Wow! We are identity theft victims

[Zippa D Doodah]

After years of thinking "it could never happen to us", DW and I are victims of identity theft (specifically her). In short, several days ago we put our mail in the mailbox and stuck the little flag up -like we've done a million times before. Later in the week we suspected something was wrong because Netflix didn't get the DVD we sent out that day, and FIL did not receive his b-day card. Also in the outgoing mail that day was a small check for some mail order return address labels. Yesterday we get a notice from the bank saying a bad check for $2000 had been deposited in our account. Turns out someone forged my wife's name while depositing the fake check and got some cash back. They did it twice! bank swears we will have every penny repaid. There could be as much as $7000 involved in this fraud/robbery.

I am sick, mad, disgusted, and several other things. DW is physically sick from the worry and the generally yucky feeling of knowing some crook is out there impersonating her.

Moral of the story: NEVER NEVER NEVER put outgoing mail -especially checks -in your mailbox. We live in a small town and thought it could never happen to us.

 

[Sparx]

omg! I am so sorry that happened to you!

 

[Tjaleks]

I am so sorry. That has to be the worst feeling. I am glad you will not be responsible for the checks. I hope they catch the weasles and toss in jail and throw away the keys.

 

[OzFan]

So sorry! Sending HUGS!

 

[mrsv98]

Yup, there was a gang of women doing this in our area within the last year. They steal mail (a federal offense btw) and then "wash" the checks, dry them and then rewrite them for large amounts.

The best defense is to never out outgoing mail in your mailbox.

 

[HayGan]

In addition, invest in a pen that cannot be washed and only write checks with that pen. You can get them at any office supply store (Office Depot, Staples, etc.) My sister had a check of hers stolen from her credit union.

It truly is sad that we have to think of things like this these days.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Thanks for all the hugs...

I have this lingering worry that it will be hard to establish exactly how much is missing from our account. I am doing my best to do some balancing on line, but it is hard with all the red herrings in there. I have already forgiven whoever did this, but I do hope they will be going to jail so that this lifestyle can be stopped. I am sure we are not their first victims, and not the only ones currently being defrauded.


Putting on flame suit: I am aghast that the post office acts like they don't care about somebody stealing mail from our box. PO clerk said I should contact the sheriff's dept (which I had already done). I thought PO might be concerned about a possible pattern. Stealing mail is a federal offense, isn't it? Not that I needed tea and sympathy from the PO clerk, but at least she could have acted like she gave a flip about what I consider to be a serious situation. The post office can and should do better to respond to theft.

 

[ZachnElli]

I'm so sorry! I have seen stories of them stealing mail and washing the checks. I was just sticking to putting it out only in the morning since they said they were doing it at night (looking for mailboxes with the flags up). We had our identity stolen in '98. Someone got all our credit card #'s, soc. security #'s and both dh's and my mom's maiden names! It was awful. But the credit card co's took care of it. Hope they straighten it out quickly!

 

[Kermit]

Wow, that's too bad. I hope everything gets resolved painlessly.

I'm also surprised that the post office didn't at least act interested. Maybe it's become too common for them to get excited about it.

I saw someone going through my mailbox a few years ago. He gave me some story about finding a house he was supposed to house sit for on my street. He may have been telling the truth, but I've paid my bills online since then.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I'm so sorry! I have seen stories of them stealing mail and washing the checks. I was just sticking to putting it out only in the morning since they said they were doing it at night (looking for mailboxes with the flags up). !

We put our mail out at 10am. By 1pm that day the theives were using our account. Makes me wonder if they weren't watching us put it out. Hard to believe, but we live right on a busy corner with three schools, a church, a gas station, and a grocery store within two blocks. There were lots of potential witnesses. Con artists sure are brazen

 

[AllyandJack]

This is my worst fear. It's why I have a PO Box instead of a mailbox. I figure if an unmarked car with a mailman in it can put mail in; an unmarked car with a thief in it can take mail out. Credit card bills....statements from Social Security....anything could be in there and taken out at any time.

Not that the PO Box is THAT much better....I constantly get mail for other people.

I hope it all resolves itself quickly.

 

[experiment626mom]

That just happened to us. Last weekend we got a call from the bank about my dh's debit card. No the charges weren't ours. The bank has been great about keeping up with what's going on.

Please make sure that if asked you fill out the fraud paperwork for the bank. It's one way you can help them catch the bad guys.


Good Luck.

 

[Chicago526]

So sorry!

My neighborhood has a mailbox right at the exit of the development. All our important stuff gets mailed from there. I only use the house mailbox for little stuff like birthday cards and such. No checks or other important info is mailed from home.

Isn't it sad that it's come to this?

It sounds like your bank will work with you, so that's a step in the right direction. I wish you all the luck in the world!!!!

 

[septbride2002]

Great job on contacting your bank. You will want to close those accounts and open a new checking account.
Also please call the 3 major credit bureaus and put a warning on your report that states your identity has been compromised and that they need to contact you by phone to verify your information.

Transunion: 800-888-4213
Experien: 888-397-3742
Equifax: 800-685-1111

I work in banking - trust me when I say this is a necessary step to protecting yourself from further fraud.

~Amanda

 

[mallcat]

We had this happen to us too! We had a guy stealing our mail, using DH's SSN and ID to write checks against our neighbors Visa account. He stole a payroll check of DH's and cashed it using DH's SSN at a local mom and pop store. He cashed the neighbor's Visa checks against our checking and savings accounts at our bank. Thankfully, our bank caught him because they realized it wasn't DH. We bank at a small bank and they know us. Our mail boxes are a 1/2 mile from our house - we live in the country.

We now have a PO Box. We changed all our bank accounts and also had fraud alerts put on our credit reports. It was a mess. He did some time, but I don't know how much.

 

[MELISAZACK]

Sorry to hear this! I had Id theft almost 3 yrs ago now- of 40k in fake cc's
and bought a car - lucky for me they caught her buying the car- but even then all the courts did here in PA was slapp on the wrist slight jail time and some parole - very litte restitution was given - now her parole is about to end in Oct - only paid about 1/3 of the rest. money - and they can't find her again!!!!!! go figure! -- so after 9/12 if she doesn't appear at court they put a warrant out for her - When I push the issue the DA office and parole officers just say well this is white crime and we aren't really big on pushing that issue......aghhh.....
so good luck to you with getting it corrected...

 

[Aidensmom]

Putting on flame suit: I am aghast that the post office acts like they don't care about somebody stealing mail from our box. PO clerk said I should contact the sheriff's dept (which I had already done). I thought PO might be concerned about a possible pattern. Stealing mail is a federal offense, isn't it? Not that I needed tea and sympathy from the PO clerk, but at least she could have acted like she gave a flip about what I consider to be a serious situation. The post office can and should do better to respond to theft.

We have had not only our mail, but our mailbox stolen. (We now have a PO box, only junk mail goes to the regular mailbox.) We got the same type of runaround. Eventually after bugging them they gave me the form to fill out for the Postmaster General, but were told they still probably would not inspect because they do not have the manpower to do it.

And, I am really sorry this whole thing has happened to you.