Discover sucks re: identity theft

 My ex-girlfriend committed identity theft against me.  She took out a
lot of credit cards in my name.  When sent copies of the police
report., etc, all the companies have been reasonable in releasing me
from obligation resulting from this, except Discover.  They claim,
after a "thorough investigation" (thorough investigation my ass!) that
I'm responsible for the debt.  I've asked for copies of the
application, or ANY proof they think they have that I'm responsible.
They tell me they don't keep copies of the applications.  (i.e., "our
dog ate it.")  Which I figure means that they didn't require *any*
proof of ID at all, and just don't want to admit there never was any
application -- with the other companies she was apparently just able to
sign up online, using info she knew about me.

I guess they feel that they can just proclaim whatever they want, and I
have to accept it.  Screw that.  I am incredibly angry, and would like
to send Discover straight to hell.  Since that's not in my power, any
ideas on what to do next?  Can I sue for damages?  If so, what is the
name of the crime they committed that I can go after them for?  Can I
sue in my state, or would I have to travel to wherever they're
incorporated, or what?

I would be glad to consider any other options.  

- James

 
You could set fire to yourself in 'protest', outside Discover HO.

That'll learn em.


More viable to use the small claims court.


You dont need to name it with the small claims court.


Not that either.


Even doing a McViegh at corp HO ?  Bit over the top.

 

First, file a police report about the identity theft.  Ultimately,
your ex-GF is the one that commited the crime.  Once you have a copy
of the police report and case number, contact Discovercard again and
fax them a copy of the report.

Your ex-GF could end up in jail, but that would be a good thing,
right?

 
I seriously doubt they can tell the difference between your ass and
the mascots of the Democratic *or* Republican Party in the USA.


An application usually doesn't require any ID.  It's kinda hard to
do that if it's mailed OR online.  The closest thing to ID a mailed
application has is a signature.  Mailed applications may also have
postmarks (if they are saved) and online applications have IP addresses
and timestamps of the client (if they are saved).


If there was no application (online or otherwise), the account
doesn't exist, so there's no name attached to it, so there's no
reason to blame the debt on you any more than blaming it on
Osama bin Laden.

Can you get things like a copy of the signature on any of the
charges (or were they all online?)?  Where was the merchandise
shipped?  Are the charges even real?

You might try asking them for proof that George W. Bush *ISN'T*
responsible.  The "my dog ate it" excuse works in their favor since
they can't prove it's not George's responsibility.

                        Gordon L. Burditt

 
Gordon Burditt wrote:
[cyanfrigate wrote:]

Exactly what has me so angry about this whole thing.  I'd need to show
ID to cash a check to buy $5 worth of produce at the local market but
*no* proof of identity was required for her to run up over $100k worth
of charges in my (male) name.  Something is definitely wrong with this
system.


A signature would at least be something, though -- the crime lab is
checking out signatures she used to commit other forgeries in my name.
(But even there I'm unhappy with the system: apparently financial
institutions are under no obligation to keep anything but filmed copies
of documents, and the handwriting analysts don't like that.)


The IP address wasn't static, and even if it were it would resolve to a
computer we both used.


That's certainly what I would think.  But I guess not.


Wow, I feel like an idiot, but it never occurred to me to look into the
individual charges.  (I never saw any statements, of course.)  Thanks.

- James