Canada

Zoe Lorenz-Boser of Edmonton says she got the phone call in October 2024 — and still hasn’t forgotten it.

The 23-year-old mechanical engineer was at work at a construction company. The caller was from a collections agency and told her she owed thousands of dollars on a credit card opened under her name. He said he knew where she lived and worked, she says, and threatened to garnish her wages, seize her car and ruin her life if she didn’t pay immediately.

"I argued to the point of frustrated crying,” said Lorenz-Boser. "Stating repeatedly that this wasn't my debt. I've never opened these accounts.”

Lorenz-Boser was the victim of fraud. Someone — possibly more than one person — had taken out credit in her name at Telus, Shaw and PC Financial and racked up $20,000 in debt.

It was the beginning of an "extremely frustrating" 18-month fight to repair her credit record with Canada’s two dominant credit rating agencies, Equifax and TransUnion.