'Namesake' credit scam costly to unwary victims
The Associated Press
Consider this nightmare: You apply for credit to finance a house, a car, or even an education, but the bank rejects you because somebody went on a shopping spree in your name.
That's what happened to Stephen J. Shaw of Washington and Steven M. Shaw of Brandon, Fla.
"I found out when I was applying for a low interest rate credit card. The processor said, 'You have a lot of loans out,' and asked, 'When did you move to Florida?' " StephenJ. Shaw, 39, said in a telephone interview.
When he got a copy of his credit history, he said that it showed almost $100,000 worth of transactions he never enjoyed: auto loans, credit-card loans, personal bank loans, plane tickets, and tabs for home entertainment systems; computers, clothes, furniture, cellular phones and a host of other goodies.
"I found out when I got a call from AT&T Universal MasterCard, saying I owed them about $10,000," Steven M. Shaw, 36, said from Florida.
He said that his credit report showed a debt of almost $80,000. Like his namesake, he found that the charges were made on about 30 credit card and checking accounts opened in his name.
Both were victims of a credit scam run by 35-year-old Steven Shaw, an Orlando, Fla., car salesman who used his company's computer to peruse the database of a credit-reporting agency. At his fingertips was personal information on just about anybody
that he chose: past addresses and employers, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, mortgage information, bank accounts and any other data that normally appears on credit reports.
He called each man on the pretext of running a contest, got additional personal information and opened accounts in both men's names, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Turner of Orlando. Steven Shaw succeeded in his scams for almost three years, Turner said.
Before his arrest for credit-card fraud last year, Steven Shaw had served 122 days in jail for convictions related to passing worthless checks, Turner said.
The 60-plus fraudulent accounts became nightmares for the two innocent Shaws. They had to contact creditors and convince them that they weren't the big-spending borrower. They also had to file formal disputes with credit reporting agencies, trying to clear their names and credit histories. The combined cost to the Shaws for this hassle exceeded $700.
The Shaws say that the humiliation that they've had to endure goes beyond false accusations of bad credit.
Stephen J. Shaw said that the Secret Service warned him that his name and Social Security number now appear on criminal records as known aliases of convicted felons.
When Steven M. Shaw decided to go back to school, his credit union denied him a new MasterCard and he had to borrow money to meet expenses.
Rape Victim Survivor Service
Advocacy Support Awareness Prevention
For more information or to speak to an advocate call Headquarters Counseling at 841-2345
24 Hour
RVSS A S A P
STUDENT
THE NATIONAL BUSINESS
SENATE
October 11, 1993 K-you * LIFESTYLE
13