Funny thing. ALL of a SUDDEN~ some of my BILLS aren't coming in! Even more Bizarre is that 1 of my BILLS is showing that I'm making almost $600.00 a Month payment ALL BY ITSELF. I contacted the Company & they have no Explanation!! They INSIST I MUST BE MAKING THE NEARLY $600 PAYMENT. I'm NOT! So a couple bills Appear to no LONGER EXIST! And another is on MIRACULIOUS AUTO PAY. Pretty COOL huh. Geno-Ca

-- Geno-Ca (headturbo@hotmail.com), June 17, 2001

Answers

I have experienced, and heard reports of, a high incidence of pay roll and billing snafus and errors. Pay roll is typically outsourced to a large company. Snafus include erroneous electronic deposits, but my experince has been these are later reversed.

The "keep paperwork in good shape" preparation advice for "mild case Y2K" was clearly not in vain. And, keep it up. It's not over yet.

-- Robert Riggs (rxr.999@worldnet.att.net), June 17, 2001.

Geno,

I don't want to scare you, but that is one of the signs of identity fraud!

The crooks put in a postal change of address, change the address on accounts, etc. so the victim will not know what is going on as they go wild with your accounts, take out loans, etc. in your name. A payment higher than expected is also a red flag.

I strongly suggest you contact the credit reporting agencies to see if they have had a lot of credit requests that you do not know about. I am in Canada, so I cannot tell you who the credit reporting companies are in the US, but I am sure that a web search on 'identity theft' or 'identity fraud' will provide information on how to check things out and how to proceed if necessary.

It might be just computer problems or it might be very serious.

Good luck.

-- J Hunt (jhhunt@magma.ca), June 17, 2001.

Geno,

I did a quick search ... Here is a US government link that explains the problem, how to identify if it is happening and what to do about it.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idtheft.htm

-- J Hunt (jhhunt@magma.ca), June 17, 2001.