Going to the mailbox is no longer fun!

Sometimes I hate to even go to my mailbox because too often it is full of things I don’t want; coupons that I never remember to have with me when I can finally use them, offers of credit cards I don’t need or want, fliers from stores, promises from businesses, and bills. I honestly don’t mind bills that I believe are really mine, if I really owe them.

However ,on regular basis, we get bills from collection agencies that really belong to some guy named John *%#@* who uses our address and phone number. We even got one of our charge cards taken away from us a few years ago because HE went bankrupt. After that we had a long break, about a seven year period I'd guess, which we never heard about him. But once that time passed, we started getting mail, and phone calls, from collection agencies once again. We even moved during that time, and somehow they, or he, traced us to our new home! I’ve told these bill collectors that we don‘t know John *%#@*, have never known him, and that he is sort of stealing our identity. Then I try to turn the tables on them and ask how we can find him! They apologize and say that they can’t share anything with me, that any information they have is confidential! They end the conversation promising that they will take our address and phone number off his accounts, and their list, and that I should call the police.

I was telling my husband about the whole thing, and he agrees with them. I should call the police so they can go to John *%#@*‘s house and talk to him, maybe even arrest him! That might be a great idea in a perfect world, but in this imperfect world, he supposedly lives HERE! And if the police try to call him, they will call US!

So I am left with no answers, only more questions. How did John *%#@* ever hook up with our information? Does he know us and we just don’t know him? Did an unscrupulous relative (yes, we do have those) give our information to him? Did he find us on the internet, or in the phone book? Who knows? And how will we ever know? And should we care about it?

Maybe we should! What if he shows up at our door, suitcase in hand, and has the proof that he does, indeed, live here! We could call the police then too, but they’d have to let him in because all his I.D. cards would prove he lives HERE, with US! (John *%#@*, if you are reading this, please do not do that!)

It’s all a mystery, and though he is stealing our address and phone number, I guess John *%#@* isn’t really stealing our identity. Yet? Right? So you see what I go through? That is just one of the problems that comes through our mailbox. We all might as well suck it up and realize that the mail box is no longer a fun place to go. Gone are the days of ‘birthday’ cards, ‘miss you’ cards, or ‘have a happy day’ cards. All those are sent through the internet now. Money isn’t going to float out of your mailbox, no fragrant envelopes will freshen the inside, and no fun packages will pop out. Identity theft, (along with address and phone number theft,) is on the rise; and so it seems, for us at least, is getting a mailbox full of collection notices for John *%#@*!