Anyone done something secretly that has resulted in a big fallout for someone else

[Worriedsickmostofthetime]

Hard to describe in the title only.
But basically somewhere in some system somewhere my credit profile or at least parts of it got mixed up with my DH ex wife. It must have something to do with his name, our addresses or even possibly she has been using some of our details or her previous details which are common with us when opening clothing / retail accounts. I can’t be sure how this happened but I started to get collection phone calls and text messages from debt collection agencies and lawyers. Money and debt had been one of the reasons my husband and her divorced 12 years ago and my husband had settled her debts as part of their settlement but it appears that a leopard never changes its spots. Initially I just explained that it wasn’t me and gave her phone number and asked them to amend their system. But it persisted and eventually when I was trying to open a mobile phone contract my credit score was being affected by these debts that were not mine. So the next time I got a phone call, I gave them her new husbands contact details…

I now hear from my adult SD that her mom and step dad are sleeping in separate rooms because they are having money troubles. Seems the debt is in the hundreds of thousands and he didn’t know.

I don’t feel guilty but only I know that I am the leak…

You protected yourself. It wasn't malicious OP. It can have serious consequences when someone fucks around with your credit score.

And there are probably people posting on here, scratching their heads and saying 'how does she afford it all?'

Sounds like she’s committing fraud. Good for you.

It wasn’t malicious and I did it out of lack of options because no one was interested in the fact that it wasn’t my debt. These debt collection agencies are persistent and I’m sure they get paid on a recovery basis so the debt is just a line on a list of defaulters that get passed through to a call centre to recover.

She really has never been very nice to me and has put my DH through financial hell so I can’t say I’m displeased at the outcome.

How can you be the only possibility of her new H finding out? He could have found bills, collections, or just got suspicious of how she was affording stuff. She could have confessed to him, who knows. There are loads of ways he might have found out.

I would focus more on your own credit file and make sure everything is taken off, then lock down your credit scores so nobody can take anything out in your name or add anything without your permission. If you get a ding on your report and your credit score falls, even if it turns out to have been fraud or identity theft or just a mix-up on their end, it can take a surprising amount of time for it to drop off your credit report and your score to recover.

www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education/preventing-fraud/security-freeze/

The timing of their fallout and the age of the debt would suggest that it was me giving them his details that led to him finding out. Also, the calls to me have stopped. But yes, there are other possibilities.