When Axton Betz-Hamilton set up her first utility bill at college, she soon realized something was very, very wrong.
It turned out she’d been a victim of identity theft—and it had destroyed her credit rating.
In 2001, when she was a 19-year-old student, Betz-Hamilton’s new utility provider demanded a $100 security deposit to turn on her service, citing her credit score.
“I thought it was because I didn’t have enough credit,” she told Fortune. But when a copy of her credit report turned up in her mailbox six weeks later, she learned the opposite was true.
I suspect this was done to me. I found out my SS and name was used for various utilities related things back when I was a young child. When asked, my parents insisted some OTHER family members must have done it, and they never answered how the hell other family members got my SS when my parents are typically super secretive and protective of info like that.
I still don’t believe them.