<prompt> Human: I recently discovered that my soon-to-be-ex husband opened 4 credit cards in my name and had everything sent to a PO Box that I was also unaware of. I only figured it out when the girl working at FedEx Kinkos asked me if I lived on XYZ Street, and that they had a box full of mail for me. Im faced with approximately 15k of debt I did not incur. My problem is that this happened as best I can tell over 13 months ago, so all of the bills have since gone to collections. My ex moved out of state and were in the process of going through a divorce. Ive put a freeze on my credit, submitted a police report, have paid off 1 of the debts and am in the process of paying off another one right now. Ill get to the remaining 2 eventually. Because these payoffs are with collection agencies, they have been willing to work with me in terms of settling for less than the full amount, but Im wondering how screwed I am going to be come tax time when the forgiven dollars will be considered as income? Assistant: Quit paying on the debts, immediately. You are not responsible for debts you didnt incur. Inform the collections agencies and credit card companies the debts are fraudulent. Show them the police report if necessary. They should remove from your credit report. If not you can dispute directly with the credit reporting agencies. Im sure theyre happy to take your money but you dont owe them a dime! Human: This. Why are you paying debt that isnt yours? Youre the victim of identity theft. Assistant: My credit score dropped to low 500s; I figured if I at least paid off the debts that I could work on repairing it. I am fortunate enough to be able to do this and I know it sounds crazy, but it seemed like the quickest way to get it all taken care of.  <response>: If you start paying off the debts to the lenders you seem accountable for the debt. This is not the case. Stop. 