As a wee baby consumer, Kodi’s parents taught her that credit cards are terrible things that she should avoid. She did her best, avoiding credit cards, but wasn’t able to stay away completely. Not because of any failure of her willpower, but because somehow Bank of America applied for and obtained a credit card on her behalf without her asking for it–or even knowing about it.

She writes:

So I go to my local Bank of America branch to sit down with my banker to go over my account and update some information, and while were going over my records she sees that I apparently had a credit card opened back in 2006 when I got out of college. She said it was strange though that it was only opened for 15 days and then closed and never used. I did go in around that time and open a checking and savings account, but I do not remember signing up for a credit card (I was taught by my parents that they were terrible things and to stay away). I was told I would have to call BOA when I got home to find out more information.

I called and was told that they were going to dig in the archives to find more information and a copy of the application and that it would be mailed to me. Two months later I still had nothing, so I called back, to find out that they told me they were not able to find a copy. Instead of mailing me a letter to say that, they just never sent anything. I call back again and spend almost 3 hours on the phone being transferred back and forth to 5 different departments trying to find someone to help me figure out how I was signed up for this card. After all of that, no one can tell me.

I was afraid that somehow a teller could just sign me up if they wanted to, probably to get perks for getting new customers. I was told that these applications are kept in the BOA archives for 7 years, however due to circumstances that they cant seem to figure out, my information is missing, and it hasn’t been 7 years.

I got the fraud department involved and an investigation went underway. Got contacted yesterday by them saying that they have no information, cant find any information on how I signed up for this card, and that there was nothing they could do. Got escalated to a fraud supervisor, who in turn pretty much confirmed that what I thought may have happened could very well have. She said they had a problem with tellers signing up customers for credit cards without customer knowledge because they were getting perks at the bank.

So in the end, my bank told me that someone can just sign me up for a credit card without my knowledge, and that there is no way for them to track it. I asked if I wanted to get the police involved would I perhaps be able to get to the bottom of it, and they told me no, because there would be no evidence for them to look at and use. This is my life, and things like this can affect my credit score for a long time. HOW CAN MY BANK LET THIS HAPPEN??

This is why it’s a good idea to check your credit report for erroneous or fraudient things done in your name: use the Federal Trade Commission’s annualcreditreport.com to look for things that

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