Consumer complaint received 2025-07-20 00:00:00
Product: Credit card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card — Card opened without my consent or knowledge
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
In 2018, my father used my identity without consent to open a Discover credit card. He had full access to my Social Security number, address history, and financial information. Discover was repeatedly notified that the account was fraudulent. Pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ), I formally requested all documentation required to validate the debt, including the original application, proof of identity, and any authorizations. Discover failed to provide any of these, violating their statutory obligation to investigate. They only provided the transaction history. 

I independently analyzed that history and cross-referenced it with my own verified financial statements, travel records, and photographic evidence containing time-stamped location metadata. These records prove I was in different states or countries when the charges occurred. I also identified charges made at locations likely to retain security footage ( liquor stores, gas stations, grocery stores ) to further disprove my involvement. I compiled extensive evidence to submit, but Discover refused to review it and ignored all offers to provide documentation. 

The individual who committed the fraud confessed directly to Discover on a recorded call. Over the course of multiple recorded calls, Discover acknowledged that I did not open the account and knew who opened and used the account, yet told me that they decided to hold me responsible despite that knowledge. They refused to conduct a reinvestigation, continued to attempt collection, and harassed me through repeated phone calls to the point of breakdown. They exploited my then-limited understanding of credit law to attempt to coerce me into accepting responsibility for a debt they knew I did not incur, pressured me to pay, rejected payment from the actual perpetrator, all while reporting the account late despite the fraud reports. They also at one point agreed, again on a recorded line, to transfer the account and remove it from my name, and to begin accepting payments from the perpetrator ( who was cooperating and continually admitting full responsibility ) to bring it current, only to reverse that position and falsely deny ever making such an agreement, and again continuing to report it late and later charge off the account. 

Discover was fully aware that I was experiencing ongoing financial and emotional abuse by the perpetrator, my parent, which made me particularly vulnerable when I first reported the fraud and over the course of the many months that I continued contacting them to resolve this. Rather than protecting me as a victim, Discover used my vulnerability against me, while knowingly reporting false information. 

Despite the direct confession, overwhelming evidence, additional evidence offered, and multiple disputes with Discover and all three credit bureaus, they charged off the account and have continued to report it monthly as charged off and 90+ days delinquent for several years. Additionally, no 1099-C was ever issued. 

Their continued reporting has caused severe and ongoing damage to my credit, dropping my score from over XXXX to the XXXX, and leading to denials for housing, credit approvals, and limit increases. Ive had to rely on co-signers for basic necessities and remain in a constant state of anxiety and emotional distress. Discovers willful noncompliance with federal law and their continued reporting of known false information has caused irreparable financial and personal harm. 

I am also filing formal complaints against all three credit bureaus for failing to conduct reasonable investigations into my repeated disputes of this fraudulent account. These ongoing violations would not have occurred if Discover had not continued furnishing false information. Their refusal to correct the record and repeatedly falsely report that the account was verified - despite knowing the account was fraudulent - directly enabled the credit bureaus to repeatedly dismiss my disputes, compounding the harm.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief