Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Capt. Pork on April 23, 2004, 08:02:16 AM
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Anybody know what the requirements are for somebody to start a line of credit in your name?
I'm very scared that I might have fallen victim to this after trying to start an account with Verizon yesterday. They asked me for a $1000 deposit.
My credit history, however, is pretty miniscule. I've never really had one. Always used checks and debit cards all my life and the one credit card I did have a few years ago I almost never used and ended up cancelling with no outstanding debts.
If any of you have any experience with this, I'd really appreciate some advice. I'm in the process of getting a credit check processed but with no existing credit cards in my name, it's harder than usual.
Thanks in advance
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Originally posted by Capt. Pork
Anybody know what the requirements are for somebody to start a line of credit in your name?
I'm very scared that I might have fallen victim to this after trying to start an account with Verizon yesterday. They asked me for a $1000 deposit.
My credit history, however, is pretty miniscule. I've never really had one. Always used checks and debit cards all my life and the one credit card I did have a few years ago I almost never used and ended up cancelling with no outstanding debts.
If any of you have any experience with this, I'd really appreciate some advice. I'm in the process of getting a credit check processed but with no existing credit cards in my name, it's harder than usual.
Thanks in advance
Is this for a business phone??? 1K sounds a little high.... a desopit on a personal cell phone, i would think, would be more like $300. That was my experience before I cleaned up my credit.
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Originally posted by Capt. Pork
Anybody know what the requirements are for somebody to start a line of credit in your name?
I'm very scared that I might have fallen victim to this after trying to start an account with Verizon yesterday. They asked me for a $1000 deposit.
My credit history, however, is pretty miniscule. I've never really had one. Always used checks and debit cards all my life and the one credit card I did have a few years ago I almost never used and ended up cancelling with no outstanding debts.
If any of you have any experience with this, I'd really appreciate some advice. I'm in the process of getting a credit check processed but with no existing credit cards in my name, it's harder than usual.
Thanks in advance
If you get denied for anything I believe you can get a free copy of your credit report(paying for one to check it isn't a bad idea either). A deposit is not out of the ordinary, like in Florida, most places require a deposit. Having no credit history might have something to do with it too. But do yourself a favor and check your credit report. And if you can, get a credit card again just to build your credit, your credit is everything, w/o it you can't borrow, and someday you will need a good credit history to purchase a home. Start building your credit as soon as you can.
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SSN is all that is required for identity theft.
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Oh, and indentity theft should carry a life sentence. And yes, it can happen, happened to a friend of ours and it was quite a mess and took her awhile to straighten out.
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Verizon wants a security deposit? For a cell phone? For a grand? Wtf. Something's either very wrong with your credit or with Verizon. My nextel contract had a security deposit totalling a whopping $0.
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Originally posted by Tarmac
Verizon wants a security deposit? For a cell phone? For a grand? Wtf. Something's either very wrong with your credit or with Verizon. My nextel contract had a security deposit totalling a whopping $0.
Well, I currently have a sprint phone, and had to pay $100 deposit for that one. The verizon thing is very odd indeed.
I had a credit check run about two years ago when I was renting a place in Pacific Palisades, CA, and my credit history was perfect at that time. Perfect, albeit nearly nonexistant.
I guess I should get a Credit Card, I've just been avoiding it because I know my spending would be less controllable than it is when I know exactly how much I have and how much I can afford to waste.
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I'd ask them why so much.
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Originally posted by AKIron
I'd ask them why so much.
The sales rep said there was no answer to this question--at least none that he could access.
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Just try another carrier. When I tried to sign up with Verizon in 2001, I got the same $1000 requirement - I even had a compatible cell phone that I was willing to use rather than getting a discounted phone from them. Went to Sprint and they didn't want any deposit, and same with AT&T a year later.
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If you have NO credit, as in, you've only used debit cards and such all your life, then you'll definately get hit by a deposit. $1000 sounds a bit steep, but if you think that no credit is the same as good credit, I'm afraid you're mistaken.
My parents raised me to to fear credit cards. "Never get a credit card!" they'd say. "Credit is dangerous, drop the subject." The problem with this approach is that they never took the time to actually explain to me what credit was or how to use it effectively, they just said it was "bad bad bad". When I had the cash to put a down payment on a house, I applied for a home loan only to find out that with no credit history, it would be very difficult to get financing. I had to start building my credit from scratch at 22 because of this so I could buy my first home a couple years later. If I had built my credit before then, I could have had my home years earlier.
The purpose of this rant? Learn about credit and establish and build it carefully so it's there when you need it. I learned my lesson a hard way.
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thats odd.
however, you gotta realize that your credit rating is based not only on IF you OWE money or IF you pay your bills on time.. its also based on how many times you've REQUESTED or APPLIED for credit.
So if in the past 5 years you've applied for 100 credit cards, when they pull your record to see if they will give you credit, they will only see your requests... not the fact that you were approved or not approved or if you took out those credit cards or not.
Ive had A-1 credit ever since i came to the USA since i always paid my car payment on time for a couple of years (phone, cable, etc..utility bills, dont count towards positive credit but do hit you bad if you dont pay them.. only being IN debt and paying IN time will improve your credit rating).
However, when I went to refinance my car I was asked how many credit cards I had.. I only had 2, both from the same bank i was asking the refinance from.. they said they saw 6 credit card requests... which was correct since I did apply for 6 different cards a year before i refinanced and took the 2 that gave me the better rates and credit limits. Once I proved what I said they let me refinance my car... I wouldve been denied if the other 4 cards hadn't happened to be all from one other bank which was allied to my bank, so they could get confirmation.
In short, my credit report, according to what they saw, told them I had 6 credit cards in my name...which makes me a risky person to grant credit to.
Get a copy of your credit report. You get a free copy of it once a year. its VITAL you do this, for there are ****head companies out there that will screw with your credit report putting stuff on it you'd never be able to afford (heck my dad's report once showed a 2 million dollar YACHT..how screwed up is that??? it turned out some idiot in some company typed in my dad's SSN instead of the true delinquent SSN, which was similar to my dad's, and it ended up in his report).
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Just keep one thing in mind...
Despite what these comercials and some of the folks here would have you beleive, Identity theft is not YOUR problem..
It IS the banks problem .... it is their security failings
If this ever happens to you .. don't go after the criminal ... that's the credit card companys job...
Go after the credit card company.... For slander, and Defemation of Charchter... they are lieing about you to the world based on THEIR security failiings.... Sue thier tulips off ....
These lies have the abilty to cost you tons of money through lost loans.... If you need loans for your bussniess or just your home ...
The burdan of proof is on The Credit Card Company.....
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-Buy a shredder..... Shred evrything .. dumpster diving is easy ....
-Pick up your mail quick.... and use drop boxes.
But it's still the not your fault if someone does steal your info.
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In a fantasy world. Maybe it SHOULD be on them, but the way things are structured, you are guilty until proven innocent, and it's up to YOU to take the time to find out if you've been hit and report it.
If someone takes your credit card # and buys a bunch of stuff, and you don't report it until 3 months later.... do you really think you'll get your money back? There's a grey zone, you need to be assertive to watch out for #1 (while trying not to step in #2).
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Since we're speaking of theft and cell phones, I had a funny call the other night. Guy had his Samsung E715 swiped from him after he set it down in a public place. Great phone, pretty expensive. He left the service on for a day, rather than have it suspended, so the thief could use the phone for a day. Later in the day, he called in and got a list of the phone #s called. After calling a few of the called parties, he reached one that was none to happy that someone he knew was calling him on a stolen cell phone. So he actually retrieved the phone from the thief for the owner and met up with him to give it back. The owner of the phone told me the good samaritan threatened to beat the holy hell out of the thief if he didn't cough up the phone. I got a nice laugh out of that one.
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^ now that is brilliant.
:D
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Originally posted by Chairboy
In a fantasy world. Maybe it SHOULD be on them, but the way things are structured, you are guilty until proven innocent, and it's up to YOU to take the time to find out if you've been hit and report it.
Thats the point of all these commercial etc... they are trying to take the blame off themselves- and your just going to roll over and let them I guess...?
Who does tho's commercials .. Citi-bank?
It's coprate propoganda ... maybe you like all this corparate BS...but they have to own up to thier faults ... they get away with more and more in this country.... you must hold them to thier faults despite all thier BS
don't let them pull this BS.... Thier secuirty is at fault...
plus the point is i'm talking about is bussniess loans too, not just personal ... if you miss the chance at somethign you don't get a second .. you need the money now ..... Don't tell me that won't affect a small bussiness
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Originally posted by Manedew
Thats the point of all these commercial etc... they are trying to take the blame off themselves- and your just going to roll over and let them I guess...?
What post were you reading? I didn't say roll over at all, I said you have to be VIGILANT because they aren't going to call you one day and say 'BTW, we noticed someone stole your stuff. We took care of it, have a nice day.'
What is it you religious types always say, 'God helps those who help themselves'? Wise words.
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Concealed weapons would prevent identity theft. You should immediately go purchase a firearm before the government prevents you from getting what is your God-given right to own!
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I'm not sure what their criteria is, but I've been called two or three times by my bank over the years to verify that some "suspicious activity" is actually me using the card and not someone else.
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Originally posted by Chairboy
In a fantasy world. Maybe it SHOULD be on them, but the way things are structured, you are guilty until proven innocent, and it's up to YOU to take the time to find out if you've been hit and report it.
If someone takes your credit card # and buys a bunch of stuff, and you don't report it until 3 months later.... do you really think you'll get your money back? There's a grey zone, you need to be assertive to watch out for #1 (while trying not to step in #2).
Our friend went through hell after her indentity theft, they don't make it easy for you, and yes, it is you who must do all the leg work.
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Anyway, thanks for the advice, guys. I appreciate it.
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Pork, here's a link (https://www.econsumer.equifax.com/consumer/forward.ehtml?forward=idtheft_ifyouravictim) that tells you how to make a fraud report and what to do.
Good luck.
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Thanks Jigsaw.
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I was going to give him a link but you beat me too it.:aok