Last Friday, my boyfriend Brandon was informed at work by a collection agency that he had a credit card account opened in his name that was past due. He never opened this account himself and told the person over the phone. She recommended he file a police report, which he did. That evening and over the weekend, he and I checked all the credit bureaus and saw that other companies were opened without his knowledge as well. We called all these companies and had the accounts closed, while reporting them as fraud. Turns out a coworker of his opened up some of these accounts! Last year he cosigned a few accounts with his coworker so that’s how he got a hold of Brandon’s social security number and opened accounts in Brandon’s name. He wants to inform his boss at work about his identity being stolen, just so they know what’s going on, and why he had to leave work suddenly on Friday, but I’m wondering if he should mention that it was his coworker that did this?
I forgot to mention that Brandon did file a security alert on all three credit bureaus (good for 90 days) then when he gets the police report, he’ll send that in so the alert will be on his reports for 7 years. Another concern he has is that his coworker will be arrested and won’t be able to pay the open accounts he cosigned with Brandon, and that Brandon will be responsible for paying the balance. Hopefully it will be wiped clean because of the circumstances?
I agree, he should tell his boss that it was his coworker. However he is afraid that something might happen to him, such as his coworker retaliating or something like that. But Brandon does have legal rights so it shouldn’t affect his job right? He’s afraid of ruining his reputation at work as well. Any further advice would be great. Thanks.
Lura