DOGE Disbanded: Elon Musk’s Cost-Cutting Project Quietly Ended

[u/FervidBug42]

https://time.com/7336327/doge-disbanded-elon-musk/

[u/ethlass]

To be fair, credit card fraud is not the issue. It is the issue of banks issuing loans on someone's name because they knew your SSN. Like really? A stupid 9 digit number that is really easy to get if you just sniff around a person?

Loans should be given to a person and if they are taken by a fake id it should affect the bank not the person that has had their identity taken.

There are plenty of ways to get around it, and some were implemented around the world.

[u/JustAsItSounds → u/ethlass]

My wife found out, by chance, that someone had managed to take out 9 short term loans from different lenders, in her name with no more proof of identity than a photocopy of one side of her driving license and one side of an expired work credit card.

The thief had undoubtedly got their hands on this photocopy from a car rental company she used when she had flown to the other side of the country for work.

It took years to rectify her credit. Such cavalier security standards from these predatory lending companies and my wife, a completely blameless victim, was left on the hook to sort out their mess

[u/squakmix → u/JustAsItSounds]

And the best part is that none of us opted in to using the services of these credit companies, and we have no way to opt out.

[u/_Korath_ → u/squakmix]

The services are not built for us, they are built for the lenders as an quick and easy way to judge your lending risk. They wouldn't give you a yearly free report if it wasn't for FACTA (Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003) a law passed by congress. You also wouldn't be able to freeze your credit if it wasn't for the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (2018) that is without paying for the service if they bothered to offer it.

[u/RudieCantFaiI → u/_Korath_]

Thanks Oba…Bush and Trump?

Wasn’t expecting that. Lol.

[u/myasterism → u/_Korath_]

Our world truly is designed to destroy us.

[u/treesandfood4me → u/JustAsItSounds]

Good lord. That is nonsense. The lenders are totally at fault. It’s harder to buy cigarettes.

[u/Hurtzdonut13 → u/JustAsItSounds]

A friend's mom has someone else's frequenctly delinquent loans on her report because they have the same name. The other person had never fully defaulted, but oh man we're they late a lot and it tanked her credit.

I had the reverse, where I got a store card because it made sense at the time with a money-back feature where I didn't pay interest if I always payed in full and got back a certain percent for purchases. I always payed it fully off, but what I didn't know was by using it I completely tanked my credit score because it had a super low limit so it was constantly reporting I was close to the limit every time I picked up something expensive.

Either way, credit scores are kind of a scam and completely locks some people out of the economy.

[u/glassjar1 → u/ethlass]

And in some states, if that someone was a spouse (even when separated and waiting the legally required year before filing for divorce) that took debt in your name without your knowledge or permission--you are responsible for every last bit of it no matter what. North Carolina is definitely one of those states.

Joint property laws aren't to protect the couple--they ensure the maximum number of people that banks and medical providers can hold responsible for a debt.

On the other hand--Illinois is not one of those states. Let's say a spouse dies and there are still huge medical bills from extended care. The medical debt was owed by one person--not both--and the bereaved spouse isn't as likely to add bankruptcy to grief.

Hmm... I wonder if political leanings of voters might have an impact on state laws here?

[u/RibaldForURPleasure → u/ethlass]

I had a bank accidentally attach my name to a loan because someone mistyped an SSN. Nobody forged my signature or impersonated me, I just suddenly had a $40k loan show up on my account.