Keep a close eye on your DTE Bills. That is the message from a man who says someone stole his identity, then put their power in his name.
Rob Passmore says he got an e-mail from DTE confirming his new power hook up at a house in Detroit. The problem? He doesn’t have a house in Detroit.
He called DTE and looked up property records to find out who owned the house with power in his name. He then called the owner. He learned she was a landlord. She told him she had just rented the property.
“I said your new tenant just put it all in my name, all the lights and gas,” Passmore told her.
Passmore eventually got in contact with the tenant. He asked him how he got his information. The man said he found it on a Facebook Page titled Detroit : Sell Everything.
It allows people to post anything they want to sell. Its rules ban anything illegal. Nonetheless, the man told Passmore he simply searched turn the lights on and found people selling DTE hook ups.
"He paid a man. He met him at a restaurant and paid him $150. He had the confirmation number and everything that the lights would be on,” said Passmore.
It turns out the man did so by stealing Passmore’s identity.
Passmore says as he told friends this happened to him, he learned he is not alone. Two of his friends had the same experience.
As for the man who used his name the landlord kicked him out.
DTE contacted Detroit Police, who are investigating the case. DTE says it does not provide power hook-up services on Facebook. Any such posts are likely fraudulent.
