Would Have Never Thought Idenity Theft Would Have Happened To Me

[myrdale]

I am sure the title of my post should be listed somewhere as famous last words, but I have ALWAYS been so tight with my personal information that I would have never thought I was at any risk of identity theft.

I spent the past week visiting my parents for Christmas vacation. As soon as I got home, my mother had one heck of a present waiting for me. She had about five envelopes from various companies which she had received in the past couple of days with my name on them.

As soon as I opened the first envelope I knew I was in trouble. It was a letter informing me that I had been turned down for a Sears credit card. The remaining four envelopes were a mixture of approval and decline letters.

I immediately called each of the companies customer service numbers and informed them that the applications were fraudulent. The experience in dealing with customer service went from extremely bad having to explain to the rep why I did not want the card that was fraudulently opened in my name to surprisingly helpful with a rep who was able to cross reference my name and identified a couple of other cards which I had not received letters from yet. They confirmed the thief had my name, SSN, DoB, parents home address, and an old expired drivers license number.

Next I pulled a copy of my credit scores. Across the three bureaus a total of 11 inquiries were made, all on the same day. Several of these I had not received any letters from yet. I then issued an initial fraud alert with the credit bureaus.

Over the next few days I continued to call the banks and have the cards shut down as I found additional contact information. A couple of the banks had the IP information associated with the applications, but could not give it to me. One bank did get a representative from one of the credit bureaus on the phone with us and assisted me in placing an extended 7 year fraud alert on my file, since we knew my SSN had been compromised. Basically I must receive a phone call prior to my credit information being given out.

I filed a report with the local sheriff's department in my parents hometown. I tried explaining to the Sheriff that a couple of the banks had the IP address on file which might lead directly to the person to issued the applications. He referred me to his "investigator" who was suppose to be a "computer wiz." The deputy basically blew me off saying that it was really hard to do any thing and despite the letters coming to my parents address and the expired AL drivers license being used I would have to talk to the department in my home town. I was not impressed.

I visited the local social security office in my home town just to let them know about it. The lady there gave me some pointers but not too much that I hadn't already learned at this point.

I changed my passwords for my main email and my on line banking.

I have spoken with my banker. I have no reason to believe that my accounts have been comprised so other than setting up a password for requesting information, I made no changes there.

It has been recommended that I file a complaint with Federal Trade Commission / Office Of Inspector General. I still have to look into this.

I will be speaking with the sheriff's department where I now live and work later this week.

Other than being a head ache, I have my fingers crossed that the worst is behind me. Since the old AL license number was used, I figure my information was stolen from somewhere I use to work, live, or a doctor's office. I have a few suspicions, but nothing solid.

Is there anything I have missed? Does anyone have any other advice or experience?

[MonkeyMama]

It sounds like you got it covered. All I can add is to keep checking your credit report for a long while. It takes time for these things to show up. The bureaus will give you one or two free copies, which is completely useless. I'd sign up for some paid service where you can pull your credit reports for a while. Another tip once you find everything and things settle down is to sign up for creditkarma.com. (Free credit reports and updates from one of the credit bureau - helps you keep an eye on things for free). Make sure you get 7 years of fraud alerts on your credit bureau accounts - not sure if you mentioned that. I think it's automatic if you report to them your identity was stolen - but don't remember the details offhand.

I've totally been there, and I also could not be more careful with my info. Since I was married 6-ish years before the identity theft and they used my married name, I was able to narrow down where my info was stolen (could not be college or prior employers). That only leaves financial institutions that I bank with, or the government. Or current employer or health insurer? That kind of stuff? I am pretty sure my info was stolen through the mail. The irony is many people told me, "That is why I don't shop online." As if I reveal my DOB and SS# when I shop online? OR to do much of anything online??? But our post office had several incidences of mail theft (Washed some of my clients checks payable to my employer) and mail always went missing a lot in the years before or since. I had an IRA application that disappeared in the mail - which is why I think that is where the identity breach happened. I am now much more private with my date of birth - I didn't realize how important that was. I only reveal SS# when I have to - which was why I was thinking financial institutions and government.

Oh - and the police could CARE LESS which is the most frustrating thing of all.

I think I Was lucky in that I had good credit and the fraud was pretty obvious. Thus, some company who had approved a card actually called me at home to be sure because it seemed suspicious. I knew from day one. They were approved for every card they opened so maxed out almost $40k in 2 days. I didn't have any issue because it was so obviously fraudulent. I Was very frustrated that retailers and credit companies issued cards knowing it was probably fraud. I remember either Lowes or Home Depot being completely clueless when I tracked them down. Everyone else was pretty much, "we were trying to contact you," or "I see this is very bogus." I think they stopped after 5 or 6 cards because they made a good haul. It took a couple of days for the bureaus to issue the fraud alerts, which was also annoying. Just because I knew day 1 or 2 doesn't mean the red tape works that fast.

11 inquiries??? OUCH! What a mess.

Frankly, it was pretty easy to clean up. I wish the same for you.

[photo]

I'm afraid I can't offer any helpful information to you but want to convey how sorry I am to hear about what happened and thank you for posting. I am very careful with my information, as well, and need to hear that I am not immune at all to identity theft.

Tragically, identity theft is probably becoming more common because of the lack of prosecutions. If people were more properly punished, then perhaps more would-be thieves would not proceed.