Bank Of America specifically The Fraud Analysis Department denied my credit card fraud claim, and now they're trying to garnish my wages ripoff Phoenix Arizona

This is a pretty long story that I've had to tell many times, and I'll go insane if I have to do it again. I'm going to cut and paste the letter I recently sent to the bank that demands they review my case again (as I was told to do by the FTC). I tried to be as inclusive as possible, so please bear with some of the seemingly irrelevant parts. It begins below:

"This letter is for whoever reviews past fraud claims decisions. I understand that this letter and the accompanying material will probably end up in the hands of my original fraud claim investigator, Aimee Ayres, and I request that if it must, please have someone else review for an impartial decision. Aimee has spoken to me in a manner that implies she thinks I'm not being honest, and I feel that Bank of America making the correct decision hinges on whether or not another investigator reviews the case. I apologize ahead of time for the length of this letter. I'm very emotional, and I will try not to ramble and go off on tangents. I am going to describe the entire situation from when I found out about the credit card fraudulently taken out in my name by my mother, Margaret Kelso, until now. Please read the letter in its entirety. Some points may seem irrelevant, but they will be clarified later in the letter.

I graduated from college in August 2004 and decided to move back home a few days after graduation to help with the bills, as my mother had recently had surgery, went through a divorce, and if I remember correctly, didn't have a job at that time. My then and current girlfriend, Katie Thigpen, drove me from Athens, Georgia, where I attended the University of Georgia, back home to Marietta, Georgia, which was a roughly 90 mile trip. No one was home at the time. On the kitchen table I saw a piece of mail from Bank of America that had been opened, with my name on it. I looked at its contents and realized that it was a credit card statement saying I owed a couple thousand dollars. Confused, I showed it to Katie. Aghast, her mouth dropped agape and she covered it, the way people do when they see or hear something awful. She explained to me that one night a few months prior she, her best friend Traci [I removed her last name, which was in the original letter], and my mother went out drinking. Somehow their conversation got around to me and, ahem, how cheap I am.

At some point during this conversation my mother told them that she opened a card in my name to help build my credit, but for them not to tell me about it because I'd kill her if I knew about it. This would be because she'd once mentioned to me that I should open a card for occasional purchases in order to build my credit, and I told her that I did not want to. Katie and Traci did not tell me, as they felt my mother was trying to help me. I was furious at Katie for not mentioning the card to me, but she explained that she honestly thought it would be good for me, especially being the cheap kid that I am, for someone to try to build my credit, and I couldn't really blame her for believing my mother's stated intentions. Just to emphasize, here we have an admission of fraud and two witnesses.

After hearing Katie's explanation I was so angry that I decided to not move back in, and to go back to Athens (my arrival to Marietta and subsequent departure lasted no longer than an hour) to live with Katie. Before leaving, I left a note on the kitchen counter that said (this was a while ago, so my memory might've changed a word or two): What is this? Pay it off and close the card down immediately. I did not speak to my mother for a few months, and did not see the card as my issue but rather hers. I did not check up on the card. I was nave and uninformed when it came to credit cards, and obviously did not know what kind of effect this could possibly have on my future. I had nothing to do with it, in my eyes, and figured my mother would do the right thing.

Once again, I naively trusted in a mother's love for her child. I repeat, I thought of the card as my mother's problem and not mine, which is why I didn't look into the card any further. I knew nothing about it, and as far as I was concerned I had nothing to do with it.

I figured that my mother took care of everything, so after a couple of months I called my mother to speak with her and patch things up. I decided that I wasn't going to mention the card because I didn't want to be angry at her anymore and I didn't feel it would be constructive. Not only that, but I have a difficult time discussing painful things, and I only wanted to put everything behind me. We never mentioned the card to each other, and I understood it to be a silent truce on the matter.

A short while afterwards (something like a matter of days) I learned the perils of credit cards and bad credit from a friend. Like I said, I knew nothing of credit and was only a nave kid that didn't fully grasp the situation. This prompted me to check up on the card to see if it was paid off and shut down. I called Bank of America and a representative let me know that it was neither paid off nor shut down. I had the representative shut it down and became furious once again. I severed ties with my mother once more, and I tried through family members to get my mother to take responsibility for the card.

I was under the impression that going to Bank of America to tell them it was fraud would end up having my mother put in jail. She was the most important person in my life up to that point, and I still hoped to one day have a loving relationship. This is why, even after finding out she hadn't paid the card off and shut it down, I attempted vigorously to settle this amicably by having her call the bank and explaining what happened. Once again, a child's nave unconditional love of his mother got in the way of what was the technically accurate way of handling the situation.

In January of 2005 I moved to Chicago with Katie and lived in my father's house so we could get on our feet, get jobs, and get an apartment. I'd tried for a couple months to prod my mother into doing the right thing, and the attempt failed. I finally decided that action needed to be taken to clear my name, lest the bad credit stemming from this card affect my ability to get jobs that required credit checks and my ability to get an apartment.

I filed the fraud claim and didn't hear back for a few months. I didn't get as in depth on my original claim as I am here, as I thought the simple, most relevant facts would speak for themselves and it would be cleared up without a hassle. You cannot imagine the horror, heartache, confusion and anger I felt when I received the letter explaining that my claim had been denied. Aimee Ayres claimed payment arrangements and prior knowledge of account in order to deny my claim. It seems that the innocuous letter I left my mother completely eradicated the fact that credit card fraud took place and placed sole responsibility of the card and debt on my shoulders. Only in some weird banking newspeak would a letter basically stating I don't know what's up with this card or why you fraudulently opened it in my name, but you better pay it off and close it, mean Oh sure! I don't mind, let me pay it off. Sorry for those pesky payment arrangements I had you on, and I definitely had prior knowledge of this account.

I'd like to break it down a little bit. First off, we'll discuss the mammoth prior knowledge I had of the account. It was opened in August 2003, and I found out about it in August 2004, after the card had been maxed out. This much was told to Aimee Ayres. I had absolutely no knowledge of any purchases made with the card and I had no knowledge of its existence until the card limit was used up and the card was nothing but a useless piece of plastic. I have a theory as to why Aimee decided to use prior knowledge of the account to deny my claim when I explicitly told her that I did not. I believe that Aimee thinks I'm lying; or, rather, she wants to give off the impression she thinks I'm being dishonest but actually believes it would be more expedient to deny the claim if she made it look like she thinks I'm lying. She asked me something to the effect of If you didn't know about the card, why is there a purchase in Athens, Georgia, where you lived? Now, any honest and logical person that has looked at the credit card statements to see where the purchases were made can only come to one of three conclusions about Aimee Ayres after having asked me a question such as the one she asked me above:

1. Aimee is unable to comprehend that purchases can be made with credit cards over the phone, and she also thinks that it is impossible for people to go specifically from Marietta, GA to Athens, GA and make purchases with a credit card (you will understand why I say specifically' in a moment) and make purchases on a credit card,

2. Aimee thinks I'm the awesomest family member ever, buying things for my sister in Illinois, funding my mother's road trips to Virginia, paying for my mother's forays into Victoria's secret, subsidizing her many nights out at bars, credit be damned, while I'm living off of a diet of potatoes, eggs and ramen in Athens, and that I decided to change my mind about everything, lie while crying CREDIT CARD FRAUD! and decide to never speak to my mother again just for the hell of it, or

3. Aimee is dishonestly faux-disbelief posturing and picking nits by using the fact that a couple purchases were made in Athens to deny my fraud claim.

Getting back to why I used the word specifically' earlier, I used it because a cursory look at the credit card statements shows that my mother made purchases in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, and for the love of god, there's even a purchase in Bangkok. (I'll let you sit on the fact that the majority of purchases were made in Marietta, where my mother lives, and neighboring towns.) I'm pretty sure that Aimee doesn't actually believe I'm touring the country (plus a quick stop in Bangkok) when I should be in class. Apparently there was a purchase in Baxter Street Bookstore, an Athens, GA store that specializes in college textbooks. My mom was no stranger to purchasing textbooks for her children over the phone with credit cards. A glance at the credit card statements will also show a purchase made at the Triton College Bookstore in River Grove, Illinois, where my sister was going to college at the time.

Using Aimee's prior logic, my sister must have known that the card was mine as well, which I assure you she didn't. Other purchases in Athens are as easily explained away. There was a purchase at the Pita Pit in Athens. My mother came to Athens for my induction into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, and said she would treat me and Katie out to lunch. I probably don't need to say this, but I chose to eat at the Pita Pit. I believe there are purchases at Happy China and Kroger in Athens.

I don't remember being with my mother when those purchases were made, but, obviously, being with her was never a prerequisite for her to make purchases with the credit card she fraudulently took out in my name. Also, I have plenty of people that will attest for me when I say that I am not such a philanthropist as to get a credit card and flip out buying people things, and that I'm not such a lunatic as to subsequently completely deny that it happened. The only option that makes sense here is number 3, that it is actually Aimee that is being dishonest. More on that later.

Now I'd like to discuss payment arrangements. Again, no honest and logical person can look at the full story and walk away saying Oh, duh, payment arrangements were made with his mother. Case closed, the card is his responsibility. It stuns me to this day (it's been almost a year that I received the letter stating my fraud claim was denied) that me absolving myself of any responsibility of the credit card fraudulently taken out in my name and a card of which I had no idea of its existence and placing the responsibility where it belongs can somehow be twisted and spun into a mangled, bastardized version that places full responsibility of the card on me. Yes, I have heard from Aimee that I should've turned her in right away.

I would wager a good deal that most people with a normal relationship with their mother would not immediately turn in their mother under these circumstances, and would instead try to convince her to pay it off so relations can be normal. I was a nave, credit card-ignorant kid that loved his mother dearly. I've wised up a great deal about how cutthroat people and businesses can be when it's in their interest, but that does not stop me from feeling completely exploited, both by my mother and by Aimee Ayres, who apparently works solely in the interest of Bank of America, justice and Tim Colletti's life be damned so long as you get the money that ends up being a write-off anyway.

Aimee took a note I scribbled on some napkin that in no way can be construed as me taking responsibility for the credit card, and somehow construed it as me taking full responsibility of the card and accompanying debt, credit annihilation, and whatever plentiful and sundry problems that arise from them. Keeping with the theme of honesty and logic, no honest and logical person can look at the situation and claim what Aimee did was right.

Moving on. Aimee told me it was now a civil matter between me and my mother, and after many tear-filled conversations with Aimee, I decided there was no point in speaking with someone implying that I was being dishonest. She did, however, tell me that Bank of America would help with furnishing any information in a future court case. I figured this to be a good thing, as Aimee had already admitted that she looked at the credit card receipts and said that they were not my signatures, a fact I figured would be a slam-dunk in any court case. She also told me that the only way I could get this card off my back through Bank of America is if I was able to get my mom to admit, in writing, that she fraudulently got the card in my name. I probably don't have to mention how that turned out.

Like I've been stating, I was nave about many things, so I did not know exactly how to go about clearing my name. I went to the Addison, Illinois (where I was living at the time) to find out what to do. They said they couldn't help me and that I had to call the police station in town it happened. So, I called the Marietta, Georgia police station and spoke with a detective. I told him that Bank of America said they would help supply information that would be useful in a court case. He wanted to speak to my fraud investigator before he went forward with the case, so I gave him Aimee's number.

I hadn't heard back from him in a while, so I called him back a few days later. He told me that after speaking with Aimee, he decided that he did not want to investigate any further. I don't know what the conversation was like between Aimee and the detective, but she must have laid it on pretty thick in order for him to not only decide to not investigate the case, but to also not even call me back to tell me as much. After this, I went into a deep depression and tried to ignore everything that had to do with the credit card. I don't remember the exact amount of time I stayed like this, but I believe it at least spanned a couple months. A friend that knew of the story a while back emailed me and asked me how everything went with the credit card, and I told him the whole miserable story. He referred me to the FTC website through his email.

After perusing the links he sent me, I decided to call the Federal Trade Commission (and I have a case on file with them about this) and explained the situation. The lady I spoke with assured me that I am in no way responsible for purchases made on a credit card that I did not authorize. This was a fact that Aimee Ayres neglected to mention. There's nothing showing I authorized the card or any purchases (me being with my mother when she purchased something with a credit card in my name that I had no idea existed doesn't count, no matter how much Aimee wants it to), but a whole lot of receipts without my signature on them.

There's also a whole lot of me denying any connection with the card and a whole lot of me fighting tooth and nail. There's also a whole lot of different stories my mother has given people that question her about the card, including 1. I knew about the card and just forgot, 2. She needed the money badly after the divorce, 3. I knew about the card but I'm lying, and of course, my favorite, 4. She was trying to build my credit. Any excuse she wants to pull out of the air will never explain away the fact that she didn't pay it off and now I'm suffering because of it, but I just wanted to give you a taste of what's happening on her side. I apologize for getting off track.

The FTC gave me a list of things to do and papers to get together to send back to you guys to review my case (the packet you're looking at), and it all began with me getting a police report. I explained that I wasn't able to get one when I tried, and she told me that it was a law that police officers have to take police reports on identity theft in the victim's home jurisdiction. At this point I had my own apartment in Oak Park, Illinois (luckily, the card didn't start affecting my credit before I tried to get an apartment), so I went to the police station there.

I came across an extraordinarily angry-for-no-reason officer that seemed to not know what he was talking about when it came to identity theft and credit card fraud (and he actually didn't, as I found out later) and refused to write a police report. After arguing for a few minutes I got up to leave in tears. I took down his badge number and his name because I knew I was mistreated. I came back at a later date and demanded a different officer. He was infinitely more helpful, and told me that I need some more information in order for him to complete the report.

So I tried getting all the information I could get out of Bank of America. I have also supplied copies of the correspondence between me and various Bank of America representatives in order to showcase the gigantic bureaucratic web I was ensnared in while attempting to gather information I could use on a police report. I suggest reading it over, as it shows that I haven't been sitting on my hands for the past year in regards to this credit card fraud case.

Right before this correspondence happened, I tried calling the bank to see if I could find someone to help supply information. Attempt after attempt concluded with me on the phone with Aimee Ayres, a person I knew would get me nowhere. Even though she told me she would help supply information that I could use in a court case, she did nothing to help me. I desperately needed information for a police report, and I continually ran into the road block that is Aimee Ayres, who, as experience taught me, was willing to actually stifle my progress in the case (Marietta Police Department). Moreover, she actually had the iron nerves to remind me of the fact.

I told her that I needed information for a police report, and she went out of her way to say (not quite an exact quote, but close enough to get the point across), Remember, I already spoke with a police officer about the case and he decided to not investigate it any further. To be honest, it was the precise moment after she finished that sentence that I lost what little respect I had for her. I don't know what she hoped to accomplish with that gigantic spit in my face other than to piss me off, but if it was solely to piss me off, she succeeded. Anyway, at one point I asked if I could get it in writing that she looked at the receipts and determined they weren't my signatures, and of course she said no.

To be more precise, I think it was something closer to absolutely not. I asked for copies of the receipts that would obviously not contain my signature, but apparently you can't request a copy of a receipt if it's been more than six months past the date of purchase. I'm not sure whether that was a stone lie or not, but she seemed to not have any problems getting copies of the receipts at some point during her investigation, sometime between January and March of 2005, when, looking at this stack of statements here, the last purchase credited to this card was May 31, 2004, well past the six month deadline propped up as an excuse to deny me copies of the receipts.

After getting nowhere with her I tried other means on the internet to make sure I wouldn't end up at another dead end, the results of which I have sent you. I wrote that if I could not get information for a police report, I demand copies of the correspondence showing exactly how the bureaucracy at Bank of America was having me move at a snail's pace, or not at all. I was prepared to go back to the police with a fistful of proof that nothing can be done in the way of getting information on this card.

I received the FedEx'd correspondence, but not before someone, who apparently didn't get the memo demanding not to help Tim Colletti in any useful way, sent me an email saying, However, as Aimee has been able to verify that the signatures were not yours on the receipts viewed, we suggest contacting our Fraud Analysis team [Incidentally, and this wasn't in the original letter, this same e-mail said that the actions did indeed constitute "credit card fraud" on my mother's part]That was the only useful piece of information I was able to get, and I hoped it was enough. A copy of this email is enclosed.

I went back to the Oak Park Police Station to file my report, many, many months in the making, and I actually got an officer that specializes in identity theft. He told me that the other officers I came in contact with had no idea what they were talking about, and that many just don't quite understand the laws in this area, which is why I wasn't able to get anywhere. He didn't even need the information that I had tried to accrue for so long. He wrote the report, and I filed a Freedom of Information Act in order to obtain a copy, which has been sent along to you.

On a humorous side note, as I write this my mother is sitting in jail for probation violation. I have spoken to my mother's probation officer numerous times over the past week and I have mentioned what is going on with this credit card fraud situation, and she knows the situation I'm in. She told me that I shouldn't have gone to the Marietta Police Station, but rather the Cobb County Sheriff's Office to take action, which I fully plan to do and revel in.

On a not-so-humorous side note, last week I received a call from someone in an attorney's office telling me that they're going to try to garnish my wages because of this card. Can you imagine that? I've done absolutely nothing, and now I have a credit card debt, I have ruined credit, I can never speak to my mother again, I'm depressed, I'm in this never-ending saga and trying painfully to clear my name, and now I might get money unjustly taken from my paycheck.

But there is a silver lining of sorts. I also have nothing more to lose. If I Bank of America doesn't take this card, this debt, and this ruined credit off my back I'm going to throw everything I can at you to make this as expensive as possible. I have no doubt that my name will be cleared in the future through whatever mechanisms I have to use, but it would obviously be easier on me, and you, if you took care of this now. But if it's a fight you're looking for, I won't back down. I will pawn all of my possessions and hire a lawyer. I'll go back to the FTC. I'll go to the Better Business Bureau. I'll go to the press. This is just a case of some bureaucrat in some office in Phoenix ruining the life of someone that did nothing.

I know that whoever is reading this is emotionally detached from the situation. I honestly feel that this case could've been rightly decided by something as simple as someone else having been in charge of it. This is not right. I'm an honest, hardworking kid that graduated summa c*m laude and is supposed to begin law school next fall so I can become a public interest lawyer. I haven't done anything wrong.

Enclosed should be a copy of the police report from the Oak Park Police Station, a front and back copy of my driver's license, and a copy of my visa. I wanted to send this out as soon as possible, so I hope that my Social Security number and visa are a good enough substitute for a copy of my Social Security card. I was looking through a bunch of stuff in storage and came across my visa first. If this is an issue that can only be resolved with precisely a copy of my Social Security card, or if you need any more verification, I will be happy to supply it. I'm pretty sure that this should be enough verification, considering how much less was needed for my mother to open a credit card in my name. Also enclosed is the aforementioned correspondence."


That's the end of the letter. They're actually trying to take me to court to garnish my wages, something I'm not sure they can do if I've disputed the debt numerous times. If you've waded through this letter and retained the relevant information, thank you. What they did and what they're doing is not right. I'm having severe emotional problems about the whole thing, getting sandwiched on one side by the fact that I've lost a mother, and on the otherside by credit ruination and potential law suits, and a debt. I literally can only sleep a few hours a night because I can't stop thinking about everything. If there's any feedback this site can give me, I'll be eternally indebted (the good kind)

Tim
Oak Park, Illinois
U.S.A.

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