Jaci Dawn

UGH. Just before we left for Colorado, I picked up the phone on one of those stupid 1-800 calls. We never answer those because they are either telemarketers or political. But I had it in me to give “whomever” whatever. The woman asked for my husband. I explained he was out of the house and asked who she was/why she was calling. She refused to disclose this information to me.

So I told her that “this is a junk call.”

“No, ma’am, it is not a junk call.”

“Then who are you, who do you represent and why should I pass you on to my husband?”

“I cannot disclose that.”

Well, we aren’t behind on any payments (BTDT) so I told her, “Nope, this is a JUNK call” and I hung up.

She called back and left a message while we were gone. Bill collector.

WTF? Sorry about the “French” but we have paid our dues. We’re current or ahead on all of our bills at this stage in our lives. But before I would let Don call her back, I ran a quick credit check.

And He’s BAAAACK.

The man with the same name as my husband, but not the same Social Security Number.

We first encountered this man’s presence when we first moved to Portland. Someone called with a great job offer. Said they were a college roomie or something. NOT. Wrong man.

Then there was the call from the lawyer in the early 1980’s. She wanted her payment for the divorce. I laughed at her. “We haven’t been divorced,” I said with a smile on my face. “You have the WRONG phone number.”

OOPS. She quietly disappeared. And all was silent until about three years ago when we got this fat letter from the State of Washington demanding back child support. It was an interesting letter in that it included the Social Security Numbers of the man they wanted money from, his ex-wife and their two children (ironically, a boy and girl). It also included the mailing addresses of the ex-wife and the children.

Really?? I sent it all back to the State of Washington with a really nasty letter implying that they didn’t even bother to check my husband’s SSI against their information and they provided us with more than enough information for us to steal identities and commit fraud (not that I would ever want to be the other “ex” Mrs. Presley) Or her children). We never heard back from the State of Washington, not even a “oops! Thank you for catching our error.”

I check our credit report about every 12 months to 18 months. The State of Washington didn’t even appear on the credit report the last time I checked, which was after I sent the nasty letter (which I still have because I am obsessive about keeping track of details).

But our credit report on July 9th included the State of Washington for back child support. And the IRS for back taxes. For wages earned in the State of Georgia.

WTF?

I told Don to call 1) the credit bureau that showed those items and 2) the 1-800 number for the debt collector. He left messages on both sites, but the credit bureau won’t clean up our credit report for “up-to-two-months” and we’ll have to PAY to check that in November. And the 1-800 number took him to a voice mail where he left the last four of his SSI and the notation that he is *not* that person.

The 1-800 number called again the next day and Don picked up. He spoke to a live person.

“I am not the person you are looking for,” he said.

“Have you lived in Beaverton?”

“No,” he said. “That is the other person with my name.”

“Georgia?”

“Sorry, but I have only ever lived in Oregon. The last four digits of my SSI are…”

“Oh. You aren’t who we are looking for…”

DOH!

I can tell you exactly how much money this A-hole owes the State of Washington in back child support and how much he owes to IRS. It’s a lot. It’s more money than I dream of. It’s more money than we make in a year.

I really hope the IRS and the State of Washington catch up with him. I hope it almost as much as his ex-wife hopes it (she who has had to support their two children on her own income for how many years?) I really, really pray this upon the man with the same name as my husband.

Because that man is a real jerk.

And the IRS really should research SSI#’s before calling people out of the blue to say they owe taxes. We file every year. Early.

Don’t ask me what I think about the State of Washington and their searches. Idiots. Do they really think this guy would have a publicly listed phone number?

It’s almost as bad as stolen identity.