Someone stole my dads identity. Who do you tell about this?

Question

My dad was 81 yrs old and in a nursing home for about 4 yrs when he died 2 yrs ago. He was deaf and a little confused at times. He was a sweet little old man.
Over the last 1 1/2 yrs, a collection agency is hounding me to pay a gigantic cell phone bill over $1200 bucks and now I am recieving a copy of sports illustrated in Spanish. My dad did not speak spanish or understand it. He didnt like sports and would never have ordered that magazine. He was very hard of hearing and did not have a cell phone and would have never ordered one.
I suspicion someone is using his identity. Should I report this somewhere or just let it go? Who do you tell this is happening?

Answer 1

report to the police to put your mind at rest.

Answer 2

File a police report. If someone tries to use your dad's identity afterwards, then, it will be easier for cops to track the person down.

I get the feeling that it may be possible that someone else, most likely an immigrant, was assigned your deceased dad's SSN, after he died. Companies that are not aware that he passed on, are now wrongfully hounding you for the bills. You could try and find out from the collection agency when those accounts were opened and the name/age of the person.

You need to let them know your dad passed on. If they continue harassing you,contact a lawyer and get a court order to prevent the harassment. The court/your lawyer will more than likely send them proof via death certificate that your dad already passed on. If they receive this info and do not cease and desist, you can sue them for harassing/hounding you. God bless America! You can sue for anything.

Answer 3

Get a copy of his credit report. If you were the executor of his estate, I think you should be authorized to do this. Or, if you're on good terms with your banker, they'll sometimes pull a copy for you.

Check it out and see what is on there and dispute anything with the three credit bureaus that is not his. Make sure the credit bureaus understand that he is deceased.

Next, report it to your state attorney generals office. Most states have specific offices set up for identity theft. Your banker may also be able to help you there since banks all have help with identity theft these days.

I've posted a couple of links for you to take a look at to help.

Answer 4

go to you local police station and report it. you do have a death certificate to prove your dad is dead, so this is all the evidence you need. Ask the cell phone company to send you a copy of the contract or a print out of how long your dad had the phone and a copy of the last numbers he called. This will give you more evidence. I hate it when people take advantage of older people. Identity theft is a crime and the person who did this will go to jail if and when they are caught.

Answer 5

Contact your local District Attorney's office or the Police to start. If they don't have people dealing with this sort of crime directly, they should be able to tell you who to report it to in your area.

You might also see if you can pull a copy of your fathers credit report. Be sure you copies of his paperwork & death certificate available. If/when creditors call, request a written copy of any contracts and all cell phone bills that they claim your father may have signed or be responsible for. Also, get a copy of your own credit reports to make sure no companys have tried to transfer this debt to you.

Keep the copies of the magazine as evidence in case this escaletes (which it shouldn't, but you never know) and any other materials that may indicate additional fraud.

Give COPIES of everything to the DA's office or Police as requested. If you know an lawyer - contact him or her & see what they would recommed.

Unless you were your fathers legal guardian, you may not be responsible for anything. State laws can vary - but, you should be in the clear personally as long as you don't admit any liability for your fathers "debts" and no state laws require you to deal with this as your fathers next of kin. However, that may not prevent someone from trying to attach the debt to you illegally, to be sure - talk to a lawyer.

This, however, doesn't prevent someone from dragging your fathers name through the financial mud - and, I would certainly take steps to prevent anything further.

You might also do a few internet searches on ID theft and see if there is any more specific information out there. Be sure to check with your state's Attorney General's Office as well - they sometimes have web-sites or other information available to deal with these types of problems.

Good Luck!

Answer 6

File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. By sharing your identity theft complaint with the FTC, you will provide important information that can help law enforcement officials across the nation track down identity thieves and stop them. The FTC can refer victims' complaints to other government agencies and companies for further action, as well as investigate companies for violations of laws the agency enforces. You can file a complaint with the FTC using the online complaint form; or call the FTC's Identity Theft Hotline, toll-free: 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338); TTY: 1-866-653-4261; or write Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580.Be sure to call the Hotline to update your complaint if you have any additional information or problems. Close the accounts that you know, or believe, have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.

Call and speak with someone in the security or fraud department of each company. Follow up in writing, and include copies (NOT originals) of supporting documents. It's important to notify credit card companies and banks in writing. Send your letters by certified mail, return receipt requested, so you can document what the company received and when. Keep a file of your correspondence and enclosures.

When you open new accounts, use new Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) and passwords. Avoid using easily available information like your mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your Social Security number or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers.

If the identity thief has made charges or debits on your accounts, or has fraudulently opened accounts, ask the company for the forms to dispute those transactions:

For charges and debits on existing accounts, ask the representative to send you the company's fraud dispute forms. If the company doesn't have special forms, use the sample letter to dispute the fraudulent charges or debits. In either case, write to the company at the address given for "billing inquiries," NOT the address for sending your payments.
For new unauthorized accounts, ask if the company accepts the ID Theft Affidavit (PDF, 56 KB). If not, ask the representative to send you the company's fraud dispute forms. If the company already has reported these accounts or debts on your credit report, dispute this fraudulent information. See Correcting Fraudulent Information in Credit Reports to learn how.
Once you have resolved your identity theft dispute with the company, ask for a letter stating that the company has closed the disputed accounts and has discharged the fraudulent debts. This letter is your best proof if errors relating to this account reappear on your credit report or you are contacted again about the fraudulent debt.
Place a fraud alert on your credit reports, and review your credit reports.

Fraud alerts can help prevent an identity thief from opening any more accounts in your name. Contact the toll-free fraud number of any of the three consumer reporting companies below to place a fraud alert on your credit report. You only need to contact one of the three companies to place an alert. The company you call is required to contact the other two, which will place an alert on their versions of your report, too. If you do not recieve a confirmation from a company, you should contact that company directly to place a fraud alert.
File a report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took place.

Then, get a copy of the police report or at the very least, the number of the report. It can help you deal with creditors who need proof of the crime. If the police are reluctant to take your report, ask to file a "Miscellaneous Incidents" report, or try another jurisdiction, like your state police. You also can check with your state Attorney General's office to find out if state law requires the police to take reports for identity theft. Check the Blue Pages of your telephone directory for the phone number or check www.naag.org for a list of state Attorneys General.

When you go to your local police department to file a complaint, bring a printed copy of your ID Theft Complaint form and your supporting documentation. Ask the officer to attach or incorporate the Complaint into their police report. Also ask the officer to sign the “Law Enforcement Report” section of your Compliant. If the officer wants more information about the ID Theft Report, you can tell them it is available on the FTC’s Web site’s Section for Law Enforcement at the link for “Identity Theft Report”. Ask the officer to give you a copy of the official police report with your ID Theft Complaint attached or incorporated. (In some jurisdictions the officer will not be able to give you a copy of the official police report, but should be able to sign your Complaint and write the police report number in the “Law Enforcement Report” section.) The ID Theft Complaint can be used to supplement an automated police report. If you can online file an automated report, complete the “Automated Report Information” block of the ID Theft Complaint. Attach a copy of any confirmation received from the police to you ID Theft Complaint.

Try to get all the proof you can to make the job easier for the police. If you let this go the person will keep doing it.

Answer 7

You should go to the proper authorities to tell them about this. Identity theft is very common now a days.

Answer 8

report this to the police, the credit bureau and your bank. You may want to mention or talk to the nursing home, it's probaby one of the workers there. Goodluck

Answer 9

I would go straight to the police, they should be able to help you before this gets way out of hand you poor thing.