Consumer complaint received 2018-09-14
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was result of identity theft
Company: ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC. (CA)

Over a year ago I embarked on a journey of cleaning up my credit in preparation of buying a house. I was one of those people ( in my XXXXs ) that wasnt particularly savvy about checking my credit or how to increase it. So I started getting familiar with XXXX XXXX, and thats when I noticed two accounts that were in my name that werent mine. One was a credit card through XXXX XXXX, and another was with something called XXXX XXXX  for a whopping {$1300.00}. Even though I wasnt credit savvy, I at least knew that I did not own any kind of credit cards during the time these accounts were opened. I disputed them through the online application with XXXX XXXX and the filed it for me. Within a month XXXX XXXX sent me a full report about the details on the account that was opened- and I was able to discover it was an account opened up in my name online and delivered to an address I used to live with my ex-girlfriend- which she actually still lived at. It was then pretty obvious by the fact that all these transactions were cash advances until the card was maxed- that it must have been her doing this. We broke up on very bad terms and unfortunately she knew all of my personal information. So I filed a police report and sent the report to XXXX XXXX. I never received anything from XXXX XXXX though but it was marked as disputed on my credit file. For a year that has been the last of it and I moved on. Fast forward to now- Im in the process of buying a house and these two disputes are still on file. I contacted XXXX XXXX- they apologized and handled it without any troubles. The only number I had to contact XXXX XXXX  was the credit agency they were working with- Midland Funding . I  thought maybe they also needed a police report if it looks like the fraud started in the same place. So I contacted Midland Funding yesterday- explained my situation and that I was a victim of identity theft that was discovered a year ago- and that I disputed XXXX XXXX  but needed more details in case I needed to also file a police report with my dispute. The man I spoke with was beyond rude- and spoke to me in a way I could not believe. He said he thought it was an account I opened up- ran up- and just forgot about- and that he doubted it was identity theft because whomever opened the account had made a few payments. All he would tell me is that it was with something XXXX XXXX- and when it was opened. When I said that I dont just open accounts and forget about them- that I have a perfect payment history with three credit cards that I now have- his response continued to be rude. I explained that I didnt even know what XXXX XXXX was- and that Identity theft can indeed include an ex girlfriend who opened up an account fraudulently in my name and was using it. His exact words were, What I think is going on is that youre trying to buy a house and you need this off your report so youre just trying to make up a police report to make your dispute seem legitimate. I couldnt believe what I was hearing. I reminded him that falsely making a police report was a crime- and I wouldnt be doing it unless it was legitimate. I told him I would be filing- and also filing a complaint against his company. His response? Go on ahead but this will stay on your credit report forever. I have since filed a police report in regards to the fraudulent account- and would like it known that Midland Funding is horrible to work with.