A friend sent me this. I have tidied it a bit, but this is the story as received.

About a year ago someone acquired my personal information and a credit card number. They didn't do much damage as I caught it very quickly and shut everything down. Today, though, I learned that someone opened an AOL account under my name during that time and used someone else's credit card number when opening the account. That credit card must have been shut down.

So today I got a call from a collection agency informing me that I owe $239 to AOL for that account. I told the collection agency I would call AOL and work this out. I searched their web site for 30 minutes before locating a number and called AOL. I spent another 30 minutes holding for a billing specialist. This specialist was unable to help, and said she would forward me to the billing department. She also gave me an 800 number for that department. Then she forwarded me to EA Technology. EA Technology has shut down that phone line; it answers with a message stating that if you are calling for AOL billing department this is not it and here is the correct number.

I called the new number and after another 30 minute wait I was told that I did indeed have an account and I did owe $239. I asked if they could give me more information about my account, how it was created, user ID, etc. I was told that they could not give me any information about my account. I went through the process of telling the lady how my account was opened by someone else and that I shouldn't have to pay for their service. She said I should deal with the fraud department to get it resolved. I asked if she could transfer me to that department. Not surprisingly, she said she didn't have the capability to transfer me, but before I hang up she wondered if I might be interested in getting High Speed AOL for only $29.95 a month.