“Dear Steve,
One month after my wife passed away I received a bill from a credit card company. I have never applied for a credit card and never used one. She had applied for this in my name without my knowledge. Am I responsible for this $5000 debt?
Jasper”
Dear Jasper,
First off, I’m so sorry for your loss and having to live through all of this.
This should be a fairly easy matter to take care of with a little work.
Contact the credit card company immediately and ask for the fraud department. Let them know you were the victim of identity theft. They will require you to complete a statement about the fraud.
You will probably need to provide them with a certified copy of her death certificate at some point so if you don’t have one, get one.
The bank should investigate the matter and remove you from the account. Just have some patience, it’s a bit of a strange situation so it may take the bank a bit to deal with this.
The bank may also require you to file a police report that you were a victim of identity theft. This is a normal process and if they ask you to do this, do it. The quicker you comply with the steps and requirements of the banks investigation, the quicker this will all be behind you.
Please update me on your progress by
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