Watch your eBay account.....

[Greatwhite]

If you guys are like me, you may get regular spoof emails from "eBay" that if you click on a link will either infect you with a virus, or bring you to a site to try to trick you into entering your password and/or credit card info.  And, if you do get these, you probably just ignore them because they're ALL the same.

Well... Sometimes there might be a real email from eBay in there warning you of misuse of your account - but, by ignoring all the spoof ones, it's easy to overlook a real one.

On Saturday, I started getting calls from ARC (Account Recovery Corporation)... A collection agency.  Immediately, I thought that something was wrong, because I owe NO ONE ANYTHING.  My credit cards are all 0, mortgage is paid on time - and if it wasn't, my personal banker would be calling me.

Unfortunately the calls from ARC were recorded messages, and my attempts to phone them back were met with "No one is available to take your call"...  So I didn't know what was going on until Monday morning when I called.  It seems that SOMEONE had used my name, address and email address to create an eBay account to sell stuff without getting dinged with selling fees or something, because the file with ARC was for $61 of fees due to eBay.  Some dude was telling fake silver bracelets in Australia with my name in July...

I've never sold anything on eBay (especially not in Australia).  I got the email address and user id from ARC that the complaint was filed against and called eBay and talked to a lovely woman claiming to be named Jolene, who barely spoke english outside of her script.  After explaining the situation many times, she instructed me to open a dispute with the collections agency and "Prove that it was no me" and then forward the results back to them.  uhh.. no?  My limited understanding of how collections agencies work is that the only way to get the file closed is to either pay the money, or have the company who filed the complaint to "un-file" it.

I now have a red X on my otherwise perfect(ish) credit rating as a result of all this, and am trying to get 3 organizations all to agree that I'm not responsible for "whatever happened" in July...  I can't clear my credit rating without the eBay and ARC clearing me.  uggggh..

At least this happened now, and not in the spring when I'll be looking to crank up my mortgage with a bigger house.

I'll tell ya what... My life is chalked full of excitement.   I have to find humor in these weird things, or I'd go nuts.

[Greatwhite]

Oh yes, I had forgotten having mentioned the Paypal issue I had in July.  I have a feeling that this current dispute is related to it -- somehow.  The timing is about right...

http://ovas.ca/forum/index.php?topic=51372.0

[beertech]

I suggest contacting Equifax, the actual credit bureau that will affect your mortgage application.
There's a good chance this won't even show up on your credit report, and if it does, it should be pretty easy to have Equifax make a note that you are contesting it and it was a case of identity theft.
It's a good idea to go on their website and pay $15 to download your current credit report that will show your score and all positive and negative reports on your file. That will also give you time to fix any discrepencies before applying for a mortgage.

[xenon]

I am a top rated seller on eBay and we get these spoof emails on a regular basis.

We never login to our account from an email. We always go direct to the website instead to see if there is anything wrong.

Then we forward the emails to to report them.

[Greatwhite]

I'm already in the process of getting the credit report.  I think that I may have entered something wrong on the form (probably my SIN number) so now they want me to scan a LOT of things to prove that I'm me and email to them.  Driver's license, birth cert, 2 utility bills, pay stub, T4, and a photo copy of the birth mark on my butt.  I figure that since I've really NEVER looked at my credit report, I have no way of knowing if there's something hiding in the corner that I'm unaware of - tarnishing my perfect credit.  Especially if I'm suddenly being chased by collection agents as a result of identity theft!!!

I suspect that I won't find anything, since the bank keeps trying to give me more credit that anyone would ever need...  But you never know.

Oh, and I never EVER open eBay from emails.  Even if I asked someone a question about their item and I get the response, I always log in with the browser and go to My eBay to get to the messages.  I just delete the spoof emails because there are so many of them and I'm sure that eBay sees them all.

[JetJumper]

With out having your Social Insurance Number, this will not effect your credit score as there is no way to actually identify it was you.  This is how I understand the credit scores work.

[Stussi613]

With out having your Social Insurance Number, this will not effect your credit score as there is no way to actually identify it was you.  This is how I understand the credit scores work.

Actually, if they have your name, address and phone number correct a creditor can post to your credit file. You don't have to provide a SIN to apply for credit. The only time you absolutely must provide your SIN is when dealing with CRA...

You can contest the collection, if it actually appears on your credit file, directly with the credit reporting agencies since the burden of proof is on the collector to show that the charge is legitimate and that you are the correct person it should be attributed to.

Also, I would call eBay back and ask them to provide you with the exact transactions that caused the charges in question. If they can't provide you with this information contact the collection agency and ask for the same information...they have to provide you with details of the transactions...they can't just say "you owe $60, pay up". 

[Greatwhite]

Actually, if they have your name, address and phone number correct a creditor can post to your credit file. You don't have to provide a SIN to apply for credit. The only time you absolutely must provide your SIN is when dealing with CRA...

Bingo.  I read that there are THOUSANDS of incorrect reports sent to the credit bureau every month due to identity theft - and typos...  This is why it's always a good thing to check your credit before doing any big financing to avoid surprises.  Name & address is enough to identify yourself and get linked up with your credit rating.

I'm still working (arguing) with eBay, telling them to investigate the matter PROPERLY because I OBVIOUSLY cannot look into their system myself to get proof that it was not me.  I was given yet another number to call at eBay late last night.  I hope to get somewhere with that one today. 

I'm just hoping that I can get through to someone whose first language IS English today, rather than being relayed to some overseas call center.   There are some issues that need to go "off the rehearsed script" and I'd like more than the "I'm sorry you are having this problem, thank you for your patience" canned responses!  They MUST get lots of these complaints and really should be better equipped to deal with them.

[Greatwhite]

*sigh*...  Talking to "Lenny" this time.  Same conversations as every other...

[Greatwhite]

*sigh* Lenny... I was on hold for a while with this guy, while he investigated things...  He came back and told me that it did indeed look like a case of ID theft and that he put on my file to clear my name with the collections agency.  He then told me to email their resolution center to appeal to have the bad account removed.

Ironically, "Jolene" told me to do the same, and my email response was to phone them... And now I have to email them again.  I made sure to point out that I hoped this cycle of phoning/emailing wouldn't go on too long.

Turns out that it's all 100% related to July's Paypal incident as Lenny told me the user id in question and it was the same one that Paypal had issue with.  I wish that I had contacted eBay back then!