My son's father put his phone bill in the baby's name what should I do?

Question

I found out today that my son's father (who isn't particularly involved in his life) has put his phone bill in our one-year-old child's name. His credit is terrible, so evidently he decided to put his phone bill in the baby's name.

Needless to say, I'm furious about this and I have no idea what to do to fix the situation... I don't want my child's credit ruined. Is there any legal action I can take?

The frustrating thing is that I can't call the phone company until Tuesday, because it's the weekend and Monday is a holiday.

Answer 1

First thing to do is check yours and and your son's credit report. You can get a free report once a year from this site:
https://www.annualcreditreport.com . Don't worry, you wont get spam or anything from it...the government put this together about 2 years ago for everyone to get access to see your report from the 3 companies for free once a year. You won't get your credit score, just a list of accounts, people who've checked your credit, high balances, etc. The individual companies may try to sell you "credit watch services" or what your score is, but you don't have to get that if you don't want.

Credit fraud is a serious crime these days, so you may want to consider reporting it to make sure the father knows you're looking out for the welfare of your son.

Answer 2

Speak with the phone company to explain what the man is doing - besides you have custody of the son - you have the legal right to close the account - at least I would think so. I have a bad feeling this isn't the first time he has done this - you need to check your son's credit rating using his social security number often (you can subscribe to one of the big three credit rating companies for a yearly fee - you only get one report per year for free). You may need to seek legal action to stop the father from doing what he is doing. Be proactive now as it would be sad to have an 18 year old who can't get student loans or even a car loan due to what his father has done to him.

Answer 3

if you want to make the father mad you can write the phone company telling them what happened and send them a copy of your child's birth certificate and social security number. then check with the credit bureaus and see if the father has done the same thing at the credit bureaus. Does the child have a credit report? Doesn't seem like the father could have gone that far (because of the difference in age), but just maybe....check it out.
As time goes by you might want to stay aware. And as the child gets older if strange things occur, get a PI to check it out, and if things have gone too far then prosecute the father if necessary.

Answer 4

Report this guy to the F.B.I. and, The Transunion credit bureau , The Equifax credit bureau, The Experian credit bureau, your local police department, and The I.R.S. he is guilty of identity fraud this website is a good guide for what to do. http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ This kids father if he has done what you say he done then he is guilty of a federal crime and can be thrown in prison for the rest of his life. I also woudl call a lawyer ASAP for the sake of the child.
Your child is probably not his first victim in addition to checking your sons credit report to see what else is on it if anything the childs father's Identity fraud crimes could be the reason his credit score is in the toliet. Also run a credit fraud alert on yourself if this guy is doing the phone bill in the baby's name I can only guess what trouble he is causing your credit score.

Answer 5

This is identity theft.

First I would contact the prosecutor's office. Your son's father is commiting fraud and could be charged. You don't how often he has done this or how much has been charged in your son's name to date. Keep plugging until you find someone who will help you. This is a crime and there should be someone who will pay attention.

Keep note of who you speak to at the prosecutor's office (keep a record of operators' numbers and people's names and numbers) along with dates and times.

Seek the advice of the prosecutor's office on when and how to contact and address the phone company.

You might want to consider consulting a lawyer to represent your son's best interests in this fraud since the fraud is commited in his name and can have adverse effects on his credit.

Good luck.

Answer 6

first of all, this will do nothing to ruin your child's credit. parents do this all the time if they have bad credit and unable to get anything in their name. When your baby is 16- 18 he just has to show a copy of his driver's license and all that junk dad stuck on when he was a baby will disappear off his credit. they won't pursue a 5 yr old with a deliquent phone bill!

Answer 7

Your son's father is well out of order you need to put a stop to this NOW!! Think about your child if things go wrong and the bill don't get paid your son's credit history will be messed up and then what sort of future will have!!!

Answer 8

Yeah this is fraud and identity theft. I would report him to the phone company, and the police. In fact the phone company might report him to the police for you.

Depending on your relationship with him and if you don't want him to possibly go to jail, you could let him know that he needs to stop or you will report him.

This is very illegal and you have to stop him from ever doing this again.

Answer 9

Call the company and say your baby has been the victim of identity theft and is not responsible for the charges incurred. They will probably send you some forms to fill out. Then turn the dad over to the police for fraud and identity theft.

Answer 10

I would call the phone company and tell them. That is wrong. Poor kid would have a messed up credit report before he gets old enough to have one!