A Canadian Pass Time
The number of victims self reporting ID theft in 2019 was around 7.8%. What can only be described as an explosion of activity has since occurred with 53% of Canadians reporting as victims of financial fraud. Its almost as if it has become a Canadian pass time. But why?
Law enforcement agencies in Canada will all admit it has become an epidemic. The frustration for them is a complete lack of cooperation from the institutions that should be concerned – the ones providing credit to fraudsters. These companies are more concerned with image which translates to write off and cover up. An image of fraud is the last thing they want associated with their name. Even well known ID criminals are not prosecuted because of this lack of cooperation.
A web search on ID fraud in Canada brings plenty of claims that “resources are available to help you recover”. Reality is there are only two reporting agencies and neither can help. All information points to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre which only collects a report and redirects to RCMP. Sites tend to all say the same thing:
- Report the incident.
- Keep a log of all your phone calls (write down the name of anyone you talked to, what he or she told you and the date your conversation occurred).
- Follow up in writing with contacts you’ve made on the telephone or in person to make sure you have a record of all agreements.
- Make copies and keep all originals of supporting documentation, like police reports and letters to and from companies.
- Keep old files even if you believe the case has been resolved, in case errors reappear on your credit reports or if old issues arise.
In short, you are on your own – good luck. It becomes a battle with Equifax, Transunion, and any creditors or collections agencies that assume the fraudulent debts are yours. What could stop the perpetual misuse of information is a credit freeze. This would disable the use of credit reports until you say otherwise allowing the time needed to clean up and prevent further issues. Quebec is the only province that allows a credit freeze, however.
The only tool left is a fraud alert on the credit file with each of the bureaus. In theory it should be enough as the idea is that creditors must call the number listed with the alert for verification prior to extending credit. Unscrupulous companies including many of the top banks simply fail to comply resulting in more fraud. For the victim, it creates frustration attempting to deal with various institutions in a cat and mouse game.
Eventually, larger companies write off their debt selling it to collection agencies. These try anything to get what they believe is owed. Letting them know of the fraud issues becomes more frustration as they ask the victim to jump through even more hoops. They demand a copy of the police report which is never given out – all you have is a report number. Insane requests such as filling out fraud victim reports at the institution they are collecting for are made. And how is that possible as the account number is needed but only known by the credit company and the fraudster.
The battle to clean up records and stop abuse could take years with no help or assistance from any agency. Creditors happily dole out more credit without due diligence renewing the entire problem. So is it any wonder why Canada is so ripe with ID theft? Its lucrative for the fraudster! They won’t get punished, the credit companies allow it, credit bureaus won’t freeze reports, and governments won’t enact legislation to force them. Almost as if the goal of the government is crisis so they can offer their “help” in what ever the next scheme may be – like digital ID. If you think it is impossible to clean up ID theft now, wait for that one.