"if the banks got sued for big money and lost every time they lied to credit agencies about debts you did not default on" is pretty much the situation in most (all?) of EU; if you dispute the claim, then the debt can't be reported to anyone else unless they can prove that it was you, and no, "they knew your magic number and your mother's maiden name" doesn't count as evidence.

Coincidentally, we don't have the same types of mass identity theft issues that USA has.