An interesting situation
Date: Wed, 01/20/2010 - 03:50
Hello all. Approximately 7 months ago I was completely debt free. I had 3 credit cards that had no balances, and they remained unused. Two months ago, American Express sent me a letter saying my account was closed because I was late on payments. When I inquired, they told me that I bought something from a clothing company in April 09, and then did not pay for several months. The account incurred many fees due to this, and it now totals to about $300. The problem is, I did not buy anything. It was a fraudulent charge. Not only that, American Express never sent me a single notification letting me know that I had a balance. I had a paperless account, and they never sent me any emails. I didn't receive any phone calls either. By the time I found out, AE would no longer deal with me because they sold the balance to a collection agency. I talked to the collection agency and told them the story, but they do not care (big surprise).
My concern is not so much with the collection agency, but with my credit score. I'm assuming the damage has already been done to my credit score, and that there is simply no point in even trying to fix the situation. In which case, I will simply ignore the collection agency (which isn't hard to do, because I have since moved and no longer have a land line).
Is it possible for my credit score to get worse by ignoring them? Will such a small "debt" owed affect future loans? Is it even possible to fix the situation? I am a university student, and it is very important that I am able to get loans. Thank you.
My concern is not so much with the collection agency, but with my credit score. I'm assuming the damage has already been done to my credit score, and that there is simply no point in even trying to fix the situation. In which case, I will simply ignore the collection agency (which isn't hard to do, because I have since moved and no longer have a land line).
Is it possible for my credit score to get worse by ignoring them? Will such a small "debt" owed affect future loans? Is it even possible to fix the situation? I am a university student, and it is very important that I am able to get loans. Thank you.
Yes, this will effect your credit. You need to file a police re
Yes, this will effect your credit. You need to file a police report. Explain the circumstances in the police report and then get a copy of it and dispute the charges on your credit report, with Amex, and with the CA citing identity theft.
