Consumer complaint received 2018-06-12
Company: Convergent Resources, Inc.
State: WA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: I do not know
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was result of identity theft

Complaint:
Near the end of XX/XX/XXXX, my credit card information was stolen and I had numerous unauthorized charges on my credit card. 

{$470.00} Extended Stay # XXXX in XXXX, XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX {$130.00} Shipt* Order on XX/XX/XXXX {$25.00} XXXX in XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX XXXX {$60.00} XXXX Web XXXX XX/XX/2018 XXXX {$180.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX XXXX {$58.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/2018 XXXX {$610.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I live north of XXXX, XXXX, and my credit card was still in possession at the time. I don't use the credit card everyday, and was not aware of all of these unauthorized charges until 1-2 days later, when XXXX finally alerted me to possible fraud activity on my account. I checked, and then immediately called XXXX to notify them that the charges were unauthorized. They shut the credit card down, conducted their investigation, and determined I was not liable for these unauthorized charges. 

However, what I was not aware of was that my credit card had been used to also open a XXXX account under my nickname ( not my legal name ). I found out 3 months later when I received a bill for {$25.00} from Convergent Outsourcing, a collections agency for XXXX. I was confused, so I called XXXX and that's when I found out that there was a second account that had been opened. I have my own XXXX account that I use regularly and keep up-to-date for payments. 

I told XXXX that I had been a victim of identity theft, and they confirmed that the credit card that had been shut down by XXXX was the one used to fund this additional unauthorized XXXX account. The customer service person told me to just wait and they would have to do their investigation. I didn't hear back at all from them, so about a month later I called back and found out that XXXX 's investigation has decided that this was not a case of identity theft. They have not divulged any information about the charges, and have only told me that there is a negative balance of {$25.00} on this account. The email associated with the account is not mine, and all I know is that the balance went negative XX/XX/XXXX, maybe as a result from some of the charges that were reversed on my credit card. 

I have spent over 9 hours on the phone with XXXX, Convergent, and my credit card trying to resolve this. XXXX has proven to be extremely uncooperative, and very accusing. I have been transferred from department to department during my calls for no reason, and have even been prematurely hung up on after having been on hold for over an hour. They have provided me with no proof that I opened the account, and yet have concluded that this isn't identity theft when the credit card used to fund the account was shut down for identity theft. 

I have also filed a complaint with Internet Crime Complaint Center about these charges and the XXXX account.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation