Consumer complaint received 2020-06-05
Company: TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORPORATION
State: MO
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Information belongs to someone else

Complaint:
The first time I realized I was a victim of fraud associated with Lexus   was 2 years ago, on or about XXXX XXXX, XXXX. I immediately filed an identity theft police report with the XXXX XXXX XXXX Police on XXXX XXXX, XXXX. In addition to the police report, the police department recommended I reported the fraud report to Lexus  Headquarters,  which I did in XXXX, XXXX. Following Lexus  head-quarters suggestion, I reported the case of fraud to the dealership - XXXX XXXX XXXX   XXXX XXXX, for further investigation and resolution. Per their request, I sent my police report and turned in detailed information of the suspect as well. However, I did not receive any proof ( verification of debt, lease agreement, promissory notes etc. ) nor response from them, to prove that the account opened with Lexus was authorized by me and with my consent. 
I enlisted in the XXXX XXXX and shipped for training on XX/XX/XXXX. I requested the dealership manager to update me regarding my fraud investigation process and the results before my shipping day. There was no update on the resolution of my case and so I assumed it had been managed and settled by the company, until I was flagged by a background check screening conducted by the XXXX XXXX XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX and on or about XX/XX/XXXX, I re-reported the fraud to Lexus  and to their debt collector, XXXX, and officially requested for documents or evidence to prove that the Lexus  account was indeed authorized by me and per XXXX  request, I re-sent them my police report and letter to resolve my case. Once again, I did not receive any documents or sufficient explanation of how the investigation was conducted and what the findings were, except for a simple notice letter that stated that the Lexus  account was not fraudulent. Hence, I asked for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus involvement in order to resolve this fraud issue in XXXX, XXXX. 
Finally, with CFPBs involvement, I received the lease agreements and some supporting documents that were associated with my Lexus  lease account on or about XX/XX/XXXX, from Lexus. After carefully reviewing every single page of the file, I was assured that this case was obviously fraud and that Lexus  approved a lease on their vehicle without reviewing the documents in a proper manner. I have found several matters which clearly show the XXXX  account was not authorized by me and I am a victim of identity theft.

Finding 1 : Suspicious documents that Lexus  provided to CFPB. 
The documents that Lexus  provided to me were not actual original documents from me ; the documents were faxed to Lexus  on XX/XX/XXXX ( almost month after my original fraud alert to Lexus  HQ as well as XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/XXXX ). Considering the Lease application and agreement were completed between on or about XX/XX/XXXX, and on or about XX/XX/XXXX, Lexus  seemingly did not possess the actual documents themselves and neither did the dealership. Considering my fraud report to the dealership was made at the end of XXXX, the documents were seemingly faxed from a third party to the dealership/Lexus  Headquarter after the fraud report was made. There is reason for belief that Lexus  themselves may have distrusted the credibility of the source from whom they received the faxed documents and the faxed documents themselves ; for last two years despite my continuous requests they DID NOT provide me with the documents they had, which upon close examination turns out, are not even actual copies of the original documents.

Finding 2 : Invalid Driver License The picture of the drivers license that was used is an old and expired one that was not valid during the time it was faxed over. The drivers license used was one that I had temporary lost and then later found  in my apartment where I used to live with the suspect. On XX/XX/XXXX when the picture was faxed to Lexus, I was living at a different address and I renewed my Driver license on XX/XX/XXXX. Please check the included copy of my renewed driver licenses ( Incl 1 : Nevada Drivers License ).

The drivers license that Lexus  provided to me was not an original copy of my actual drivers license. It was actually the copy of a photograph someone took of my drivers license and then later faxed it to Lexus  ; Lexus  does not have an actual copy of my driver license. 
Finding 3 : False information in Credit Application ( 1 ) Address : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX  XXXX does not exist according to the Police Station of XXXX XXXX, XXXX  XXXX. The only address existing related to the street, XXXX XXXX in the Zip Code is XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX  XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX which is a brand new community in that area. Also, the street number is the same as the APT number. This is a completely made up address to attempt fraud. Also, I lived at a different address when the lease application was made on XX/XX/XXXX ( please see Incl 2 : Apartment Lease Agreement ). I have never resided in XXXX before. 
( 2 ) Occupation : I have never worked at XXXX. XXXX, which is located in XXXX, XXXX XXXX. It would not be possible for me to work at a company in XXXX  while residing in XXXX, XXXX. XXXX XXXX is the only employer of XXXX, whose headquarter is located in XXXX, XXXX, and I worked at their XXXX XXXX branch. There is no empolyers name XXXX. XXXX and I was working at a local XXXX XXXX  in XXXX XXXX as of XX/XX/XXXX when the credit application was filled out. If you look at my W2 forms and employers in XXXX, there is no employers name related to XXXX. XXXX, and I have never been a sales Manager of any company. The employer information is thoroughly false. ( Incl 3 : W2 form in XXXX ). 
( 3 ) Phone number : the phone number used for the lease application was one of fraud cases. It was related to XXXX and XXXX XXXX was the debt collector. I reported this fraud case to them and they recently resolved this fraud for me. Please, review the Incl 4 : XXXX XXXX, Letter, which proves that the XXXX telephone account was cancelled due to the fact that the account was fraud and I was victim of identity theft. 

Finding 4 : Signature All of the signatures may seem to be the same as mine, but they are not my signatures. My signature can be easily copied as long as someone can scrawl my name in XXXX and English. Considering the suspect is a XXXX XXXX whose first language is XXXX, who knows how to write in XXXX , and who has a history of fraud targeting many XXXX- XXXX people , it would not be difficult for the suspect to copy my signature to commit this fraud. Incl 5 : Signature samples on XXXX  Passport, American Passport, DMV, and Citizenship docs. 
Finding 5 : Suspect The suspect ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) of this fraud is my ex-roommate who could access my private information and personal items, such as drivers license, social security card, etc, at any time. He was originally born and raised in XXXX XXXX area and moved to XXXX XXXX in tmid XXXX. According to the manager of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX, a person who picked up the leased vehicle was not me myself, but a broker from the XXXX XXXX area, and I assume that the broker was the suspect ( XXXX   XXXX XXXX ), or, at least, someone from his network in XXXX XXXX. There have recently been reports of, XXXX-Americans in the XXXX XXXX area who have reported the suspect regarding fraud and extortion of money from innocent people ( Please see the Incl 6 : the suspect report posting translated to English ). Also, the suspect ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) changed his car twice in a year while he resided in the XXXX XXXX area, explaining why the XXXX   vehicle was repossessed in XXXX XXXX, XXXX. 

Conclusion Considering the matters I have found in the documents that Lexus  shared with CFPB and forwarded it to me by CFPB, and Lexus  uncooperative response toward my continuous requests for verification of debts or supporting documentation for the last two years, the investigation could have been conducted in an impartial method. I can not help to believe Lexus  disobliging manner of resolving this fraud case is because they already acknowledged that they approved a lease application without careful review or screening of the applicants information and supporting documents. 
After responding to CFPB concluding that my account is not fraudulent on XXXXXX/XX/XXXX, I received a mail from Lexus. The mail ( dated on XX/XX/XXXX ) includes the identity theft affidavit form, which indicates that they found my account could be a potential fraud case and asked me to fill out a form of investigation request. From Lexus  letter with the form, it can be inferred that Lexus  denies to admit that my account was fraudulent till the time when they actually perceived certain indicators which highlight the fact that I am a victim of identity theft and that my account was fraudulently created.

This also demonstrates the important fact : Lexus  does not want to admit that they approved a vehicle lease application without exercising necessary cautions or conducting their due diligence all while in a hurry to make a sale and furthermore attempted to shift their financial blame, burden and responsibility onto an innocent victim of identity theft. ( Incl7 : Lexus   Identity Theft Affidavit ) Please review all of inclusive documents to this letter and resolve this case as soon as possible, so that I can concentrate on performing my military duties with professionalism without any further obstacles.

I sincerely appreciate your time and consideration.

Very Respectfully, XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX Incl 7 1. Nevada Drivers License 2. Apartment Lease Agreement 3. W2 form  in XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX, letter. 
5. Signature samples on XXXX  Passport, American Passport, DMV, and Citizenship docs 6. The suspect report posting translated to  English 7. Lexus  Identity Theft Affidavit, dated XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation