MASSILLON, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SubscriberWise®, a leading provider of analytics driven subscriber decision management technology and the nation’s largest issuing consumer reporting agency for the communications industry, announced today that the company president has alerted an Ohio lawmaker and a Common Pleas Judge of serious frauds involving probate name changes, credit identities, and the national credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
According to SubscriberWise, the scheme dupes consumers, creditors, banks, and institutions everywhere. Because of an absence of legal duties for individuals in virtually every state and because of technology weaknesses in the credit system, the fraud is almost never caught or exposed. In the U.S.A., it’s a federal crime to:
- lie on a credit or loan application
- misrepresent one’s Social Security number
- obtain an EIN from the IRS under false pretenses.
Listen to a consumer’s failed effort to manipulate SubscriberWise’s David Howe after concealing a court approved name change and obtaining a false credit file: http://subscriberwise.com/media/Name_change.wav.
“On behalf of the adult credit consuming population and, in particular, honest consumers struggling with difficult credit circumstances everywhere, I’m outraged by the brazen and deliberate credit scams perpetuated by manipulative individuals who have successfully petitioned Ohio courts to change their name and then – almost instantaneously – walk away from extremely adverse credit files,” stated David Howe, president of SubscriberWise. “I’ve contacted Senator Oelslager’s office to inform and educate him about this insidious scheme. I have high expectations for the Senator to update Ohio laws and stop this scam in its tracks. I hope other states follow our lead and pass laws to close this loophole. Perhaps SubscriberWise will petition Congress for federal action if successful in Ohio.
"Last year I met with The Honorable Elinore Marsh Stormer and her court administration in Akron, Ohio,” continued Howe. “I exposed every detail of the scam, including a review of audio files involving the fraudulent application for credit. I demonstrated to the court administrators how extremely adverse credit files are circumvented with ‘fresh’ credit reports and favorable FICO scores in a matter of days or weeks. Judge Stormer and the others had no idea the scheme existed,” recalled Howe. “However, each recognized the serious threat and agreed there should be changes.
"The fraud is instigated following a legal change of name and subsequent applications for credit - almost immediately after the court grants the petitioner’s request,” concluded Howe. “Although it would be imprudent and unethical for me to explain the processes of this fraud in detail, I certainly can provide several solutions that I know will have a positive and immediate impact to this problem. I’m prepared and looking forward to working with Senator Oelslager.”
About SubscriberWise
SubscriberWise® launched as the first U.S. issuing consumer reporting agency exclusively for the cable industry in 2006. In 2009, SubscriberWise and TransUnion announced a joint marketing agreement for the benefit of America's independent cable operators. Today SubscriberWise is a risk management preferred-solutions provider for the National Cable Television Cooperative.
SubscriberWise contributions to the communications industry are today quantified in the tens of millions of dollars annually.
David Howe is founder and president of SubscriberWise. He is also a consultant and credit manager for MCTV. At MCTV, Howe manages the bad debt and equipment losses on annual sales in excess of $60 million. During his 18-year career at MCTV, Howe has reviewed more than 50,000 credit submissions. His interest in credit began in 1986 while a 17-year-old student in high school.
SubscriberWise is a U.S.A. federally registered trademark of the SubscriberWise Limited Liability Co.
