[thecapybara]

I'm not a lawyer, but I'd imagine that claiming that for cards that are legitimately yours would be considered fraud and would probably land you in more hot water than the initial debt would.

[patrick451]

The trick is you just turn it around. Don't claim the debt is not yours. Simply demand proof that it is.

[op00to]

It's only fraud if there's evidence showing you took out the debt. :)

[gosub100]

Do you really think it's that easy? Any junior investigator could examine the purchases and tie them to you. If the card was really opened fraudulently it would be easy to show that the goods were shipped somewhere completely isolated from the cardholder.

[TheCoelacanth]

Of course, but there are plenty of people who are willing to risk committing crimes if it benefits them financially.

[bee_rider]

I’m not sure specifically what context we’re talking about. In court, sure. Talking to debt collectors? They aren’t the police, in the very least you aren’t under any obligation to answer any questions you don’t want to, right?

I don’t recall, I’d have to look in my records, why don’t you send me whatever proof you have and I’ll if I can find anything?

These are pretty slimy businesses, they should be treated as such.

[rimunroe]

> I’m not sure specifically what context we’re talking about. In court, sure. Talking to debt collectors? They aren’t the police, in the very least you aren’t under any obligation to answer any questions you don’t want to, right?

As far as the question of if something is or isn't fraud, why would the context matter? As far as I know fraud has nothing to do with perjury or being under oath. If you intentionally lie to a debt collector in order to get out of a legitimate debt, I think that would fit the definition of fraud.