ID Theft Stinks!

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

Corey just found that someone got her Debit card number and opened a PayPal account and has been charging stuff to her account. After an hour and a half on the phone with the bank, she got the Debit card cancelled and a hold put on her bank account. PayPal shut down the fraudulant account and now, she is on the phone with Equifax putting a fraud alert on her accounts.

Ugh! Like the woman doesn't have enough worries right now.

 

[Bradintx]

Just be glad you caught it now. Hopefully they can find out who it is, maybe they were dumb enough to ship it a home address or even a PO Box #.
I was on a business trip last year and used my debit card at a restaurant and got home and found out over $4,000 was charged including calls to Iraq and Afghanstan.

 

[rosiep]

Lindy, Corey

James and I just went through this. A theif stole my mail. He stole an outgoing card that held a check...which he proceeded to "wash" and rewrite for $700! And he stole a CC bill and charged over $7000!!!

I was sick to my stomach for days.
Luckily all the charges were reversed.
The rotton thing about debit fraud is..that money is taken from your account and it takes some time for the bank to investigate before it's replaced.

I hope the theif gets caught too..but they're very slick and the police hardly ever pursue it. I called the post office (thinking it was a federal crime to tamper with mail..and it is...but they have bigger fish to fry.

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

Dang, I know that it's a common problem and you would think that more would be done about it, but sadly it does seem like no one really cares except for the people that it's happening to.

 

[padalyn]

I was reading an article (not sure where...maybe the local paper) that mentioned that Debit cards are especially at risk for this type of thing. Seems that since the money comes out of one's checking account immediately the thief has a better chance of getting away with it. Use credit cards when the card has to leave your hand. At restaurants they (the thieves) use a special reader that gets all the info encoded on the mag strip and they can create a copy of your card with their name and signiture.

Since I read this I checked with my bank - I would be responsible for anything under 500!!!!! I called AMEX (my primary credit card) and I am responsible for 0. so, I will use the AMEX then pay it off - not planning on taking those risks.

I will see if I can find the article and post a link to it.

SCARY!

 

[cybertheo]

I work in this field - Not the stealing but the catching part - it's INCREDIBLE. People do some amazingly low things.

 

[rosiep]

I work in this field - Not the stealing but the catching part - it's INCREDIBLE. People do some amazingly low things.

Our own Superman? Glad you're around!

 

[starann]

Sorry to hear about that....it really stinks! Hopefully you can get it all fixed and soon!

 

[bennyb98]

Oh I feel for you all!! This just happened to me last week! Someone somehow got a hold of my debit card and started charging stuff online ($100 from the iTunes store? Please lol) but thankfully I caught it fast and my bank has a fraud money back guarantee so it looks alright. phew. I hope no one ever has to go though this.

 

[rbthntschl]

Hugs to Linda-Corey and BennyB. My Bruce is going through the same thing only we know who the culprit is (his drug-addled gas bag ex-lover did I say that? ). We signed up for a combination prepaid legal and identity theft shield service that sounds really good (P.S. We were told about it by a lovely lesbian couple from our church. They've been members for a while).

Here's what gets me riled and irritated . The police refuse to do anything because of "lack of evidence". Bruce has collected load of evidence and gets more each day.

I'll have to finish this post later as I'm off to a meeting. I'll be back later.

Luv 'n' Stuff,
Bob of

 

[cybertheo]

Our own Superman? Glad you're around!

Thanks, Rosie, You're making me blush and like I have a much bigger role in it. Unfortunatly, the problem is so big, I feel like I have job securuty...

 

[MonorailMan]

That has to be awful. I'm sorry to hear about this. It's a good thing that she caught it that quickly, though. My ex and I were visiting Chicago for the Gay Games a couple years ago and realized his card had been maxed out too. He called the bank and realized that someone had purchased about $2200 worth of clothing at a women's clothing store. (I think it was Bebe's.)

Anyhoo.....I'm glad she caught it, because it can cause more headaches if you don't catch it within the first few days.

 

[rosiep]

Thanks, Rosie, You're making me blush and like I have a much bigger role in it. Unfortunatly, the problem is so big, I feel like I have job securuty...

You are like a Super Hero fighting the bad guys....

Now tell us...what are some ways we can better protect ourselves. I was advised to by a special pen that doesn't wash off...., we installed a locked mailbox outside our home, and I only carry two credit cards in my wallet at any given time.

 

[bennyb98]

I would check your credit report often (and if you haven't gotten your free one get those) and don't go to freecreditreport.com that’s not that website to get free ones from the government. I believe it is annualcreditreport.com (yes just checked it out).

Also if you have online access to your accounts check them daily, it doesn’t take any time and that’s how I caught mind (most of the charges were still pending and were able to be canceled as well) just be SURE to clear your cookies and log in information before and after you log in. Those are things I would do to help keep an eye on things.

 

[padalyn]

I would check your credit report often (and if you haven't gotten your free one get those) and don't go to freecreditreport.com that’s not that website to get free ones from the government. I believe it is annualcreditreport.com (yes just checked it out).

Also if you have online access to your accounts check them daily, it doesn’t take any time and that’s how I caught mind (most of the charges were still pending and were able to be canceled as well) just be SURE to clear your cookies and log in information before and after you log in. Those are things I would do to help keep an eye on things.

wow. what great advice! I also try to not log into my accounts on shared computers. I occosionally have to at work (gotta find stuff out) and clearing the cookies is something I tend to forget. We are on a huge server system so I think the info gets lost in the sauce there.

Are there any other precautions you could reccommend? I closed most of my credit cards a few years ago (wasn't using them - figured open cards were a risk I didn't need)

when you say check the balance online - do you mean all credit stuff? Like my mortgage and things? or just my checking account?

 

[rosiep]

wow. what great advice! I also try to not log into my accounts on shared computers. I occosionally have to at work (gotta find stuff out) and clearing the cookies is something I tend to forget. We are on a huge server system so I think the info gets lost in the sauce there.

Are there any other precautions you could reccommend? I closed most of my credit cards a few years ago (wasn't using them - figured open cards were a risk I didn't need)

when you say check the balance online - do you mean all credit stuff? Like my mortgage and things? or just my checking account?

I check my credit card statements online. I'm obsessive now...check my AOL, check my bank account, check my CC's then check the DisBoards....and stay there until it's time to go home...

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

We think that we have narrowed this down a bit more. There are two places that we order take out food from. One is a Chinese place and the other is a pizza place. We normally use our debit cards when we order from either of them. The Chinese place and the Pizza place both have had a good bit of employee turn over lately. We think that it's more likely to have been the pizza place.

Other than the "temporary" PayPal account that was opened in her name with a different address that they purchased something for $39 and then had a refund for $39 show up in her account, there were iTunes charges roughly $5, and charges from some odd website domain provider for about $84. The website domain owner has been contacted and has shut down the website that had her name on it as Corey*******.com None of the purchases that were done under her name included her middle initial, which is the way all legal transactions show up for her under all of her accounts. Corey cancelled her PayPal account even though we doubt that it was compromised, it just happened that the thief was using PayPal as a method of using the card for their own gain. Corey also cancelled her iTunes account, just in case.

Corey is pretty diligent about checking her account online daily, so I was surprised that she had not caught the initial $39 PayPal transaction. Luckily, she caught the $39 refund and the other transactions so quickly. This could have been much worse.

 

[Bradintx]

Just make sure for the next few months you are watching your transactions closely. After two months I still had charges appear on my account even though I had a new debit card, the bank charged me for the amounts then credited them back it was so stupid that they did thank god I wasn't in the negative. I guess I need to watch when I order pizza with my debit card next time too!

 

[bennyb98]

I don’t check everything, just my Credit Card balances and Debit Card/Checking Account, so if I see something out of ordinary I can get on top of it right away.

 

[cybertheo]

Check your credit more than once a year that the best place to start...