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Posted on 04/16/2012 6:32:07 AM PDT by getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
About three weeks ago, my husband received a call from a woman verifying applications for food stamps in Palm Beach County, Florida. The lady on the phone, my husband and I quickly learned that someone in PBC had used my husband's ssn on an application requesting food stamps. My husband informed the lady that we have not lived in south FL since 2004, and that we've since been residing in Texas. She and my husband each thanked the other for the information, and she recommended we contact the Jupiter police department to file a report.
Over the next few weeks, my husband has been on the phone with the Jupiter Police Department, Palm Beach County Sheriff's office, the West Palm P.D. (where the food stamp app was submitted) and our own local p.d. in Texas. NO ONE wants to take my husband's report, either because we don't live in FL anymore, we need to file the report in person and our current city police have said they cannot help. Basically everyone is passing this off to someone else.
So last night, my husband went online to submit our tax forms to the IRS, however, it was denied because someone had already submitted a form using his ssn.
Please help!
Back in 1992, my motorcycle was stolen off of Homestead AFB... 3 weeks later, they pulled the gy over who had stolen it. It happened in WPB, and I had to get a friend to drive me up there from Miami (Homestead AFB).
When we arrived at WPB Sheriff’s Office, I filled out the release forms.. and was going to press charges... They talked me out of it. They said something like, #it’s not worth it”.
I have no idea what they meant, but they were convincing enough for me (being a naive 22yo at the time).
They (the authorities there) seem not to really be concerned about the public in general when it comes to stuff like this :/
As for your situation, there is lots of good advice posted above me.. and I would add on to contact your area rep and have them contact the agencies to give a little push.
Good luck and stay safe!
Good question!
Problem solved.
1. Go to FTC.gov and search “identity theft”. You will be able to fill out a complaint there and print out a copy that will include pages that you can take to law enforcement for their signature and also an “affidavit of identity theft “.
2. Take the affidavit to a notary and have them watch while you sign and notarize your signature. Then take the complaint to your sherrif’s office and file the complaint. There will be a page in the report where the deputy signs off and verifies that a report has been filed with law enforcement.
I live in TX and bad an ID theft problem several month ago. The sherrif’s office will take a report from you no matter where the theft occurred. With the copy of the CFC report that includes the notarized affadavit and the documentation from the sherrif, you will have everything you need ready to hand over should more theft events come to light.
I found that advice online is fragmented and found the most comprehensive advice was at the TX DPS website. Just go there and search for identity theft. It won’t all apply to your situation but it was the best source that found.
What a mess! There’s some excellent advice posted here by freepers, but one thing I would like to add-document everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. Set up a file to keep everything in one easy-to-access place.
If you call someone, write down the phone number, date, time, name of the individual you spoke to, make notes of the conversation. Do the same if someone calls YOU.
If you go to an office, bring a notebook, take notes, get the person’s name and title, and after the meeting, send a memo to the individual. If the person is helpful, send a thank you note. This small courtesy may keep your problem on the top of the pile.
Save all correspondence, and print out all emails sent and received.
Hang in there. And good luck!!!
Identity Theft is a serious thing.
My friend Mike got pulled over for a dead tail light about 4 years ago.
While the officer was writing his ticket, he also ran Mike’s name and found everal outstanding warrants from Florida for bad checks, stealing a car (buying a car and never paying for it) and a couple of other things. Mike lives in New York and had never been to Florida. Mike sat in the county jail in NY for a week waiting for extradition papers. Was transported to Florida where after 5 weeks someone finally realized that Mike wasn’t the right skin color. Still it took several more weeks before Mike was released from custody.
A judge finally gave Mike a signed Court Order declaring him to be an Identity Theft victim.
Mike has spent $30,000 on attorneies and court fees fixing this problem and he still gets harassed occasionally and can’t get credit despite the court order. By the way, the Identity Thief is currently somewhere in Texas.
You've received some excellent advice here, and I can't emphasize enough the importance of contacting the credit bureaus and IRS. You also need to contact any credit card or insurance companies, in fact, any entity that deals with your private/financial/health information. I agree with the poster who mentioned FTC---there's a lot of good advice there on handling identity theft. Without police assistance, you're going to have to do some legwork yourselves, and it's important to keep detailed records. Try to stay as cool-headed as possible, although I know that's easier said than done.
About five years ago, my husband and I were the victims of stolen identities via mail theft. The perpetrators were part of a multi-state crime ring,brazenly obtaining driver's licenses, credit cards in my husband's name, and on and on. We strongly suspected false tax info was submitted based on information I received from IRS, although that was never confirmed. It took us months to sort it out, but the credit agencies, as well as our bank and credit card companies, stayed on top of this. They've become very adept at handling such matters, as identity theft is rampant. After several months, we were given the good news that several of the perpetrators were caught, due to their blunders. They went to trial and were shipped off to the federal pen. From what the authorities told us, most of these people are never caught.
If you're able to do so, please keep us updated, and I hope you all quickly get the support you need.
Oh.....my......gosh. THAT is freaking scary.
BFL.
Well, dh had to disconnect from holding for the IRS as he was called to fly a turn this afternoon. He was able to mail off our tax paperwork, and he’ll file a report tomorrow with the local police. He’s seen many of the responses posted before he had to leave, and he’s very grateful for everyone’s input — even the humorous ones.
As for the DCF employee who phoned and emailed some info to my husband, her name does appear on the DCF website. Dh also has phoned the DCF # given on the website, and has previously asked to be transferred to speak with said employee. That checked out. Maybe there is hope for humanity since it seems to still live in liberal south Florida.
If you guys want to get updates on what avenues we are taking to fix this, maybe bookmark this thread and refer back to it. Or send me a freepmail that you want to be ping’d when something new arises. Myself, I’m actually really surprised at how many FReepers have personal stories about this has already happened to them or a loved one. I didn’t think it was that common an occurrence. For the record, my husband is someone who spends HOURS every week combing through his bank statements, his credit card accounts, etc.
I am SO angry at the person(s) doing this, I’m wanting to fly down there and plan some sting operation to catch the varmints. I hope they’re illegals, so I can follow their a$$es to the coastline and push them back out to sea. We’re having enough financial woes as it is.
Thanks for the help y’all.
I know your frustration. I was the victim of Identity Theft and ran into the same problems. I ended up making two trips out of State. I was able to give the guy’s name, address as well as the name/address/phone number of his relatives, etc. Guess what? Nothing ever came of it. The charges are still on my Credit Report because I refused to pay them. But, I still have a Credit Score of over 700. It was one of the most frustrating years of my life. Expect the worst and hope for the best. That’s all you can do.
Jeez, I’m sorry.
We have already seen that the only one who really cares about your situation is you yourself; so the fight will continue.
Less than a year later, someone accessed our debit card info from a ticket site, and went on a spending spree across the planet. The most interesting purchase was surveillance equipment, but the culprit also stopped to purchase several hundred dollars of romantic flowers from an online company. We were told by our bank and credit card companies that they deal with numerous cases like this daily.
Needless to say, we are vigilant now, combing over our statements and checking the credit agencies often.
It feels sort of like revenge, but I think it’s more of the old-school mindset I learned from growing up around so many people born in the early 1910s and 20s, like my grandparents. “These kids need to learn a lesson.”
I just feel like finding the cretins who did this, and schooling them on leaving others’ things alone while shaking my finger at them. I know the system couldn’t care any less.
On a side note, the DCF lady to whom I’ve been referring -— I found a link that shows that in 2009, she won an integrity award for something in her division. So just maybe she’s an angel who’s found a way to survive down in PBC government.
I’m off for several hours now. Have a sick kiddo I need to take to the doctor.
FReegards
Find out if this person has been hired by a company and sue in that company in federal court. That’ll help get their attention. They are complicit since the government has provided the means to verify SSN and they are supposed to use it. They are also required to maintain I-9 employment form and you can get those under suit.
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