Consumer complaint received 2025-09-20 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement — Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: WA

Complaint narrative:
A former boss who had my social security # and date of birth ( due to direct deposits ) opened {$100000.00} of credit cards from 12 different banks in my name. He subsequently charged the full amount of credit available to his business - these were transacted all on the same day - XXXX. I have been fighting with this credit card companies insisting I never opened this accounts and certainly never paid out {$100000.00} of charges to this man 's business. Because I had never owned a Discover Card, I initially thought their communications were spam. As I had never seen the card, I did not have the number of the card, and therefore, it was very difficult to file a complaint. I wrote the following letter to the Attorney General seeking assistance : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX The Honorable XXXX XXXX Attorney General of Washington XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX WA XXXX Dear Attorney General XXXX ; I am writing to formally request your assistance in resolving an ongoing dispute I am currently facing with multiple banks, regarding fraudulently obtained credit cards in my name. ( see List Below ). As a consumer, I believe my rights under state and federal law have been violated by XXXX XXXX and several banks, and I am reaching out to your office for guidance and action in this matter. 

The issue began on XX/XX/XXXX, when my former boss ( XXXX XXXX, owner of XXXX XXXX XXXX ) obtained approximately {$90000.00} of credit cards in my name. How did he do this? As I was his former employee, he had my social security number, date of birth and bank account number ( I had automatic deposit when I was employed by him ). I had a perfect credit score at that time, as I paid the full balance on all my cards every month. I have done so for decades. However, none of these banks have taken my normal behavior into account. I did not notice for a couple of months, as all my accounts are set up on autopay. When I received a notice of a bill from a credit card I did not possess, I assumed it was spam. Then I began to receive letters from banks notifying me of late payments. When looking into it further, XXXX XXXX had made one charge on each of these cards for their maximum credit allowance to his business, XXXX XXXX XXXX. I have enclosed the statements to which I have access, in order to show the one charge to his business. Because I already had an XXXX XXXX account, it populated my online account with several other cards, and I can see the charges made. In other cases, such as Discovery, I have no idea what the card number is and no way of determining when a charge was made by XXXX XXXX, or in fact, even how to pay it. I have never actually seen any of these cards. 

I have spent hours on the phone with these various banks trying to explain that these cards were acquired fraudulently by XXXX XXXX. I requested these banks to close the cards in question, so that XXXX XXXX could not make further charges on the accounts. Only one bank, XXXX XXXX, complied with my request. Ironically, XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX closed both my actual account and the fraudulent account for lack of payment ( I had requested that they close the fraudulent account months ago, and they neglected to do so. ) I have also supplied the police report I filed when I realized that XXXX XXXX had fraudulently obtained credit in my name, burdening me with a {$90000.00} debt, which I could never pay. 

I am a bit perplexed by how much credit XXXX XXXX was able to get using my name. Prior to this, I had applied for a {$20000.00} home equity loan from my bank. They turned me down, indicating that I would have no way to pay it back. This is true. As a XXXX woman living on social security, I have no way of making minimum payments on ten cards, ( which equals about twice what I receive in a month ). 

On the face of it, this makes no sense. Why would someone who had a near perfect credit score with only a mortgage for a debt suddenly spend {$90000.00} and give it to her ex-boss???? Now my credit rating has tanked. of course. Soon, I will have no credit left at all! I seriously need help with this! 

The impact on my physical and mental health has been immeasurable. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. I have suffered from XXXX due to stress and worry. It has affected my marriage. None of this was my doing and my life has been dramatically damaged by XXXX XXXX actions. 

I have received various responses to my claims of fraud. 
1. XXXX XXXX : Our records indicate that this account was applied for electronically. Well of course it was! He could hardly go into a bank and say he was me! They continue to deny my repeated Fraud claims. 
2. XXXX XXXX said their research found the disputed charge is valid and appear to be authorized by you. I dont know how this is possible since I have never been in possession of this card and certainly would not have approved a {$16000.00} expenditure to my former boss! Additionally, they claimed that I made a payment on the fraudulent account. I did so, because at the time, I had a valid XXXX XXXX card, and I assumed the payment was for that card. 
3. XXXXXXXX XXXX said that since you provided your account # to the merchant, we dont consider this fraudulent activity. Again, I have never been in possession of this card and obviously, the person in question, XXXX XXXX, gave the merchant the information. 
4. Discover Card I have never been in possession a Discover Card. Again, I reported this as fraudulent. My report was ignored. 

I have not been able to resolve my dispute with these banks on any of these fraudulent cards. Meanwhile, I am being harassed with numerous phone calls a day from 10 different banks who simply will not acknowledge that these cards were clearly fraudulently obtained. 

Every time I think that the fraud claim has been resolved, they come back with some other reason to deny it and Im back to square one. In the meantime, they are either closing or lowering the credit on my actual credit cards ( which I have paid the full balance on for over 30 years ). 

To provide you with a clearer perspective, I have outlined the core details of the dispute below. This is as much information that I can obtain through my credit report and in some cases, access online to the accounts. In each case, there was only one charge made in XX/XX/XXXX for the exact amount of the credit available, paid to the XXXX XXXX XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ending in XXXX {$16000.00} Discover Card ending in XXXX {$9000.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX {$10000.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX {$10000.00} XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX {$10.00}, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX {$12000.00} XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX {$14000.00} XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX in XXXX {$7000.00} Total {$88000.00} I am enclosing a copy of the police report. I am also enclosing the statements that show the one charge to XXXX XXXX business. I kindly request your office to review this matter and, if appropriate, initiate any necessary steps to ensure these banks compliance with applicable laws. I also understand that, as a XXXX woman, I am a protected class for fraudulent actions. 

Here is the information I have on the person who committed this crime : XXXX XXXX XXXX Owner of business XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX WA XXXX Ph : XXXX DOB : XX/XX/XXXX Your guidance and intervention would be greatly appreciated to help me protect my consumer rights and resolve this issue in a just and timely manner. 
Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if further details or documentation are required. I can be reached at XXXX or by email at XXXX. 

Thank you very much for your attention to this pressing issue. I look forward to your response. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX : Governor XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation