BG Advice: Helping a friend with a bank / family problem

[Apelila]

So ok, I have a friend who's twin brother has been stealing his identity. He's already filed a police report and given it to the bank, the problem is that the more time goes on the more we're discovering / charges this ass clown has run up in his name.

This started when his bank called to have him file a police report. He'd already had a fraud investigation opened on the account, so it was closed. They had not been able to determine who had commited the fraud prior to this. I have no idea how the bank was able to find this without the police being involved, but they determined the person was his brother. Bad checks for the account kept coming in. He found out later his brother had taken an expired ID and a box of checks from his house at some point. Anyway, a police report was file and the brother was in jai but has been out on bond since a few weeks ago.

Well, a week ago his car died. He doesn't have a lot of money, so he went to the 'cheap' dealer in town to try and get a loan and discovered that he has:
A power bill in his name with a write off
A cable bill in his name with a write off at an address he's never lived at
2 Hospital bills

Today his new account started getting over drafts, he called in because he had told them never to allow over drafts and was told he called in last week to allow overdrafts and to order a new card.

Now, I know he needs to go to the police station for the new round of bullshit with this new account, plus possible mail fraud I guess (He thinks his brothers been going through his mail while he's at work).

His bank is holding him responsible for the overdraft fee's on his account because 'he' authorized them. I have no idea how to help him get the bills off his credit from places he never lived, or to prove it wasn't him at the hospital since his brother is his twin. His brother is twice is size, but they still look alike in the face. Any help would be appreciated.

[Gergall]

Now, I know he needs to go to the police station for the new round of bullshit with this new account, plus possible mail fraud I guess (He thinks his brothers been going through his mail while he's at work).

Yes, you need to go to the police and make sure they are made aware of every incident.

If the evil twin is opening your friend's mail, that is actually a felony and would be another thing to report. This may be difficult to prove but the police should be informed anyway. Any witnesses to this would be valuable.

His bank is holding him responsible for the overdraft fee's on his account because 'he' authorized them.

This is bullshit. Let me guess, Bank of America? Citibank? First he needs to demand that he speak to a manager. If they won't cooperate, he want's the manager's manager and so on. This could take a while. Do not settle for them sending you home with a promise that they will call you. If the next manager up the chain isn't available, find out when he will be in and come back. Be extremely persistent. Write letters too, just in case, and keep a copy of each one.
Once the fees are forgiven, close the account and join a credit union. It's the exact same thing as a bank (FDIC insured savings accounts, checking accounts, CDs, they handle mortgages, etc) except they are non-profit and exist only to serve their customers rather than screw them out of their money. Not saying that there are zero fees, but credit unions treat people so much better than banks. Oh and they usually pay higher interest rates and charge less for loans/mortgages.

I have no idea how to help him get the bills off his credit from places he never lived, or to prove it wasn't him at the hospital since his brother is his twin. His brother is twice is size, but they still look alike in the face. Any help would be appreciated.

If a pipe in your basement bursts, what do you do first, clean up the water on the floor or patch up the pipe?

Your friend needs to request a credit freeze with all 3 major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, Transunion). This isn't as serious as it sounds. My wife and I have both done this simply out of paranoia (we thought someone might try to scam us and took this preemptive step).
The credit freeze does not harm your FICO score in any way. It is simply a feature on your credit report that stops anyone (including you) from accessing your credit report without a PIN number. Your friend will need to keep the evil twin from ever learning the PINs on each of the 3 credit freezes.
The rules vary by state, but credit freezes are free (or cheap) and any fees are generally waived for fraud victims.
Security freezes can be placed online, over the phone, or via mail (mail is too slow, please avoid it). Just google Equifax security freeze and complete it, then move on to Experian security freeze and Transunion security freeze.
One side effect of freezing credit reports is that you will soon stop receiving pre-approved credit card offers in the mail. In your friend's case, this is great news. The evil twin was probably intercepting those.

Once the freezes are done, at least the damage the evil twin can do will be significantly limited in the future. To pursue charges like the hospital bill, work with the police and see what they recommend. You might try the same approach you used at the bank (asking for higher managers to get involved). Again write letters and keep copies.

Furthermore, be sure to bring up ALL fraudulent items on your friend's credit reports (have him get copies before he freezes them) with the credit bureaus themselves. File disputes on all fraudulent items - the credit bureaus are required by law to investigate all disputes, though I don't know how quickly. If the same item appears at multiple bureaus, dispute it at each bureau to potentially speed up the process.

How does your friend's twin access your friend's mail? Do they live together? Your friend needs to move out or at the very least, divert all mail to a PO Box as soon as possible.

[Rabidelly]

For the hospital stuff, should try and get any x-rays/reports of exams done there. If he's noticeably larger than you, can hopefully prove it's not you by comparing anything to something that *is* yours. Just a thought. Beware though, as many hospitals will charge quite a bit for medical reports or films.

[Qalbert]

Cream Soda has a good twin?

[Melchiah]

Cream Soda has a good twin?

I think we're done here.

[Gergall]

For the hospital stuff, should try and get any x-rays/reports of exams done there. If he's noticeably larger than you, can hopefully prove it's not you by comparing anything to something that *is* yours. Just a thought. Beware though, as many hospitals will charge quite a bit for medical reports or films.

This is an interesting point, since the triage nurse usually (always?) takes your weight.

[Apelila]

If a pipe in your basement bursts, what do you do first, clean up the water on the floor or patch up the pipe?

I know. Trust me I know. There are so many other problems this guy has, I'm hoping to help with this first since right now its fucking with him the most.

He lives at his Dad's old place in the middle of no where, alone. He doesn't know where the evil twin lives, but has a good idea. The PO box is something I'll suggest to him asap.

This is an interesting point, since the triage nurse usually (always?) takes your weight.

The hospital things are from 2009. I'm not saying its impossible to loose 100+ lbs in that time, but I doubt he has proof of his weight from then.

[Gergall]

The PO box is something I'll suggest to him asap.

Also he should just talk to someone at the post office and see what options are available. I think they will hold a person's mail for them for a limited period of time (not sure how long, but I think it's at least a couple weeks, maybe as much as 3 months) at no cost. This would be a free temporary alternative to getting a PO Box right away.

Could the twin brother go and claim the mail? In theory yes, but only if he knows that this is even happening. Your friend should be careful not to tell anybody, even his father, if he decides to go this route.

[Gergall]

I know. Trust me I know. There are so many other problems this guy has, I'm hoping to help with this first since right now its fucking with him the most.

But the security freezes only take a few minutes to set up and won't cost anything. This should be what he does first.

[clobetasol]

Get a baseball bat and go to town, problem solved.

[Callisto]

Get a baseball bat and go to town, problem solved.

I agree, I mean he has to have at least 5 pictures of himself in town with a baseball bat, it should be pretty easy to carry the bat in, show how he looks while holding a bat in town, and they should definitely be able to tell that the larger twin brother looks totally different while holding a bat and clear up any confusion as to which is which when trying to confirm identity.

[Ksandra]

I don't have much advice to give but I agree with the above about hassling the bank, there is no way he should be made responsible for those fees, show them the police reports and proof you have a twin and anything else you can give to them.

I also just wanted to say, fuckity fuck, I have a severe fear of having twins someday and now this thread just made it worse. -__-;

[Gergall]

I have a severe fear of having twins

Don't worry. You can only have 1 twin, and it would have happened right when you were born. You're definitely safe now.

[Ksandra]

Don't worry. You can only have 1 twin, and it would have happened right when you were born. You're definitely safe now.

having twins =/= being a twin

[Gergall]

Did you go to the bank yet? I'm interested in updates.

[Apelila]

I went to the bank with him today and we found out when the charges where rung up. He's going to call their fraud dept on Monday when they are open and find out what needs to happen, 160$ was taken out of one of the banks ATM's at a time when he had no access to a car to get to said bank. Or at least as far as I know. The fact that whoever took the money out did so at an ATM means the bank has a picture of them, so I'm waiting to see if this latest round is evil twin or if something else entirely is going on.

[Gergall]

I went to the bank with him today and we found out when the charges where rung up. He's going to call their fraud dept on Monday when they are open and find out what needs to happen, 160$ was taken out of one of the banks ATM's at a time when he had no access to a car to get to said bank. Or at least as far as I know. The fact that whoever took the money out did so at an ATM means the bank has a picture of them, so I'm waiting to see if this latest round is evil twin or if something else entirely is going on.

This is a big "wtf" moment as I don't see how someone could have your friend's ATM card and know your friend's PIN. Someone impersonating your friend could get a replacement card and reset the PIN, but then your friend's own card/PIN would stop working. Surely he would have noticed that unless he never uses it.

[oldoldman]

Please don't take this the wrong way but is your friend mentally handicapped?

[Gergall]

Please don't take this the wrong way but is your friend mentally handicapped?

I doubt it but I was actually wondering if the friend might have made the ATM withdrawal while drunk.

[Apelila]

I'm waiting to get confirmation when he calls the bank and I listen in, but the latest round of bullshit seems to stem from him enabling overdraft and not meaning to. A week-ish before this started he called for a small advance on a paycheck so he could put gas in the car. No big deal, he's done it before it just comes out of his next check +a fee (1 or 2$ for every 20, he only got 20).

Apparently this translated into "enable overdraft protection and rape me" to the person at the bank, as it put his account negative that day. The following day his check cleared, minus the 35$ overdraft + 20$ he put in the car. He didn't pay attention that his account was suddenly 50$ lighter. This, plus overdrafts aren't listed on mobile devices until after they have processed = the following week he took money out of his bank thinking there was money that wasn't there. Bam, -210$. His fault for not paying attention? Yes. Could he have known what was going on until everything cleared to his account? I certainly couldn't from looking at the statement on his phone last week, but it was very clear once we got the bank and saw the list.

As you have guessed....he's not that brilliant. I remember him having cash on the dates from the ATM. Considering he gets paid on Fridays and I didn't know this was going on until later I didn't have a reason to commit to memory how much and where he got it. All of the major #'s add up now that i've seen an (accurate) print out of transactions. Some charges are not making sense, as a couple of the things that are on his statement, if accurate, he couldn't have done. They're showing made in cities 30+ miles away on dates he didn't have access to a car. Those we're going to get investigated, but until then I'm blaming this latest round of stupid on him. Hopefully the bank will be nice and waive some of the fee's, I'm not holding my breath though.

As far as everything from the past, I'm going to start with him on Friday now that the holidays are over and we can "get shit done"®. ­­Mostly we just need the power and cable things off his account, since they're fucking with his ability to establish credit.