One problem facing victims of identity theft is victim-blaming. People often feel that they must have done something that makes them, in some way, to blame for their ID theft. And some companies like to blame the victim of identity theft, either making them responsible for the original fraud or blaming them for not proving their innocence using the “right” documents.
You aren’t to blame if you’re a victim of identity theft. The identity thief is to blame.
Victim of Identity Theft – You Didn’t “Let” it Happen
If you worry that you somehow, carelessly “let” the theft happen, you’re probably wrong. On a practical level, you are unlikely to have done anything out of the ordinary to cause yourself to become a victim. The personal identity information of most Americans has, at some point, been stolen from the databases of large companies – sometimes even banks and credit reporting agencies. An identity thief is much more likely to steal your identity using this information, not because you don’t shred important mail or because you once lost your wallet in a public place. You don’t control the security of the big business that keeps (and sometimes loses) your data.
You also don’t control the security measures banks use to identify customers. While identity theft is sometimes so hard to detect that it might not be preventable by a bank’s security measures, banks have the resources to screen out a lot of fraud. The bank’s security measures failed if you’ve been a victim of identity theft and had a credit card opened in your name.
Finally, you don’t have control over banks, debt buyers, and collectors who try to collect funds via ID theft debts. Often, creditors invent “rules” about the kind of proof they will accept to show that you were a victim of ID theft. Some will take their customers at their word, and some will insist that you provide specific documents. Some will ignore your complaints no matter what you do. And some will make impossible demands (one bank once told me it would not accept a client’s claim of ID theft unless the alleged thief was actually prosecuted ). None of that is your fault as a victim.
Campaigns by the government and industry encouraging people to do what they can to avoid identity theft might give you the impression that you, as a consumer, are responsible if ID theft happens, but that’s not true. The most common advice to “prevent” ID theft – checking your credit reports regularly or paying for a credit monitoring service – doesn’t really prevent ID theft. They only make it likely that you’ll discover any ID theft more quickly.
If you’re an ID theft victim tired of feeling guilty and fighting with creditors who won’t help you, give us a call. An experienced identity theft lawyer can help you stand up to negligent companies who blame you for having your identity stolen. This irresponsible behavior should not be tolerated, and you have the right to stand up for yourself.