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> I found out that someone opened a bank account in my name...... but I am not receiving any help from the bank. Interesting. Assuming this is to take out loa

> I found out that someone opened a bank account in my name...... but I am not receiving any help from the bank. Interesting. Assuming this is to take out loans in your name, it is the bank who are being defrauded, not you. Registered snail-mail to the banks fraud/legal team reiterating this often works wonders. I say snail mail as it gives you a legal trail, goes directly to the department responsible and (at least in this part of the world) gives very cheap next day delivery. This is much easier and less stressful than being kept on hold indefinitely, only to speak to a clueless fuckwit in a call centre.

starwind 5y ago
They should start by filing a police report for identity theft, and emailing things to customer service or faxing can give a faster and better paper trail
- GoodbyeMrChips 5y ago
  I agree with you in principle, however calling it "identity theft" is to be discouraged. Assuming this is to take out fraudulent loans, the 'theft' is occurring from the bank, not OP. Calling this "identity theft" is an attempt to put the onus of blame on OP for the failure of corporations to protect personal information and combat fraud. My point is that OP needs to strongly push back against this. This is for the bank to fix, and OP should put a legal claim into the bank (aka bill them!) both for their time and any financial losses they suffer due to the banks negligence. Regards email vs snail mail; a recipient cannot claim registered snail mail was not received, unlike the case with email. This is a reason legal departments use registered snail mail :-)
  - starwind 5y ago
    You're right, I missed when you said registered snail mail, I didn't see that (I need new glasses, it's getting too hard to read) and I thought you just meant normal mail. Second point: this absolutely is identity theft and that isn't a strike against op at all. Someone impersonated op to open an account. You're correct that the bank is liable for the fraud, but op is still the victim of a crime and has to jump through hoops to fix it. And the bank isn't going to pay a dime to op. For all we know, someone submitted a really good fake driver's license (or a copy of the real one) and SS card and opened the account. I'm not blaming op at all—I had my identity stolen twice and the most you can blame me for is not putting fraud alerts on my credit reports, including one I didn't even know about—but the balls in their court to fix this
    - GoodbyeMrChips 5y ago
      Thanks for your input. Did you put in a claim to the bank for your losses (your time sorting this out and quantifiable financial loss)? This would be a simple thing to do in the UK [1] as the bank was clearly at fault not you, no matter how convincing the fake ID was. [1] You can fill out this online government form in a few minutes to take them to small claims for a small fee (which you add to your claim) https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim
      - starwind 5y ago
        I wish I could put in a claim but I'm in the US :| My identity theft didn't (directly) involve a bank. It was a major retailer where someone opened and maxed out a credit card in my name, a cell phone company where they opened up a new family plan and made off with 4 unlocked iphones, and (later) the Small Business Administration where someone applied for a covid relief loan that got approved for about $100k. Luckily, my credit monitoring instantly caught it and I was able to call and stop dispersal All-in-all I was out a few hours of my time and the cost to make copies and send faxes

starwind 5y ago

They should start by filing a police report for identity theft, and emailing things to customer service or faxing can give a faster and better paper trail

GoodbyeMrChips 5y ago
I agree with you in principle, however calling it "identity theft" is to be discouraged. Assuming this is to take out fraudulent loans, the 'theft' is occurring from the bank, not OP. Calling this "identity theft" is an attempt to put the onus of blame on OP for the failure of corporations to protect personal information and combat fraud. My point is that OP needs to strongly push back against this. This is for the bank to fix, and OP should put a legal claim into the bank (aka bill them!) both for their time and any financial losses they suffer due to the banks negligence. Regards email vs snail mail; a recipient cannot claim registered snail mail was not received, unlike the case with email. This is a reason legal departments use registered snail mail :-)
- starwind 5y ago
  You're right, I missed when you said registered snail mail, I didn't see that (I need new glasses, it's getting too hard to read) and I thought you just meant normal mail. Second point: this absolutely is identity theft and that isn't a strike against op at all. Someone impersonated op to open an account. You're correct that the bank is liable for the fraud, but op is still the victim of a crime and has to jump through hoops to fix it. And the bank isn't going to pay a dime to op. For all we know, someone submitted a really good fake driver's license (or a copy of the real one) and SS card and opened the account. I'm not blaming op at all—I had my identity stolen twice and the most you can blame me for is not putting fraud alerts on my credit reports, including one I didn't even know about—but the balls in their court to fix this
  - GoodbyeMrChips 5y ago
    Thanks for your input. Did you put in a claim to the bank for your losses (your time sorting this out and quantifiable financial loss)? This would be a simple thing to do in the UK [1] as the bank was clearly at fault not you, no matter how convincing the fake ID was. [1] You can fill out this online government form in a few minutes to take them to small claims for a small fee (which you add to your claim) https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim
    - starwind 5y ago
      I wish I could put in a claim but I'm in the US :| My identity theft didn't (directly) involve a bank. It was a major retailer where someone opened and maxed out a credit card in my name, a cell phone company where they opened up a new family plan and made off with 4 unlocked iphones, and (later) the Small Business Administration where someone applied for a covid relief loan that got approved for about $100k. Luckily, my credit monitoring instantly caught it and I was able to call and stop dispersal All-in-all I was out a few hours of my time and the cost to make copies and send faxes