I order phone service via Sprint. They cover the calling area I'll be moving to. I gave them my SS and name. She then tells me in order to get new service I have to pay an outstanding balance of $400.00!!!!

I went on to explain to her that I've NEVER had service with Sprint.

Has this happened to anyone? What did you do?

Yikes... 400 bucks?
What was Sprint before it was Sprint? Did they inherit someone else's records?

This is something you need to follow up on. It may be nothing, an easy mistake - but it could also be the start of something much larger and much more damaging.

So do NOT ignore it.... Get with Sprint and figure out what is going on.

Indentity. Oprano won't let me indent my paragraphs. I've tried.

February 3, 2003 edition of TIME Magazine says:

86,000 - Number of complaints of identity theft received by the FTC in 2001

162,000 - Number of complaints of identity theft received by the FTC in 2002


Hope you get that taken care of....Best Buy claimed that I owed them $850 last year for a washer/dryer set that I never ordered (or even looked at) at their store. I don't even have an account there - they got in via my driver's license and a check with someone else's name on it. It wasn't until they finally produced the copy of the bad check that I proved someone had just rattled off a DL # and happened to pick mine. :grrr:

Good luck! :okthumb:

First things first, check all three credit bureau reports. If there's anything weird on them, then the fun begins. I've had some friends go through this recently. It's not fun. One has to carry legal documents with her at all times because there are still warrants out for "her" arrest for bad checks :angry:

LMK if you need some links :)

Thanks everyone. Don't worry, I don't let shit slide or drop the ball on things like this. I did order my credit reports and making sure nothing is up.

I just called Sprint with the exact same info, placing another order and it didn't come up. I think the lady typed in the wrong SS and didn't even bother looking at names and addresses.

I gotta say that I'm not looking forward to doing business with Sprint. The way they handled this. long ass hold times and was disconnected three times.

I'm going to look for smaller local companies, if they exist.

I am ordering t-1 service (Forest recommended a company) and was even able to order phone lines through them here in Fort Lauderdale. I will say that they were fast, answered all my questions and followed up the same day.