5 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 haveibeenp

> 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?)

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?)