Nothing like a supposed attorney to mess up my holiday.

[treehugger1]

Go to veromi.com and type in your name and other relevant info. You'll see all kinds of stuff. If you want more, you'll need to pay, but generally veromi will give you a clue what may be out there on you.

[mamaluv]

Go to veromi.com and type in your name and other relevant info. You'll see all kinds of stuff. If you want more, you'll need to pay, but generally veromi will give you a clue what may be out there on you.

I went to this site just to check it out...it has my mom and siblings listed (my bro's age is off by 12 years! )....and one other person listed as a possible relative that I've never heard of lol Michael J you are my long lost brother!!!!!!!!!

[liz417]

I went to this site just to check it out...it has my mom and siblings listed (my bro's age is off by 12 years! )....and one other person listed as a possible relative that I've never heard of lol Michael J you are my long lost brother!!!!!!!!!

LOL!!! That may be the "family secret" no one ever told you about!

[albacore44]

Go to veromi.com and type in your name and other relevant info. You'll see all kinds of stuff. If you want more, you'll need to pay, but generally veromi will give you a clue what may be out there on you.

Yes, I tried them, and all it shows is my wife, and son no one else. Both live with me.

My MIL also lives with us, small Casita in back yard same residense address, but own phone # . She said she got a couple of calls asking for my wife, she just told them sorry, don't know that person. She has a listed Ph # so they tracked it to the address.i'm sure.

[GoingDown]

I have a hard time believing that. I have 2 brothers that live nowhere close to me, I rarely have contact and they are unlisted and live a somewhat nomadic life. I have a mother married 5 times so her name has changed consistantly, is unlisted and uses a boyfriends cell phone . My stepmother in an assisted living home and you have to go through a switchboard to get to her, and my dad is dead. all are unlisted. i have checked every database I could find on the Internet and none of them show any linkage to me of any kind.So if they get through to one of them, I will be quite suprised.

Well, believe it or not, some (not all) collection agencies pay for a software program that will allow them to simply punch in your SS # and get the phone numbers and addresses of your relatives, your inlaws, and your neighbors. I saw this on a Dateline NBC show about collection agencies.

But simply being proactive by sending them a simple Cease and Desist Communications letter in the mail will generally stop them from calling you (both at home and at work) and your relatives, inlaws, and neighbors. After dealing with over 26 different collection agencies, I can honestly say that it works most of the time. It's cheap, easy, and effective.

And I have only been sued by one creditor, so, contrary to popular belief, most of the time it does NOT cause them to sue you.

[treehugger1]

I don't doubt that it's possible to type in a person's SS number and get information. LexisNexis works this way. They do have to pay for the service. However, as already noted, it is unlikely that all teh information they claim to "know" about you has all been verified. I'm connected with folks I've never heard of. They have addreses and all kinds of other incorrect information.

The best source of information is your original credit application, and it is possible for a CA or JDB to get such info from the OC. On the other hand, if your application was from a long time ago, I doubt your original refrences are still valid addresses and phone numbers if your family has moved a great deal.

[LuciluS]

I don't doubt that it's possible to type in a person's SS number and get information. LexisNexis works this way. They do have to pay for the service. However, as already noted, it is unlikely that all teh information they claim to "know" about you has all been verified. I'm connected with folks I've never heard of. They have addreses and all kinds of other incorrect information.

The best source of information is your original credit application, and it is possible for a CA or JDB to get such info from the OC. On the other hand, if your application was from a long time ago, I doubt your original refrences are still valid addresses and phone numbers if your family has moved a great deal.

Me Too! They've got my DIL listed, but other people I have no clue who they are.

Luci

[albacore44]

Well like I said, my 72 year old mother has been married 5 times, lived in Mexico for a while, now seperated, living with a boyfriend who only has a cell and changes the # all the time. My stepmother lives in assisted living apts, all calls go through a switchboard, she is unlisted and i have found no ties to me in any database i have searched. i have never used either for any applications, so if they were to get a hold of them, they are pretty darn crafty. now neighbors would be easy since those on both sides of me are listed.

[treehugger1]

That's why CSI and all the other "forensic" law enforcement shows are called "fictional" dramas! LOL.

In my state alone, there are dozens of folks with my first and last name. When I go into the Oregon Department of Justice Information Network, (up-to-date court criminal and civil matters, dating back nearly 20 years,) I can see dozens of folks with my same name with judgments, traffic court appearances, divorces, etc. I'm guessing the lexis web crawler search engine picks up all kinds of foreign unrelated info and simply tags it to your name.

Now, as mentioned earlier, if you and/or family have remain rooted in the same location/address for years, the probability of someone contacting you, friends, or relatives is probably very high. If you have moved a great deal and your friends, family, or relatives have moved several times since original application, then the probability has to decrease for any database keeping up with you.

One very important database is your credit report. I have had a PO Box for 13+ years, and the only other address on my credit reports is one that I have no knowledge of. At one time, I was going to dispute this error, but I kind of like having the false address as it is reported. The PO boxes are harder to acquire these days (after 9/11), as they want all kinds of personal info about you. I guess I was grandfathered into a older system somehow.

As far as contacting neighbors, I've always lived in neighborhoods with high turnover rates. I seriously doubt anyone calling nearby neighbors of old addresses would lead to anyone knowing and/or remembering me. I do have a high-profile job with a state agency, and I could always be easily served at my office, but I think this would be the last resort for most CA's and/or JDB's.

I'm not trying to hide from anyone, but it seems clear that measures I took 3 years ago have made it difficult for anyone to contact me via phone and/or US certified mail. Perhaps the most important step I took was several years ago when I called one of the 800numbers on the back of an unsolicited CC mail. The opt-out option is highly recommended. I've used it on every financial paper I've been involved with the past 5-7 years. This keeps CC's, internet accounts, banks, etc from ever sharing non-public information about you.