Originally Posted by Pickles
This sounds fishy. How would have the INS, eight years ago, known this person overstayed? There are no reliable exit checks for VWP countries. As a matter of fact, it is only recently that more careful exit checks have been implemented with the US-VISIT program. And even then, it is still spotty.
Even 8 years ago they stapled a green piece of carton ("departure record") in my passport, which the airline was supposed to take out on departure and give to the INS. Indeed, these exit checks were and probably are not reliable, but nevertheless the computers of the INS have all these old data and act upon them in today's climate of fear.