I hope you got her arrested for credit-card theft

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Especially when I never use it anyway, and really never wanted it?

With all the bank rearranging going on in the past few months, one of my accounts was tranferred to Bank of America. I was sent new cards and a new agreement, new interest rate etc...

So I called them up and cancelled but before they did, I had to listen to a spiel about how this would negatively affect my credit report.

Huh?? Why is that?

Part of article:

Credit cards have long been a very good deal for people who pay their bills on time and in full. Even as card companies imposed punitive fees and penalties on those late with their payments, the best customers racked up cash-back rewards, frequent-flier miles and other perks in recent years.

Now Congress is moving to limit the penalties on riskier borrowers, who have become a prime source of billions of dollars in fee revenue for the industry. And to make up for lost income, the card companies are going after those people with sterling credit.

We pay off our balance every month. If they do this (punish those who have sterling credit) Ridiculous!! I'll stop using my CC and pay by cash or check.

So much for reform.

http://www.cccsatl.org/index.asp?_method=view&sc=43&cn=486&md=debtmanagement

Here's what you want to use...  It is called Consumer Credit Counseling Services.  They are legit.  Now back when hubs and I did it about 15 years ago, there were no computers, per se, so we went on site to an office.  I don't know what state you're in or if there is an office local to you, but it looks like you can do this online. 

We did it, completed it, and it was great.  However, they cut your credit cards up in front of you and put them in a huge jar (at least they did back then).  Once you join, there are no more credit cards.  What CCCS does is works with your creditors to reduce interest rates, payment size, etc. because they are networked.  You then make one lump payment to CCCS and they disburse the money.  They also take into consideration your income.  I think that's what makes it all work.  Also, this is what tells them how long it will take to pay off the debt.  Just beware though that if you are "behind" on payments, sometimes certain creditors do not accept CCCS, so they may hassle you still and some just plain won't accept CCCS's offer. 

Believe me, even though we are not late on payments, we had in the past 3 years so much personal stuff go on (sickness, death, etc.) that we have racked up some debt ourselves and may try CCCS again, as one card we have raised the rate to 33% interest because we have a high balance.  We make regular payments.

All in all, it's a great plan and it does work, but you no longer have credit cards (they close the accounts), and you will have a "bad mark" but yet a good mark on your credit report for using CCCS.  Check with them about that though, as I do not know the specifics.  It is way better than bankruptcy...

Hope you find some relief soon!  My thoughts are with you...  I'm not judgemental because I've been there and done that. 

Get this, I haven't used my Providian/Washington Mutual credit card in quite awhile.  I got the new credit card in the mail to take over for the old one, and I thought I would give the company a call to find out what the interest rate was on it.  So after reaching India of course, I asked for someone in the United States, was put on hold for 4 1/2 minutes and then disconnected.  So I call back, go through the 15 prompts and get someone from the Phillipines.  The interest rate on my card is 31.8%  Yep you are reading that correctly - 31.8%. 

I am passing this information along because I am livid at the fact that the interest is 31.8% (which, by the way, neither person on the other end of the phone said "let's see what we can do to lower this.), and because TWO countries have this credit card's business and people in the US are working 2-3 jobs to make ends meet.  I know this has been an ongoing discussion about offshoring, but I was more angry at the fact that it is 31.8% and that no one offered to lower the rate, even after inquiring about it. 

If there is anyone out there who has been sued and had a judgment placed for credit card debt....

What happens when you go to court??  I don't own a house and live week to week (part-time IC, not very supportive husband) so they can't get blood from a stone so to speak.  But I was wondering if anyone has gone to court and what actually happens. 

If this will help prevent identity theft, then I think it may have some good points.

I don't like the idea of electronic tracking. I read the part of the bill dealing with the Real ID and it said the "machine-readable element" is "to be determined". That is a little ominous. I think visual inspection should be enough. I really don't think electronic tracking is justified.

Yesterday, I got a call from QVC.  I had ordered a GPS system for my hubby and QVC called to say they were unable to complete processing of my order because my credit card wouldn't get through.  QVC said the address I gave them as the billing address did not match the billing address of my credit card.  I asked the rep to hold on while I pulled my credit card account up on line.  When I did, I saw that my address and phone number had been changed to somewhere in TX (I live in PA).  I told QVC I would have to call them back.  I immediately called the credit card company.  They pulled up my account and said that yes my address had been changed just a few days ago.  When I asked how, they couldn't tell me.  They did not know if it was done on-line or by telephone.  This, I don't understand.  If someone called in to change it, shouldn't that be documented?  Furthermore, if it was changed on-line, wouldn't there be a computer trail? 

At any rate, it was changed, and my cc company tried to contact me to verify it by calling the new phone number given.  (Makes no sense).  Having received no answer, they sent a letter to me, which I have yet to get.  One day after changing my address, someone made a $10 on-line purchase with cc account, which went through.  Immediately following that, a $4500 on-line purchase was attempted to be put through.  This one the cc company did not allow (thank God for small miracles). 

After having all of this explained to me, I was then transferred to an Identity Theft Specialist, who would help me close this account and reopen another one as well as put into action security alerts for me.  For the next 7 years, my credit report will be flagged as a "fraud alert", meaning that if anyone tries to open a new account in my name, the lender will have go through extensive verification to confirm it's me.  I'm told this will not affect my credit score. 

I also had to file a report with my local police, which I doubt will accomplish anything.  Local police are not trained in the same manner as state police, and I don't see how they have any jurisdiction over this since the offender is out of state.  We will see.

I did, however, write down the address and the phone number that my account was changed to.  My husband called the number last night from his cell phone and no one answered.  He left a message stating he was looking for "my name" and to please return his call to "his number".  They immediately called back, but when my husband answered, they said nothing.  They called back again later that night and did the same thing. 

Here's the real kicker, when I called QVC back to give them a different credit card (which I immediately verified all of my credit cards after this incident), the lady asked if I knew what happened.  I told her that apparently I was a victim of identity theft.  She said that's what she sort of figured had happened especially with the credit card company I had.  I said what do you mean and she proceeds to tell me that there have been a lot of "account takeovers" with this particular company and that it was determined to be an "inside job".  This left me feeling less than secure about setting up a new account with that company.  It also makes me wonder if that's why they weren't able to trace the original address change.  My husband says as soon as the new account is set up, we're going to cash in our reward points and pay off the balance and close the account. 

Fortunately, this cc company has 0% identity theft liability, so we will not be responsible for the charges that did go through.  However, the bigger concern here is that this person obviously has enough personal information about me to set up new accounts without my knowledge; hence, the reason for the fraud alerts on my credit report. 

I am so furious, if I ever get my hands on this person, I'll likely wring his neck!  My husband and I have worked hard all our lives to have good credit and some skuzbucket thinks he can just come along and take it.  I don't think so.  I intend to pursue this fully.  If it is an "inside job", I will make sure that this credit card company does something about its current employee background checks. 

So, take a minute today and call your credit companies or go on-line and check to make sure that noone has changed your address and phone number.