[Jim]

My son is being investigated for a security clearance. Today, he calls me and asks if I know anything about a Discover card from 1996. He said that it came up on his credit report and he talked to Discover card's lawyer and they read off his SSN. They said he owed $7k and suggested to him that I may have stolen his SSN. I called them and they told me outright that I must have in fact stolen it.

So, I call Discover and am surprised to find that they have never issued a CC to my sons SSN nor mine. But, they had a card from that time issued to a different J. Barnett with a completely different SSN. OK, so it's not mine and not my sons. I call the lawyer to make sure they get it cleared up. After talking to a supervisor, they finally find the proper SSN and apologize for the mix up.

This has taken from 11am until about 15 mins ago. After I hung up, I received a call from the same lawyer telling me it is my debt and if I don't pay, it would stay on my son's credit report. Even if the above statement were true, how would that be right?

Anyway, my son called and while I was going through all that crap, the FBI got in touch with Discover and found out that neither my son nor myself was ever issued a Discover card.

And, I just got another call from the lawyer...wtf?