I am the victim of identity theft

[philip964]

Thank you for the expertly written fraud lesson. I will keep this if I ever need it.

Has any one ever had their credit card cloned. Happened to me. Someone in TN was buying things with my credit card, but I had it in my bill fold.

They get your number from somewhere and rewrite the black stripe on the back of real card that is no good with your number which then makes it good again.

This is why at Best Buy you must show them the last four numbers on the card. If the stripe is rewritten the number on the front won't match.

[anygunanywhere]

"Two days later I got a fraud alert from LIfelock"

I have been considering using Lifelock. How much help have they been in all of this? Arn't they supposed to be the best at protecting you aganist ID Theft?

I have had my corporate American Express and two debit cards hacked somehow. I have not lost any money but been aggravated a bunch.

I am a Lifelock member. All of my events were pre Lifelock. I consider the membership good insurance. Since Life lock I have had no problems, but I am extremely dilligent now with shredding paper and where I use my cards.

I never use ATMs in stop-n-robs or hotel lobbies.

I set up alerts on all of my accounts to alert me when any internet purchases are made or if my total expenditures exceed a certain amount. I would rether receive email alerts than not know.

Anygunanywhere

[esxmarkc]

Has any one ever had their credit card cloned. Happened to me. Someone in TN was buying things with my credit card, but I had it in my bill fold.

As per my post, they supposedly had an exact dup of my card - front/back/stripe. They didn't have my pin or they could have used it in an ATM machine.

[baldeagle]

Back in 2007 we were traveling to NC on vacation. We stopped at a Pilot Truck Stop for gas in Gaffney, SC and used the debit card. Later that day, after arriving in NC, my daughter called and said that the Visa Fraud Department was trying to reach me. I called them immediately. Five minutes after we bought gas in Gaffney, someone charged $5 on my debit card and then immediately afterward $1000 in El Paso. They wanted to know if the charges were valid. I said, "Well, if you look at my recent charges, you'll notice that I'm traveling east from Texas toward the Atlantic coast. Clearly, I cannot be in Gaffney, SC and El Paso, TX at the same time. So, no, the charges are not valid. In fact, the $5 charge was a check to see if the card was working, and the $1000 was the "reward" for verifying that it worked."

The lady on the phone said, "You know a lot about fraud."

I said, "I'm a computer security professional. I know how these things work."

The charges were immediately reversed and my PIN was changed.

Later, I thought I would be a good guy. So I called the manager of the Pilot and told him that he might have a problem, then explained what happened. His response was, "That couldn't have happened here. We can only see the last four numbers of your card." I knew immediately that there was no point in trying to explain it to him, so I just said, "Well, you're probably going to be hearing from the FBI shortly" and hung up. I'm absolutely certain that my card wasn't the only one skimmed that day.

[b322da]

I set up alerts on all of my accounts to alert me when any internet purchases are made or if my total expenditures exceed a certain amount. I would rether receive email alerts than not know.

Anygunanywhere

I'll second that, anygun. E-mail alerts like these can be very helpful in permitting you to get started clearing up fraudulent charges early, which can be much to your advantage, as compared with your first knowledge of the theft coming with your next bill, perhaps a month later. I receive an e-mail alert from my card issuer immediately in the case of any charge placed by telephone or on the internet, regardless of its amount, and in the event of any charge made in any manner in excess of an amount I designate.

The bank issuing my cards makes my credit card account viewable by me on the internet on a real time basis. I check the account daily. It is truly hot. When a card is entered into a vendor's reader the charge appears on my account immediately. It is so immediate that, for example, when the dear lady wife uses the card to purchase gasoline a $1.00 temporary charge is usually, if not always, secretly entered just to check the validity of the charge. On the 'Net, at the bank's web site, I promptly see the $1.00 temporary charge as well as the actual charge which follows. Many other vendors do this as well. (I find this handy when she disappears for a few hours s-h-o-p-p-p-ing. I know her whereabouts at all times. Don't get upset, ladies. I have explained to her that this is just a matter of her security.)

My card issuer, or its computer, continually monitors charges made on my cards, and, in addition to the safeguards mentioned above, calls me immediately if a charge "inconsistent with my historic usage of the card" appears. The only time that I have received such a call was when I made a sizeable purchase of jewelry for my wife. (This probably reveals that I am on the computer as a cheapskate).

In another case I caused myself a hassle of a problem, but I have no regrets. We had recently moved to a different town, and I tried to purchase gasoline at a station which, as is true more and more often, required me to enter my zipcode after using my credit card. Being so new to our current zipcode, and having a lousy memory, I entered the wrong one, twice. After getting the right one from wife and entering it, the screen on the gas pump advised me to see the attendant, who advised me that my card was invalid. While talking to her I received a call from my credit card issuer telling me they had canceled my card after the wrong zipcode was entered twice, but if it was me who screwed up the zipcode I could get the card reactivated by, as described here by another member, answering some questions which only I or the wife would be expected to know the answers to. The card was reactivated by the time I walked back out to the gas pump.

Of course not all credit card issuers provide such services, but if you find one you might sleep better at night during these troublesome times. Preventing a fraudulent charge is much preferable to having to clear one up after it has occurred.

Elmo

[Hoi Polloi]

We could have written the same as Elmo except to say that the bank cancels our cards over gas and McDonald's. I'm not sure what that says about us.

[Ribbing]And you make your wife pump her own gas? While you virtually watch her? That's wrong, man. Just wrong.[/Ribbing]

[b322da]

[Ribbing]And you make your wife pump her own gas? While you virtually watch her? That's wrong, man. Just wrong.[/Ribbing]

Being a confirmed Luddite, Hoi, I have never figured out how to virtually pump her gas when she is wandering around the big city by herself.

Anyway, the charges which really tell me where she is wandering around, and what she is doing, tend to be Dillards, Palais Royale, Fossil, Nieman Marcus, and such. Victoria's Secret has yet to pop up.

Elmo <Ribbing, too>

[VMI77]

Happened to my wife and I. A "gang" went through the neighborhood stealing bills from mailboxes. They apparently copied the checking account information and then put the bills back in the mail. They printed up their own checks. Their first hit was a fake deposit and cash withdrawal from our bank. One of them had a driver's license with my wife's name on it. My wife came under suspicion first but that didn't last long. It could have been worse but they stole checking information from more than one mailbox in the neighborhood and scrambled the addresses. We worked with the bank's fraud investigator and at one point we were getting phone calls as they were trying to cash checks at places like HEB and Academy. It ended when the local police caught one of them trying to cash a check at a local bank. They nabbed the woman in the bank but her accomplice got away. Needless to say, we never leave anything for the letter carrier to pick up anymore. I really hate thieves.

[The Annoyed Man]

I had exactly the same thing happen to me a few years ago....

I got two congratulatory letters for a Bank One and a Chevron card. I already had cards for those two. That led me to all the followup you did. Ultimately it turned out that some skanky ho' living in the New Orleans projects had gotten hold of my name and SS number.

She got into me for a total of around $45,000. The single biggest balance was for a cell phone bill from Bell South for $24,500! REALLY? $24,500 for a cell phone? That was for 6 months of charges on 4 phones plus accessories. Back then, if MY cellphone from Cingular went over 30 days past due, they would cut me off. I find it remarkable that Bell South allowed a bill that large to stretch out over six months before finally shutting down the service. That's pure incompetence.

Anyway, there were other unpaid credit card balances in the $2,000-$5,000 range. Ultimately, I did not have to pay a dime for any of these things, but I had to jump through a lot hoops and process an enormous stack of of paperwork to get out from under the burden. Plus, it made accessing my own credit for my own purchases over the next few years a living hell.

And here is the kicker.... As part of the process, I was advised to file a police report, which I did with my local PD. They told me that they would forward the case information to the New Orleans PD. They had this woman's name, address, and apartment number. I phoned the NO police dept and told them that I would willingly fly down there on my nickel to testify against her. Are you ready for this? They told me that they were not going to arrest her.

WHAT!!!????

It turns out that the NO police department doesn't consider fraud of $45K to be a large enough offense to drive over and pick her up, even though they have her identity and current address. Apparently the offense isn't deemed large enough to do anything about it until the losses get into the six figures.

I hope the skank lost everything in Katrina.

Anyway, my local PD at the time told me that the most common way that these crooks obtain your name and SS number is through your health insurance company. The data entry people have access to that information, and they are not particularly well paid. It isn't, or at least it wasn't then, uncommon for these types of insurance company employees to compile lists of names with matching SS numbers and sell them on the black market.

[Pawpaw]

The other side of the coin...

This weekend, I ordered a digital camera & some associated gear from Walmart. I had them shipped directly to my daughter for Christmas.

Yesterday I got a call from Walmart. They wanted to make sure it was legitimate before shipping the order. I made a point of thanking the lady.

[b322da]

Ain't technology great? The bad guys are alway a step ahead.

http://www.wreg.com/videobeta/?watchId= ... 84ec348310" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Elmo

[Commander]

Victims of identity theft who suspect that someone has obtained a drivers license in the victims name should contact DPS. DPS, after confirmation that this has occured, will issue a new Drivers license number to the victim. The victim will be issued a unique verbal password. Should the victim be subject to a traffic stop, the LEO will ask for this verbal password to confirm the true identity. If the person with the fraudulently obtained license is stopped and cannot provide the correct password, the LEO will take appropriate action.

[Hoi Polloi]

Victims of identity theft who suspect that someone has obtained a drivers license in the victims name should contact DPS. DPS, after confirmation that this has occured, will issue a new Drivers license number to the victim. The victim will be issued a unique verbal password. Should the victim be subject to a traffic stop, the LEO will ask for this verbal password to confirm the true identity. If the person with the fraudulently obtained license is stopped and cannot provide the correct password, the LEO will take appropriate action.

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing that!

[OldCurlyWolf]

I had exactly the same thing happen to me a few years ago....

I got two congratulatory letters for a Bank One and a Chevron card. I already had cards for those two. That led me to all the followup you did. Ultimately it turned out that some skanky ho' living in the New Orleans projects had gotten hold of my name and SS number.

She got into me for a total of around $45,000. The single biggest balance was for a cell phone bill from Bell South for $24,500! REALLY? $24,500 for a cell phone? That was for 6 months of charges on 4 phones plus accessories. Back then, if MY cellphone from Cingular went over 30 days past due, they would cut me off. I find it remarkable that Bell South allowed a bill that large to stretch out over six months before finally shutting down the service. That's pure incompetence.

Anyway, there were other unpaid credit card balances in the $2,000-$5,000 range. Ultimately, I did not have to pay a dime for any of these things, but I had to jump through a lot hoops and process an enormous stack of of paperwork to get out from under the burden. Plus, it made accessing my own credit for my own purchases over the next few years a living heck.

And here is the kicker.... As part of the process, I was advised to file a police report, which I did with my local PD. They told me that they would forward the case information to the New Orleans PD. They had this woman's name, address, and apartment number. I phoned the NO police dept and told them that I would willingly fly down there on my nickel to testify against her. Are you ready for this? They told me that they were not going to arrest her.

WHAT!!!????

It turns out that the NO police department doesn't consider fraud of $45K to be a large enough offense to drive over and pick her up, even though they have her identity and current address. Apparently the offense isn't deemed large enough to do anything about it until the losses get into the six figures.

I hope the skank lost everything in Katrina.

Anyway, my local PD at the time told me that the most common way that these crooks obtain your name and SS number is through your health insurance company. The data entry people have access to that information, and they are not particularly well paid. It isn't, or at least it wasn't then, uncommon for these types of insurance company employees to compile lists of names with matching SS numbers and sell them on the black market.

If you had contacted the local DA instead of the PD you could have gotten action. What she did was several felonies. DA's like slam dunk felonies. NOPD probably actually got 1/2 or more of what she stole. They are one of the most corrupt PD's in the country.

[RPB]

I almost got bit by credit card fraud


03/15/2011 I bought $2.66 of gasoline at a Shell Station on Hiway 281 on my way through Burnet, Texas "Pay at the Pump" (insert card in pump) that's ALL I bought.


Today 03/30/2011 I look at my credit card statement


charges for 03/15/2011

03/15/11 03/15/11
SHELL 57543674402 BURNET TX $ 2.66 Gasoline

03/15/11 03/15/11
US FUND FOR UNICEF NEW YORK NY $ 5.00 Services

03/15/11 03/15/11
AMAZON MKTPLACE PMTS AMZN.COM/BILLWA
NI1H0IR2AJP $ 999.99 Merchandise

Results Total = $ 1,007.65

Credit card company removing the fraudulent charges.
Closing account; issuing new card with new number.
I have to notify my Internet provider (recurring charges)