Suzanne
Sun Lakes,#2Author of original report
Fri, November 10, 2006
It was not family and it was not a friend. Possibly, a bank employee now that I think of it. It started in Hawaii. All family was out of country and friends don't have access to my personal info. My friends don't go circulating around my home either. We only entertain two at a time. I believe it could have been a bank employee because where I had my bank account, they pulled a couple of scams on me. Bank of Hawaii. After a two week vacation, I emptied my jewelry from the safe deposit box and returned the key to bank personnel, a regular thing I have done over the years. One year later, they billed me for the use of the box for an entire year and the key which they claimed they never got back. They got it back. Later, after I closed the account and moved, in 1995, some 10 months later, they charged me some several hundred dollars for some gym membership. I talked to the bank manager, told her the account had been closed almost a year earlier, that I have moved away almost a year before, and I've never heard of this gym place and never charged anything on the closed account. She insisted the charge would stay because she was new and so could not check anything out prior to when she started. I was left to check on my own but the gym didn't exist. I tried phone book, directory assistance. I was informed everywhere I went that the place didn't exist. Further, if that place existed, I am sure I would have heard of it. Oahu is pretty small. We all know what is there and what is not. I was there for many years. I informed the bank manager and she didn't care. She refused to give me any info. What a scam, with her participating. Of course I didn't pay either charge. I didn't owe them. HOWEVER, THE LESSON HERE IS ANYONE CAN AND WILL TRY AND SCAM YOU SO STAND YOUR GROUND AND DON'T BE A FOOL AND PAY WHAT YOU DON'T OWE. LET THEM STEW AND PUT IT OUT OF MIND. After numerous calls to the bank manager - THEY'RE NOT WORTH A FURTHER THOUGHT.
Mike
Radford,#3Consumer Suggestion
Fri, November 03, 2006
It would be pointless for a bank to do what you describe. If they wanted to ruin your credit by pulling a bunch of unwarranted "hard" inquiries, they'd just do it and not tip you off by sending a letter. What seems to be going on is someone, possibly a relative or friend, has stolen your identity and used it to apply for credit cards. This is where the oddball addresses came from as well. They put those addresses on the applications expecting to have the cards mailed there. You should contact the police immediately, also check your credit reports, and put them into "fraud alert" status. The police can demand copies of the applications from the banks to try and find out who has been doing it.