Who stole me?

Seriously... Identity theft is becoming a major problem here in South Africa.

I had a client call me last week, she had just applied for vehicle finance, and had also just been informed that her finance had been declined due to a bad credit rating. Now, that's where things get interesting. She hadn't applied for credit since early 2007, and then she had no problems.

But someone had after that... on her ID number, and they had run up a bill of R25k on a credit card and about R7k on a clothing account. Needless to say, they aren't paying those accounts!

So how do you get this mess sorted out? With great difficulty and a whole deal of red tape and all the associated bureaucracy, that's how. Including police case numbers, filling in dispute forms, lodging complaints, holding on for 2 hours in the credit bureau automated telephone system, time off work and so on.

Fortunately for my client, she has Identity Theft cover on her household insurance policy. It should make the experience a bit more bearable, not pleasant, but bearable.