Identity Theft (Concord: vehicle registration, credit report, loans)

[coralsand2]

I was just wondering if anyone has had the problem of Identity Theft in CLT and how did it occur. Do you have a story to share. I am hearing it is on a rise now esp. with all our problems, The numbers are the highest in Fla., so far. Sounds like it is time to be even more cautious.

[nascarnancy]

I haven't heard too much about it here. It was terrible in CA, we even had our mail stolen from the post office! Thieves have units that go into the mailboxes to pull the mail out! We had just mailed ALL of our bills and DH noticed nothing was clearing the checking account. We were very lucky in that nothing happened.

The #1 item you should own is a cross-cut shredder and shred everything! I even take my catalogs and rip off my name on the outside and on the orderform and shred them or I take a sharpie and black them out. I try to make it so nothing is tossed or recycled with our names etc on it.

When you write a check, write it in an ultra fine sharpie marker. I know it's not a fancy pen but it's a permenant marker and the felt tip ink bleeds through the paper. If a check is written in regular ink thieves have a solution that removes the ink from the check and they can rewrite it out! The lady at the bank told me that while I was closing our checking account when our mail was stolen at the post office.

At work we had a gentleman from Wachovia come out and speak against idenity theft and he gave us a packet.

[anifani821]

That cross cut shredder is soooo important! People really are going thru/ garbage to find scraps of ID info.

We usually perceive that the biggest threat is online, but according to a report I read last year, actually, most ID theft/fraud is perpetrated from our own mailboxes and garbage. Also, it was shocking to find out how many parents will use their kids' SS# to get credit cards and run them up - and also - other family members secretly stealing info and using it.

NascarNancy gave excellent tips - and I do those same things even tho my DH thinks I take it too far. Well, all it takes is one bit of info in the wrong hands so I am vigilant about it.

Also - be careful about WiFi at your home. Have it encrypted and use firewalls. Everyone around me has password protected service but I have been shocked how in other neighborhoods, I can easily pick up WiFi from homes that are not protecting their computers and WiFi!!!

[spankys bbq]

I've had mine stolen. Began in January, 2007.

I got a call from a cell phone provider who wanted to know if I had tried to open a multi-phone account at a local store the day before. I said "no" and immediately went and checked my credit report. This person/people had opened accounts with every major cell phone carrier in the country, and got Sprint and Verizon twice each.

I found where one of the accounts was opened and got a very helpful person to give me information. I got a copy of the ID the guy used and a copy of a vehicle registration used as a second form of ID. The registration wasn't even the same name. The ID the guy used was his picture and my name. And they didn't even spell it right, but they had the SSN.

I wound up surfing the Meck Co SO arrest page hoping for a needle in a haystack. Got lucky in the "B"s and found the guy. Turns out that he lives less than half of a mile from me.

I print the picture out and return to the store and the employee verifies that it was the person I found on the SO page (Who had already done a year in jail for the SAME THING!). My next move was to call the Concord PD. While the officer I talked to initially seemed quite helpful, I think he was just blowing smoke up my....... Never heard anything back and he never returned my phone calls.

One night I got the nerve (and 9mm) to go beat on the guy's door. His uncle said he didn't live there, blah, blah, blah. I told him to hang on and I'd be right back with something for him. I went and printed off everything I had and put it in a folder and brought it back to him. Wouldn't you know it....the guy's home. He fessed up to everything and even offered to cooperate to help get the rest of the people involved. Turns out they were messing with more than just ID theft. Guns, drugs, etc.

So, I call CMPD. Oh, let me tell you how helpful the guy I talked to there was. I explained the situation to the detective and he practically did everything he could do to NOT help me. Gave me all kinds of jive and I eventually got fed up. I asked him if I could come to his house and get his personal info and go buy phones and have him not do anything about it. He was a bit stumped.

After all this crap, I wound up spending hours and hours on the phone calling phone companies, collections agencies, and the big 3 credit companies. Had a fraud alert put on my file and thought things would work out. I kept renewing the fraud alert as it expired.

Not.

In October, 2008, I find out that there is a, wait for it,........$10,000 debt owed to Windstream! Same people back to their old tricks.


Advice.....buy a shredder and USE IT! Also check your credit report often. I'm still dealing with this mess and I'm looking to buy a house in the next year. I've got my work cut out for me. Sorry for the long-winded post. Sad part is that this isn't all o it.

[akpreets]

My DH was forced into an airlines CC that he had never applied for. After a month or so, we got a statement from the bank asking us to pay an annual fee, which we refused as we had never even touched the card. We asked the bank to cancel the card and CC alert is up on all 3 major agencies. No loans or CCs get approved without his permission.

[XcapefromNJ]

spanky, the only thing that surprises me about your story is how much work YOU were willing to expend to track down the perps. I have heard that law enforcement does nothing about identity theft (or credit card or similar fraud) even if you give them hard evidence. They just don't bother.

My identity was not stolen, but my online bank account (Chase) was somehow hacked and an attempt was made to wire $9900 out of a savings account to Unicredit (Italian Bank). Fortunately an antifraud person in the wire department stopped the wire because it was going overseas. Don't know how someone got my online access but I did make many many mistakes. However, no other bank, broker, or credit card accounts have been touched, so I am checking everything frequently and changing passwords.

[nascarnancy]

Originally Posted by spankys bbq

I've had mine stolen. Began in January, 2007.

I got a call from a cell phone provider who wanted to know if I had tried to open a multi-phone account at a local store the day before. I said "no" and immediately went and checked my credit report. This person/people had opened accounts with every major cell phone carrier in the country, and got Sprint and Verizon twice each.

I found where one of the accounts was opened and got a very helpful person to give me information. I got a copy of the ID the guy used and a copy of a vehicle registration used as a second form of ID. The registration wasn't even the same name. The ID the guy used was his picture and my name. And they didn't even spell it right, but they had the SSN.

I wound up surfing the Meck Co SO arrest page hoping for a needle in a haystack. Got lucky in the "B"s and found the guy. Turns out that he lives less than half of a mile from me.

I print the picture out and return to the store and the employee verifies that it was the person I found on the SO page (Who had already done a year in jail for the SAME THING!). My next move was to call the Concord PD. While the officer I talked to initially seemed quite helpful, I think he was just blowing smoke up my....... Never heard anything back and he never returned my phone calls.

One night I got the nerve (and 9mm) to go beat on the guy's door. His uncle said he didn't live there, blah, blah, blah. I told him to hang on and I'd be right back with something for him. I went and printed off everything I had and put it in a folder and brought it back to him. Wouldn't you know it....the guy's home. He fessed up to everything and even offered to cooperate to help get the rest of the people involved. Turns out they were messing with more than just ID theft. Guns, drugs, etc.

So, I call CMPD. Oh, let me tell you how helpful the guy I talked to there was. I explained the situation to the detective and he practically did everything he could do to NOT help me. Gave me all kinds of jive and I eventually got fed up. I asked him if I could come to his house and get his personal info and go buy phones and have him not do anything about it. He was a bit stumped.

After all this crap, I wound up spending hours and hours on the phone calling phone companies, collections agencies, and the big 3 credit companies. Had a fraud alert put on my file and thought things would work out. I kept renewing the fraud alert as it expired.

Not.

In October, 2008, I find out that there is a, wait for it,........$10,000 debt owed to Windstream! Same people back to their old tricks.


Advice.....buy a shredder and USE IT! Also check your credit report often. I'm still dealing with this mess and I'm looking to buy a house in the next year. I've got my work cut out for me. Sorry for the long-winded post. Sad part is that this isn't all o it.

Oh Spanky, I am so sorry to hear about that. That's just awful. I can't believe only a few years ago they made it against the law to steel someone's identity.

We signed up with a company to run fraud alerts and keep an eye on our accounts. How sad is it that we felt like we needed help so that this wouldn't happen to us. As you know by the time you find out who knows how much damage has been done.

About 10 years ago I had my cell phone number scanned, that was big in CA. DH noticed all these numbers out of our area code on the bill. So DH called every number, not one person who answered spoke english!

[coralsand2]

So Sorry about your ongoing experience Spanky and thanks for sharing it I wish you tons of luck. It is a big unsolvable problem SO FAR but we need to let the crooks know we are not going to just sit back and continue to let them do it. Good for you.The office in my complex let maintenance in my apt. without my permission and I live in fear of this. I pray--I cannot place blame cause nothing has happened YET but I don't know when or if it ever will. It is so unsettling and time consuming. I wish also when folks put their house on the market they should be cautious when it is being shown. All are not potential buyers. I call them shoppers. I learned the hard way trying to leave and let them have privacy. Mistake//they went through things too, I learned to stay right there. I hope people read this and be more careful I am sure you can attest to that.

[CRock]

I was on the phone today with a buddy singing the praises of Facebook, I just got his wife to sign up. He has a a company that does background checks over the internet based in Myrtle Beach. He said to watch out, especially women because birthdays and maiden names are security checks. So I guess beware Facebook users, omit your date or year for security sakes.

[spankys bbq]

Oh, I should probably mention that my information was taken from a medical facility. This was confirmed by the guy I talked to. Apparently somone in billing gets the numbers and sells them for $10 each or $100 per 15. Nice to know there's such a cheap price on your credit.

I'm about 99% sure which one it was since I've only been to Presby, CMC, and a general practice in the past 7 years. It also turns out that the fiancees brother, who is 12, now has bills from CMC going to collections because someone else used his SSN. He's lived in CA for the past 4 years and the bills are from the past year.

Watch your info even at the hospital/doctor's office.

If I could prove where my info was taken, I'd sue the hell out of them. If you require my SSN for whatever reason, I require you to make sure it is secure and doesn't leave the building.

Check your credit report even if you don't think you need to!