Fucking hell, why are people such monsters? That’s terrible to hear, hope you’re doing alright.

Who's the monster here? Credit bureaus, for not giving the guy a break? That might have helped the guy in that circumstance, but it opens up a whole can of worms. Now, not only would they be responsible for collecting credit information and developing models, they'd also be responsible as judges for whether any particular instance merits forgiveness or not.

I think it’s fairly clear the monster here is the ex that took advantage of a vulnerable person.

Question from someone not in the us: can you legally open a creditcard in someone else's name or does it have to involve some form of fraud?

I'm pretty sure my application was only valid when signed by the requester by that was in Europe and rules may differ. I do know you can open them for shared accounts, but that is not what I am talking about.

It was/is fraud, yes. Typically the way you open a card in someone else’s name on your account is by adding them as an authorized user.