My paranoid jerk of an ex-husband decided to get several internet accounts using fake names and addresses, so he can’t be traced if he does something questionable. So how does he make up these fake names? He alters real names slightly. Including mine. Without my permission. Using my real current address and phone number.
Jackass
I only found out about this because one of the companies sent me a bill. He changed one letter of my first name - like that hasn’t happened before and they couldn’t trace it to me.
He’s not getting my new address when I move. I’m severing all connections with him when that happens (thank god we didn’t have children) and I’m going to cancel any accounts that I can locate that he has established.
Do y’all have any good ideas on how to locate the ISPs he might have signed up under my name?
I do not merely dance. I bewitch. I seduce. I enchant and I bewilder. Throw money.
(Gee, Wally must have seen me dance!)
Just wait for the bills to roll in. Beware of the fact that you might get screwed, though. I had an account with an ISP that I thought I cancelled, but they just kept racking up charges without letting me know for nine months. Then they sent me a bill for $180. There was nothing I could do really. I was screwed. The name of the company is Eatel and if you’re ever in the market for Internet access anywhere in Louisiana, they are a great company to avoid. Plus they have really annoying commercials!
Don’t you need a credit card in order to start these accounts? If so, call your credit card company and tell them you lost your card (and remove your ex as an authorized user if he ever was). They’ll give you a new number that he doesn’t have. If he uses the old number, it’ll be declined because it was reported stolen.
I called the ISP that I know about today (they left a message on my machine yesterday). He paid with a money order. He told me he was going to cancel the account. He told them that we had just gotten a divorce (we have been divorced for nearly a year) and changed the mother’s maiden name so I couldn’t change the account. I had a nice long talk with the legal department explaining the situation and pointing out that they would be accountable for anything he did, and I gave them his real name, address, and phone number.
He doesn’t have permission to use any of my credit cards & I’ve changed both cards since the divorce.
Here’s the kicker: he works for the government - ATF. The primary reason he did this is because he thinks that he could get fired for his internet activities if the government found out. Whether or not this is true, I highly suspect that he could get fired for what he just did. I don’t want to call the police just yet, because I don’t want to get him fired - not that I care about what happens to him, I just don’t want to get into a revenge war. (He has far too many guns for me to win something like that)
I think my best bet in dealing with him is simply going to be severing relations.
I do not merely dance. I bewitch. I seduce. I enchant and I bewilder. Throw money.
(Gee, Wally must have seen me dance!)
Yes, girls, always check the guy’s gun collection before you get too deeply involved. These guys aren’t hard to figure out if you avoid being totally blinded by love.
I’m going to recommend that you do report this to the police or some other official agency. That way, when the inevitable delinquent bills show up, you’ll have documented evidence of his activities that existed prior to the delinquency. This will give you a much stronger claim if he disputes the fact that he was responsible for these bills. Otherwise, he can create further trouble for you by saying “What internet services? That’s just my crazy ex-wife running up the bills and trying to dump them on me.” Unfortunately, some of these businesses will put the burden of proof on you.
Gotta say I agree with Nemo. When you’re dealing with something like this, your best defense is creating a paper trail. And one of the best ways of doing that is alerting the authorities. Barring that, I’d retain a lawyer (perhaps the same one who handled the divorce?) and document everything that’s happened up to this point. If things blow up in the future, you’ve got a handy one-stop refutation, instead of having to waste a lot of time recreating his activities.