I have spent the past 10 days logging 5000 kms of driving to move my son into graduate school. We had an interesting experience with establishing a bank account that speaks volumes about the importance of personal relationships over the anonymity of the internet.
My son had tried to open an account on-line but in the bank’s zeal to protect against identity theft, it ended up blacklisting him and he was told that the bank did not want him as a customer. He was told that the bank was doing this to protect the real Alex Goldberg.
So, they are supposedly issuing a cashier’s cheque to refund his initial deposit. That will take 2-3 weeks, while they sit on his money.
We went into a real branch and spoke to a real manager who is working to really protect the real Alex Goldberg and undo the smirch on his credit file.
This is an interesting case where my son was harmed by identity theft, without his identity ever being stolen! None of these problems would have occurred had he simply waited an extra few days to show up at the bank in person.
We’ll see how long it takes for the full resolution. Stay tuned!
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identity theft