem of fraud which occurs when an entity takes insufficient steps to identify you it would be helpful to avoid using the term identity theft. Companies like to normalize the concept that it is our problem if they do something like opening an account based on widely available public information instead of taking more care in identifying a person. By calling what has happened identity theft it deflects the responsibility from them. You have had your identity stolen and they are victims as much as you? That's preposterous. It's a fraud which has been perpetrated on them and should have nothing to do with you or your identity.
- willhinsa 5y ago
  Yep! This is highlighted in a fantastic Mitchell and Webb sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9ptA3Ya9E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9ptA3Ya9E
- version_five 5y ago
  I agree with you to the extent that the conversation should basically be "it's not my fault you were dumb enough to lend money to someone who pretended to be me" and it is 100% the institutions fault. In practice though, I find advocating for language change to be a completely empty gesture. There should be clearer laws or precedents about who is liable, and it seems clear it should be "buyer beware" - for greater clarity by buyer I mean to include the lending institutions. If I lend someone money without properly vetting them, it's obviously going to be on me. It should be no different for institutions.
  - Avicebron 5y ago
    and if the institutions are "criminally" negligent in their actions? yea, it's fine to tell joe shmoe down the street that it's their fault they trusted an institution, but we have laws about this regarding large companies falsely or not "read, it may be in 35000 pages of text agreed to with a button click" claiming to be secure while not, taking advantage of peoples ignorance or more rightly, being busy, that those who claim anything implicit, whether legal or not, should be the ones to shoulder the burden. There has been a science developed around "how much can we get away with" and that's the problem. Do you expect joe shmoe to have that kind of budget?

by xzel 5y ago

bigwavedave 5y ago

> I recently had my identity stolen and used for the first time. My data has been leaked so many times who knows where it was taken from (40+ hits on haveibeenpawned). The process of clearing the debt in my name was pretty enlightening. I feel like it’s only going downhill from here. I'm sorry, that's a really crappy experience! I hope you can get things cleared up soon. Back before I realized how easy it is for someone to steal my identity or even what any mitigating steps would be, I had an identity theft and fraud that went unnoticed for so long that I had a summary judgment executed against me by the thief's creditors- imagine my surprise when 1/4 of my paycheck suddenly vanished. Unfortunately, there was no recourse for me- I ended up having to pay for the fraud with 1/4 of my paycheck for a little over a year.

spaetzleesser 5y ago
"Unfortunately, there was no recourse for me- I ended up having to pay for the fraud with 1/4 of my paycheck for a little over a year." Really? That seems insane. You didn't do anything wrong. I would think the creditors themselves are responsible since they didn't check who they were dealing with properly.
seanmcdirmid 5y ago
> Unfortunately, there was no recourse for me- I ended up having to pay for the fraud with 1/4 of my paycheck for a little over a year. What country are you in? Or was it just not hiring a lawyer over the debt?
hiram112 5y ago
1/4 of your paycheck for a year was garnished (roughly 25% of your WHOLE salary for the year) and you were not able to resolve the issue, and lost all that money? That is ridiculous. In the US, you'd almost certainly be able to file a lawsuit against the company who leaked the info (if you know... and it wasn't the gov't itself). And 1/4 of my salary would be well worth the legal fees.
conk 5y ago
This doesn’t add up. How was a summary judgement issued without you ever being served? Why didn’t you appeal the decision after being made aware of the issue?
- xzel 5y ago
  If you have moved recently and or a few times, and not updated your mailing address etc, they might struggle to get in contact with you. I only noticed mine almost 9 months after the fact due to my credit score dropping ~200 points.
xzel 5y ago
Yeah it sucked but honestly it could have been a lot worse. My credit score rebounded pretty quickly. I also only caught it until after it made it to collections, so very close to where you were. Luckily I work freelance so there weren't any wages to garnish.
hellbannedguy 5y ago
In order to garnish a paycheck, the creditor needs to take you to court, and a judge needs to issue a Judgement. This is why mandatory arbitrations need to be abolished. I can almost guarantee this was a MD. Arbitrators usually side with the creditor--99.99% of the time. If you do get a Judgement against you, you do gave rights. You can keep certain personal property, but if you make a decent income, they can take part of your wage. (Stealing credit us bad, but so is Mandatory Arbitration. Obama talked about getting rid it it. Trump never talked about it. I would like to see Biden do something, but then again he's from Delaware. He might decide enough is enough though with his advancing age?)

mhb 5y ago

In order to create an incentive for a solution to the problem of fraud which occurs when an entity takes insufficient steps to identify you it would be helpful to avoid using the term identity theft. Companies like to normalize the concept that it is our problem if they do something like opening an account based on widely available public information instead of taking more care in identifying a person. By calling what has happened identity theft it deflects the responsibility from them. You have had your identity stolen and they are victims as much as you? That's preposterous. It's a fraud which has been perpetrated on them and should have nothing to do with you or your identity.

willhinsa 5y ago
Yep! This is highlighted in a fantastic Mitchell and Webb sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9ptA3Ya9E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9ptA3Ya9E
version_five 5y ago
I agree with you to the extent that the conversation should basically be "it's not my fault you were dumb enough to lend money to someone who pretended to be me" and it is 100% the institutions fault. In practice though, I find advocating for language change to be a completely empty gesture. There should be clearer laws or precedents about who is liable, and it seems clear it should be "buyer beware" - for greater clarity by buyer I mean to include the lending institutions. If I lend someone money without properly vetting them, it's obviously going to be on me. It should be no different for institutions.
- Avicebron 5y ago
  and if the institutions are "criminally" negligent in their actions? yea, it's fine to tell joe shmoe down the street that it's their fault they trusted an institution, but we have laws about this regarding large companies falsely or not "read, it may be in 35000 pages of text agreed to with a button click" claiming to be secure while not, taking advantage of peoples ignorance or more rightly, being busy, that those who claim anything implicit, whether legal or not, should be the ones to shoulder the burden. There has been a science developed around "how much can we get away with" and that's the problem. Do you expect joe shmoe to have that kind of budget?