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Identity theft can turn life as you know it upside down. Despite the mass amounts of warnings to protect yourself, there are still countless victims who have their identities stolen. It can happen via the internet or on the street. Recently, there was a local story about a gas station that had their system “hacked” and anyone who has used a debit card at the pump in a span of several years was at risk to having their identity stolen and their credit card used unlawfully.While I never had my credit cards stolen and no one every tapped into my bank account, I too was a victim in a rather strange way. During my college years, I lived in an off-campus apartment with two other people. The third roommate never meshed well and after some time, we decided to part ways. I relocated to a new house with the other roommate and for two years we lived companionably. We split the bills and each of us chose a utility to be put in our name. After graduation, I moved out on my own. When I called to request phone service in my new apartment, I was told I owed over $800 in past due fees to the phone company and was therefore not able to receive service until the bill was paid in full. I never had a phone bill in my name so it seemed impossible.

Upon further investigation and agonizing phone conversations with company representatives, I was finally able to understand what had happened. When I moved out of my apartment two years earlier, my former roommate had managed to acquire phone service using her name and my social security number. To this day I do not know how she was able to get the number or be able to use it with her name at the phone company. I spent weeks writing letters and sending faxes to the phone company, disputing the bill. I had to prove over and over that I had not lived in that apartment in over two years. During that time, I was not able to have a phone connected in my apartment. Additionally, my credit report was negatively affected. If you find that your identity has been stolen, be sure to file a credit report dispute with the three major credit bureaus for fast credit repair. It’s very important to make sure to to fix reports otherwise when you try to apply for a credit card, car loan, or home loan, you might get unfairly turned done.  

The phone company could not answer as to how the roommate had gotten away with the fraud for so long. They could admit that the number and the name did not match up but went no further. Eventually, all of the charges were erased from my record and I was allowed service once again. However, nothing ever happened to the roommate. There was no prosecution for fraud and she was never even held responsible for the phone bill because the phone company did not have her social security number.

I know now how important it is to keep my credit report in check, especially because college kids use their social security numbers for everything. I was a lot younger and less financially educated at age 18. While having one obscene phone bill is small beans compared to what other victims have gone through, it is still a smack in the face and was definitely a wake up call for me.