This is about a CC company..

[Sea P]

Jurisdiction

Tennessee

.....

 

[Zigner]

Ok this, in my opinion, is wrong. But, I am not versed on laws well enough to know. I thought this forum might be appropiate.

OK, this all started about 2 months ago. Just know, I am going to cite the name of the CC company involved.

In March, I was looking for a credit card that offered 0% APR for a specified amount of time. I was having a surgery and didn't want to take the entire chunk out of our savings, especially during COVID times. This company offered it for 15 months. I was applying with my husband's info since he has a credit history. I do not. I'm 36 and I have never had one.

So here is where I feel, it gets a bit dangerous on the grounds of security. I asked my husband, over the phone, (he works out of town a lot) for his SSN. In the process, I wrote down 1 wrong number, i.e. a 5 where a 2 should have been. With this wrong number, I applied for a CC. After I filled out the information, I was told the acceptance was unavailable. At that time, I received an email that asked for further info because the applicant's identity could not be verified. They asked for, basically, a government ID and a SSN card. This email stated the application WOULD NOT be processed if I didn't respond in 14 days. I did not respond. To make a long story short, I have "new mom brain".

About a month later, I received a text from Capital One, copy-pasted as follows : "
Hi, your new Quicksilver credit card has shipped and should arrive by Apr 29. When you receive it, you can activate it in the Capital One Mobile app."

I applied on March 26, I think, very close if not exactly. Like I said, I did not provide the information to correct my mistake. I only found out after I received the text and went over the 'specs' for the application w my husband. Then I knew I had the numbers wrong.

Like, is this ok for the CC company to do? That is kind of scary that someone could get the SSN wrong when trying to steal an identity.

If you're wondering, I received the card at the end of April. I never talked the the company and absolutely never corrected the SSN mistake because I didn't know there was one.

Am I the only person that thinks this wrong?

I am sure that ALL of the advisors here think it's wrong that you fraudulently applied for a credit card.

 

[Sea P]

That I did?!? So it's legal for a store employee to enter your information for a store CC as the customer provides info but when I do it for my husband, who talked me through the whole ordeal, that is somehow illegal? It was 100% by proxy. It was his idea from the beginning. He told me what site to use and what his "pre-certified" number was. I am the one that pays the bills in my household, and, they have NEVER been late. I make Dr. Appointments, organize payments, handle job requests and direct his calls from customers for his business. I don't know what other people do in their marriage but my husband and I are %100 partners, in business and in life. With that said, when my husband is driving to his next job location (electrical engineer) I have, under his request, helped him do whatever he needs me to do. I am basically his secretary.

Really, in the case someone actually uses their spouse's information without them knowing, that is their own karma. If they can live with a miserable and negative existence, that's on them. I would NEVER do anything without permission from my husband and vice versa.

The only reason we asked the question, yes, WE, was because we thought it was a bit odd. We have never litigated nor have we ever planned to. Mostly, we wanted to see if it is a common occurrence because it kind of scared us.

The fact I, literally, typed letters into boxes on a website for someone who wasn't able to type doesn't make what I did, in any way illegal. And if it does, I can provide you with a list of a litny of companies that have done the SAME thing while trying to promote their store's Credit Card...

 

[adjusterjack]

I am sure that ALL of the advisors here think it's wrong that you fraudulently applied for a credit card.

Not all. I don't see any fraud here. There was no intent to take the money, not pay it back, or hide the identity of the card holder.

A mistake was made in the SS number. So what. Easily corrected with a phone call by the cardholder.

The only reason we asked the question, yes, WE, was because we thought it was a bit odd.

That the website said no but your husband got the card anyway. Not really odd. His credit history or score may have come up with just his name, DOB, and address and he was otherwise qualified.

Since the card is in your husband's name I doubt the the card company would give you the time of day if you called to correct the SS #. The card holder would have to do it. Or, you could activate the card, if you haven't already done so, and use the site's secure messaging feature to let them know about the error.

 

[zddoodah]

Like, is this ok for the CC company to do?

Like, I'm not sure what "this" refers to. Is it ok for a credit card company to decline issuance of a card because of a mistake in the applicant's SSN? Of course it is. Does "this" refer to the text message that you described about the credit card being shipped? Why would that not be "ok"?

That is kind of scary that someone could get the SSN wrong when trying to steal an identity.

Huh? Identity thieves are no less subject to making mistakes than anyone else.

If you're wondering, I received the card at the end of April. I never talked the the company and absolutely never corrected the SSN mistake because I didn't know there was one.

And what did you do once you received it?

Am I the only person that thinks this wrong?

Well...I assume it was a mistake for the company to send you the card, but no one committed any legal wrong against you.

I am sure that ALL of the advisors here think it's wrong that you fraudulently applied for a credit card.

I don't agree in the slightest that what the OP described was fraudulent. If the OP applied for a card in her husband's name, using his SSN (notwithstanding the mistake with the number), and with his knowledge and consent (all of which seemed to be implied in the original post and confirmed in the follow up), there's nothing at all fraudulent about that.

 

[adjusterjack]

See, 2 votes - no fraud.
Anybody else?

 

[Sea P]

Ok thank you. We had a thought that the company might have given someone else a card if they didn't have the most important piece of information. Or what we thought was the most important. Our main home PC was used and our address and phone # was used. We got the card and have actually not used it. It still needs to be activated.

More than anything, we worried about an identity fraud situation being easy for a perpetrator.

Thank you. You've been awesome.

 

[Tax Counsel]

See, 2 votes - no fraud.
Anybody else?

I too agree that there is nothing stated in the post that indicates fraud. Fraud requires an intent to deprive another person of money or property and the OP has not indicated she does not intend to pay the card. she ought to correct the SSN information, but apart from that I don't see a problem.

Nor do I see a problem with the CC company sending out the card. While the law prohibits a CC company from sending credit cards to people unsolicited, that is not the case here. The OP did apply for the card, and got the card. The CC hasn't done anything wrong with that.

 

[Sea P]

The SSN was corrected by the company. My husband called the day the text was received and asked about the SSN then gave them the proper #. That is how we found out it had been 'auto-corrected' by the company. No issue there, we have found life us much more rewarding when honest. =)

 

[Zigner]

Not all. I don't see any fraud here. There was no intent to take the money, not pay it back, or hide the identity of the card holder.

That's a fair enough point, except when you realize that the OP lied on the application from the get-go. I get it - she was applying on behalf of the husband, but the application she made was made as if she were the husband, not as her acting on behalf of the husband. She committed fraud when she lied on the application by saying she was another person.

 

[adjusterjack]

She committed fraud when she lied on the application by saying she was another person.

Hey, Zigner, old buddy, I was in an auto accident. My hands are in a cast and I can't type. Do me a favor and enter all of my information so I can apply for this credit card.

That's fraud????

smh

 

[Zigner]

Hey, Zigner, old buddy, I was in an auto accident. My hands are in a cast and I can't type. Do me a favor and enter all of my information so I can apply for this credit card.

That's fraud????

Based on the additional information provided by the OP, I'll step back from "fraud" - the original post that I replied to never stated that she was applying on behalf of her husband, rather, it stated that SHE was applying using her husband's info. That IS fraud. That post is quoted in my response, even though the OP deleted her own post.

 

[zddoodah]

That's a fair enough point, except when you realize that the OP lied on the application from the get-go. I get it - she was applying on behalf of the husband, but the application she made was made as if she were the husband, not as her acting on behalf of the husband.

Really? Why do you think it's "fraud" for a wife to apply for a credit card on her husband's behalf, and with his knowledge and consent? Is there a statute or case that says this? What does it mean that "the application she made was made as if she were the husband," and how is that different than "her acting on behalf of the husband"? Where in the application process could or should she have disclosed that it wasn't the husband physically making the application, but rather, the wife doing it with the husband's knowledge and consent?

She committed fraud when she lied on the application by saying she was another person.

Huh? Can you provide a screen shot that demonstrates that she expressly lied and said she was another person?

the original post that I replied to never stated that she was applying on behalf of her husband, rather, it stated that SHE was applying using her husband's info. That IS fraud.

No, it's not. The original post could reasonably be interpreted as an admission of fraud, but it also could reasonably be interpreted as completely innocent, and it's a bit odd that you assumed the fraudulent intent, without apparently considering that it could have been completely innocent, and jumped to an accusation without making any effort to address the OP's questions.

 

[Tax Counsel]

That's a fair enough point, except when you realize that the OP lied on the application from the get-go. I get it - she was applying on behalf of the husband, but the application she made was made as if she were the husband, not as her acting on behalf of the husband. She committed fraud when she lied on the application by saying she was another person.

No. Remember, fraud isn't just giving false information, e.g. impersonating some other person here. It is doing that with the intent to defraud. There is no indication here that she and her husband intended to defraud the credit card issuer. All indications so far are that they intend to pay any charges they make to the card. So where is the loss to the issuer and thus the fraud? I'm not seeing it.

 

[Zigner]

No. Remember, fraud isn't just giving false information, e.g. impersonating some other person here. It is doing that with the intent to defraud. There is no indication here that she and her husband intended to defraud the credit card issuer. All indications so far are that they intend to pay any charges they make to the card. So where is the loss to the issuer and thus the fraud? I'm not seeing it.

Based on the original post, that information, while possibly inferred, was not actually available. As I said, I stepped back from the original statement.