I checked my credit score this morning and wasn't surprised. I knew my credit was terrible. It was like my weight. I knew I had put on a few pounds, but I didn't want to step on the scale to really find out. It had been over a year since I checked my credit rating. During that year, I quit my job. My house foreclosed. I went through a divorce and all the expenses that go with it. My debt went unpaid on three credit cards. I lost my health insurance so medical bills gathered dust in collections. The worst possible combination of financial events seemed to brew into what I call "the Perfect Debt." But I had to face the facts. My credit score is 451 -- my credit is worse than 97 percent of Americans. Yes, I'm bothered. But I also found out a few interesting facts. Apparently, my legal residence is where my ex-wife resides. I've never lived in her new apartment so I'm not exactly sure how that happened.
But most interesting is that, apparently, I opened up an American Express card four years before I was born (I was born in 1980). The past year, I've been spending tens of thousands of dollars every month. In one month, I spent in excess of $48,000. Right now I only have a balance of $7,000. I live in California, but I make these purchases mostly in Florida. I pay in full every month and my account is in good standing.
Okay - assuming everything else is true - we know this is a case of identity theft because I would definitely not pay in full every month and the fact that the account is in good standing is a dead giveaway. My initial reaction was not anger. My first thought was: Who in their right mind would steal my identity? My second thought was: Is this helping my credit rating? At least they're making the payments. My final thought was: I wonder if I can get a card so I can use the account too. =)
After that, I checked my e-mail and noticed something that hadn't previously caught my attention. My e-mail was being forwarded to art1shop@yahoo.com. Feel free to bomb this person with endless spam. The last four months this person or hacker had access to every e-mail I received - including financial and legal information. I'm considering e-mailing this person and cordially asking if they could kindly forward the important e-mails and filter out the spam for me. But what can I do? Report them to Yahoo!?
I feel violated. I mean, seriously, my e-mail was hacked and my identity was stolen. This is life - it has its twists and turns. At least I didn't get a migraine today! =)
But most interesting is that, apparently, I opened up an American Express card four years before I was born (I was born in 1980). The past year, I've been spending tens of thousands of dollars every month. In one month, I spent in excess of $48,000. Right now I only have a balance of $7,000. I live in California, but I make these purchases mostly in Florida. I pay in full every month and my account is in good standing.
Okay - assuming everything else is true - we know this is a case of identity theft because I would definitely not pay in full every month and the fact that the account is in good standing is a dead giveaway. My initial reaction was not anger. My first thought was: Who in their right mind would steal my identity? My second thought was: Is this helping my credit rating? At least they're making the payments. My final thought was: I wonder if I can get a card so I can use the account too. =)
After that, I checked my e-mail and noticed something that hadn't previously caught my attention. My e-mail was being forwarded to art1shop@yahoo.com. Feel free to bomb this person with endless spam. The last four months this person or hacker had access to every e-mail I received - including financial and legal information. I'm considering e-mailing this person and cordially asking if they could kindly forward the important e-mails and filter out the spam for me. But what can I do? Report them to Yahoo!?
I feel violated. I mean, seriously, my e-mail was hacked and my identity was stolen. This is life - it has its twists and turns. At least I didn't get a migraine today! =)