Identity Theft Advice

[Monny2AE]

My Disney Chase Visa is the only card I use for online purchases. I now have 5 charges for purchases I did not make. Of course I've called Chase, closed the card, and am waiting paperwork to file a dispute. They have placed a fraud alert on my account.

Is there anything else I need to do to prevent any further damage? I'm calling to request a free credit report today from all 3 agencies just to be sure nothing else has been opened without my knowledge. Should I have a freeze placed on them too? Will this damage my credit score?

I'm feeling very violated and scared. I've been receiving nonstop spam in my email inbox. Closed that email account and opened another one. I've been getting lots of calls from unknown #'s and solicitors trying to sell me things lately. So that means they have my phone # and more than likely my address. It's easy to look up one if you have the other. It makes me wonder what other information they have on me now and what they're going to do with it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[disneymarie]

Last March the card I had used for Disney had a breach and I was notified. The transactions were stopped, I remember there were several others that had returned from Disney had the same issue. Never could say for certain that it was realated, but strong intuitions over this.
I am going to get a preloaded card to use while at the world next time. Headache waiting for a new card last time.

Just wondering if you used this card to contact Disney and make reservations there?
If not there it was another use that the information was taken,
Has the card agent been able to track any purchuses made? Were they online transactions?
Sorry I don't have more thoughts, Good thing you closed the email account though.

Do a good cleanup on the hard drive, and call on the phone to do Internet orders. Let them know why due to the fruad to get your discounts. Any online email specials I get generally have a pin and code anyway,.

 

[Monny2AE]

Last March the card I had used for Disney had a breach and I was notified. The transactions were stopped, I remember there were several others that had returned from Disney had the same issue. Never could say for certain that it was realated, but strong intuitions over this.
I am going to get a preloaded card to use while at the world next time. Headache waiting for a new card last time.

Just wondering if you used this card to contact Disney and make reservations there?
If not there it was another use that the information was taken,
Has the card agent been able to track any purchuses made? Were they online transactions?
Sorry I don't have more thoughts, Good thing you closed the email account though.

Do a good cleanup on the hard drive, and call on the phone to do Internet orders. Let them know why due to the fruad to get your discounts. Any online email specials I get generally have a pin and code anyway,.

Thanks.
I did use the card to pay off the trip. I don't think we'll be taking it with us for the trip with all that is going on. We should only have a couple OOP meals to purchase and I think I'll get some Disney gift cards for them now instead of linking my card to my KTTW card.
The purchases were online ones and I assume the credit card company will contact them when I file the dispute. I was amazed that the paperwork to file takes 7-10 days to even get to me before I can even get the ball rolling.

How do I do a good cleanup on the harddrive? Didn't think of that. I did run my spyware, malware, virus stuff.

 

[NotUrsula]

As long as all that was done was to make charges on an existing account, it isn't an identity theft; that's just credit card fraud, which is a regular theft.

If/when it escalates into attempts at NEW accounts being opened in your name, with your SSN, then it is identity theft. THAT calls for filing a police report immediately, so that you will be protected by the date of filing when collection agencies start knocking on your door and calling non-stop.

Most places that I know the police will not take a report on simple mis-use of an existing CC account; the CC issuer is supposed to handle that kind of investigation.

 

[dizzy duck]

We had some charges placed on a Chase card--not Disney . A few years ago we put a rider on our home owners insurance that protects us against stuff like this. We turned all of this over to the insurance company and they are handling it. It is so worth $50.00 a year to know that someone has your back. We turned in all the information on Friday and they have already phoned my husband with some follow-up questions and told him to file a police report.

 

[Monny2AE]

As long as all that was done was to make charges on an existing account, it isn't an identity theft; that's just credit card fraud, which is a regular theft.

If/when it escalates into attempts at NEW accounts being opened in your name, with your SSN, then it is identity theft. THAT calls for filing a police report immediately, so that you will be protected by the date of filing when collection agencies start knocking on your door and calling non-stop.

Most places that I know the police will not take a report on simple mis-use of an existing CC account; the CC issuer is supposed to handle that kind of investigation.

I'm hoping it stays at CC fraud and doesn't escalate to identity theft. I'm sure they found lots of my personal info just judging by the amount of phone calls and emails I've gotten but I'm saying my prayers they don't have my SS# or anything to do more damage.

We had some charges placed on a Chase card--not Disney . A few years ago we put a rider on our home owners insurance that protects us against stuff like this. We turned all of this over to the insurance company and they are handling it. It is so worth $50.00 a year to know that someone has your back. We turned in all the information on Friday and they have already phoned my husband with some follow-up questions and told him to file a police report.

Thanks for the tip. I may have to look into that with my homeowners company. I hope you and your husband get everything cleared up too.

Chase has been wonderful in helping me to figure all this out. They did offer some sort of protection for a fee each month but in all honestly I was going to close the card after our trip next month anyway.

 

[SarahKate]

As long as we place orders online and give our c.c. numbers over the phone, pay with c.c. or debit cards at restaurants and anyplace else, then we are open to this type of theft happening. Of course, I'm NOT saying to not do those things......there's no way I would not use my debit card!

Make your passwords as secure as possible, change your account passwords for companies you order from online. Don't use the same generic password for all accounts. Make sure your password is at least 8 characters, with a combination of letters, numbers, upper case/lower case.

I haven't had the prob w/ someone charging on an existing acct but last week my identity WAs stolen. I got a c.c. statement in the mail for an acct I didn't open. They had my address and SSN. It's all taken care of and there's a 7-year alert placed w/ all three credit reporting bureaus. Luckily it was a fairly small amount, under $100.

I guess I wonder about the rider on homeowner's being necessary? The c.c. companies have people whose job it is to resolve these situations. I've never heard of anyone having to pay for fraudulent charges or accounts, but maybe there's something I don't know.

Good luck to you, original poster.....

 

[bumbershoot]

With the increase in calls and emails....

Have you recently clicked on a link in an email from an unknown sender? Do you do rewards sites and the freebie offers? If so, while doing them, do you read EVERY little bit of print on there? I was recently doing one, and while reading through it (dietbug) I noticed that a page that *looked* like it was necessary to say "yes" was NOT actually necessary. On that page, you needed to put your phone number, and click to say yes, and clicking that Yes link meant that you agreed to be charged almost $10/month on your phone bill.

I took out my phone number, I clicked NO, and got a dietbug account anyway, without the charges. Then I notified the rewards site owner who put a notice to read before clicking on that offer.

So if you've been doing that recently it could be a reason.

If you've clicked a link in a spammy email that could be a reason.

Have you clicked through any emails that you thought were from Chase?

etc etc.

Having your card used doesn't make me think of all those things...but a drastic increase in spam emails and phone calls does.

 

[NotUrsula]

I guess I wonder about the rider on homeowner's being necessary? The c.c. companies have people whose job it is to resolve these situations. I've never heard of anyone having to pay for fraudulent charges or accounts, but maybe there's something I don't know.

Well, I haven't had to pay anything toward the account that was opened in my name, but I've spent at least $500 over the past 2 years on copies of police reports, notary public fees, certified mail and time off from work spent running around taking care of all of it. However, I doubt that an insurance rider would have covered any of those expenses.

 

[PhillipA82]

Well, I haven't had to pay anything toward the account that was opened in my name, but I've spent at least $500 over the past 2 years on copies of police reports, notary public fees, certified mail and time off from work spent running around taking care of all of it. However, I doubt that an insurance rider would have covered any of those expenses.

Really? Sorry to hear that...

 

[Minniemama350]

My husband was advised to file with the local sherrif's department a few years ago when this happened to him. Someone had used his id to rack up some medical charges in Las Vegas. Weird. I don't know if this would apply to you or not.

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

Oh NO!!!!!
What a huge pain in the rear! And scary! Prayers and hugs to you!

 

[Monny2AE]

As long as we place orders online and give our c.c. numbers over the phone, pay with c.c. or debit cards at restaurants and anyplace else, then we are open to this type of theft happening. Of course, I'm NOT saying to not do those things......there's no way I would not use my debit card!

Make your passwords as secure as possible, change your account passwords for companies you order from online. Don't use the same generic password for all accounts. Make sure your password is at least 8 characters, with a combination of letters, numbers, upper case/lower case.

I haven't had the prob w/ someone charging on an existing acct but last week my identity WAs stolen. I got a c.c. statement in the mail for an acct I didn't open. They had my address and SSN. It's all taken care of and there's a 7-year alert placed w/ all three credit reporting bureaus. Luckily it was a fairly small amount, under $100.

I guess I wonder about the rider on homeowner's being necessary? The c.c. companies have people whose job it is to resolve these situations. I've never heard of anyone having to pay for fraudulent charges or accounts, but maybe there's something I don't know.

Good luck to you, original poster.....

Thanks! I have changed all my passwords on everything and made them a mix of upper/lowercase, #'s, longer, etc. We're placing a fraud alert with the credit bureaus too just in case.

With the increase in calls and emails....

Have you recently clicked on a link in an email from an unknown sender? Do you do rewards sites and the freebie offers? If so, while doing them, do you read EVERY little bit of print on there? I was recently doing one, and while reading through it (dietbug) I noticed that a page that *looked* like it was necessary to say "yes" was NOT actually necessary. On that page, you needed to put your phone number, and click to say yes, and clicking that Yes link meant that you agreed to be charged almost $10/month on your phone bill.

I took out my phone number, I clicked NO, and got a dietbug account anyway, without the charges. Then I notified the rewards site owner who put a notice to read before clicking on that offer.

So if you've been doing that recently it could be a reason.

If you've clicked a link in a spammy email that could be a reason.

Have you clicked through any emails that you thought were from Chase?

etc etc.

Having your card used doesn't make me think of all those things...but a drastic increase in spam emails and phone calls does.

I'm thinking that maybe I did open something I wasn't supposed to. I've done a full cleanup and checks on my computer and foudn quite a few malware on it. Even if they got onto this computer, I don't do any banking or money related stuff on here anyway so I'm hoping I'm safe.

Well, I haven't had to pay anything toward the account that was opened in my name, but I've spent at least $500 over the past 2 years on copies of police reports, notary public fees, certified mail and time off from work spent running around taking care of all of it. However, I doubt that an insurance rider would have covered any of those expenses.

Oh my that stinks!

 

[Thumper_Man]

My Disney Chase Visa is the only card I use for online purchases. I now have 5 charges for purchases I did not make. Of course I've called Chase, closed the card, and am waiting paperwork to file a dispute. They have placed a fraud alert on my account.

Is there anything else I need to do to prevent any further damage? I'm calling to request a free credit report today from all 3 agencies just to be sure nothing else has been opened without my knowledge. Should I have a freeze placed on them too? Will this damage my credit score?

I'm feeling very violated and scared. I've been receiving nonstop spam in my email inbox. Closed that email account and opened another one. I've been getting lots of calls from unknown #'s and solicitors trying to sell me things lately. So that means they have my phone # and more than likely my address. It's easy to look up one if you have the other. It makes me wonder what other information they have on me now and what they're going to do with it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

You were smart in requesting your credit report for the 3 major credit bureau's, I would call them back and put a temporary freeze on your credit. This will prevent anyone from opening any new accounts under your name.

As far as the calls go, you can register you number with the National Do-Not-Call registry. It will take some time for it to take affect, but this should help eliminate some of the calls.

I would also file a police report with your local police department as this is theft and fraud.

I work for our State's Attorney Generals Office. We offer a publication on identity theft. Here is the link to our website and the publication. http://www.nmag.gov/Publications/Default.aspx The publication is on page 2.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm thinking that maybe I did open something I wasn't supposed to. I've done a full cleanup and checks on my computer and foudn quite a few malware on it. Even if they got onto this computer, I don't do any banking or money related stuff on here anyway so I'm hoping I'm safe.

Ooh lucky you don't do money stuff on that computer! That makes it a little less frightening.


YOu mentioned that you only use this card for your online stuff...do you also use it elsewhere? (two different things...the only card used online, vs you ONLY use this card online, LOL) If you use it elsewhere, like at restaurants, that's also a very common place to have theft. Servers have scanners, they take your card to run it for your food, they do an extra scan with their machine, that info gets sold... I don't know the numbers, but when I was in amazon CS we were told in training that, at that time, servers with credit cards were a far more common way of theft than anything online.

 

[seashoreCM]

Do not get a preloaded card (prepaid card; tarjeta prepagado). It is harder to get your money back in the event of a bogus transaction.

I actually suggest not using debit cards any more, except for use at an ATM.

If you see a transaction you did not make on your regular card, do an ordinary dispute with the credit card company. For these totally bogus transactions you do not have to deal with the merchant in good faith first. And it makes no difference whether the merchant is in your home state or within 50 miles of where you live. But you have to act quickly. Actually you do not have to close the account unless the card company rep suggests that.

Everybody gets spam in their email so what you are experiencing is not unusual.

Learn how to hang up on people. All you need to know follows. Turn the phone with the earpiece below you chin and your mouth still in front of the mouthpiece. Even if the salesman is still talking, you say "I am not interested, thank you" and hang up.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm