During the holidays I had the pleasure of becoming a victim of ID theft.
I actually found out about it before the bank did.
I started to see all these overdraft charges and then noticed all these very large withdrawals of cash from our bank account.
I even saw the checks, and the signatures weren't even close
Well...it turns out that the criminals actually got a hold of an old drivers license in a city I used to live in, stole checks from 2 other people in CA , wrote the checks to me and deposited them in my account in Alabama, then cashed them.
That is the way they do it, they steal from Peter to pay Paul.
My bank, police, federal,state law officials are currently investigating this, and we did get all our money back.
The hassle is more that I was entertaining that week and needed to get cash out to pay for the food and drink.
The other hassles were, closing the old accounts,opening new ones, ordering new checks,calling all my creditors,credit unions to place alarms on my identity,filing complaints with the FTC,etc.
In my opinion, they must have either worked at the DMV or broke inot their location ,or the an employee of the bank was in on it, or even the post office, who knows, but I refuse to give up on catching these people who want to ruin someones life that worked hard to get where they are.
It is amazing how they were not only able to cash checks without my signature card, and even how they knew what actual bank I use.
My question is, what is the sense of having a signature card if it is not used and obviously it was not as my signature is nothing like the fake one, you would think a teller would want to check CA checks for large amounts,cashed in Alabama,from a FL account, no answer from anyone!
These criminals are like terrorists that plan these things out way ahead of time and strike like ninjas.
They do this like an every day job, and most get away with it.
Even though the chances of catching them are nil,I refuse to let up and hope I can see the videos and send them to the gallos!
I hope those bloodsuckers burn in h-ll!
So please....if you have any paper with any type of personal information on it ,please make sure you shred it all.
If anyone calls you and asks for your SS#, ask them why they need it and what they are using it for,and refuse to give it to them no matter what.
Even when I requested the alarm on my account to be placed there for more than the 90 days, they want you to send them a police report and request in writting,your SS# which i will not mail to them, they should have it already,it is a joke.
Make the investment in a good shredder and take alittle more time out and SHRED SHRED SHRED!
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Neal,
Must agree. We shred, shred,shred all damn day long!
Crazy Man, isnt it?
I got tired of buying paper shredders. So now I do something even better and it actually serves a great purpose. Whenever i throw a couple of logs in the fireplace, I wrap and twist some of the pages I normally would have shredded and place them under the logs. The paper is completed "Toast" and it makes a great firestarter.
Same here, the cops called me before my bank (of America) even knew about it. These guys made 3 large withdrawals using Western Union. You ask how they got my info, well when I first moved to Atlanta I rented an apartment for 2 months before buying a home. I got a call about 4 weeks ago from the cops telling me that an employee at a background check service (the ones the apartments used) had accessed 45 different tenants accounts and had all our information, SSN, license #, everything and were caught using them. That's how I got the call, otherwise theres no telling how long they could have gone at it. But they were caught at least!
What a pain!
Wow..thanks for the great reminder. I heard the police aren't even investigating ID theft under $2000 since there are so many reports. Crazy times we're living in.
My experience wasn't nearly as bad as yours, but it still makes me shudder. The person was identified as an employee of the Fresno (California) Unified School District. Confirmed by the credit reporting agency. Problem is, they also "Confirmed" I worked at an auto body shop in Juneau, Alaska. Had both jobs for five years. It took forever to clear up. Nevermind the fact that it was physically impossible to do both.
My husband works for a state government agency. Their insurance company STILL uses his SS# as a policy number. How's that for stupid!
Neal,
Great post. The only one comment I could ad is to always stay on top of your personal information. If you sign something and its says to opt out.. make sure you check that box as well. I had a secretary that went to the bank one day to cash a check and she did not remember her account number. When she gave the teller her SS# it popped up another person's name. The worst part she did not think this was a problem... Hello......... Wake up .. When she told me this I was shocked..
Yeah I've been a victim too. It's very frustrating trying to clear it up. Another tip is don't have your computer remember your passwords for you. If someone were to take your computer, all they would have to do is look in your history and go to your sites. If your password is saved for that particular page, the thief doesn't have to do any work because it's right there. Also, don't carry your social security card in your purse/wallet. You never really need it for everyday purposes and you don't want it to wind up in a thief's hands if you loose your purse/wallet. And don't have your SS # on your checks either.
Neal,
Unfortunately I too was a victim. Someone in New York opened a phone under my name. The phone company sent me a bill and asked if I had ever lived in New York. I am from North Carolina and I sound like a from North Carolina. I told her she was crazy did I sound like I was from New York. Good luck with everything
Look at this crap I received, must be partners with the Nigerian scam.
Avenue45 Rue 56 Macory Abidjan,Cote d'Ivoire
Email: grace16johnson@yahoo.com
Dear One,
Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into long time relatioship and financial transaction for our mutual benefits hence I write with due respect .I am Miss Grace Johnson and I inherited an important sum of money from my late father who died in a recent crisis in Cote d'Ivoire. I wish to request for your assistance in investing this money in a lucrative venture under your directives and guidiance in your country. I want you to assist me for the transfer of this sum of Three million, Five hundred thousand United State Dollars.($3.500,000)to your account designate hence I will give you the contact of the bank where the money is so that you can contact them immediately and discuss with them since I do not know much about financial issues. I will give you some resonable percentage from the total sum for your assistance while I pray that you do not betray me at last. Please it is important you contact me immediately for more clarifications on the next step hence it is my wish to relocate to your country as soon as this transaction is concluded.
Awaiting your immediate response via this email address: grace16johnson@yahoo.com
God bless you.
Miss Grace Johnson.
Thank god that is over with!
I became a victim at the tender age of 14, and it lasted until I was 23. I had to file for disability and I was turned down, because another person was already drawing on it. After proving I was who I said I was I got the situation resolved. Mind you this person had his way with my credit, but I was 14 at that time, so it really did not hurt me that bad. However still to this day I can not get a phone with Pac-Bell because I was not able to prove to them that I did not live in No. Cal when I was 14.
Sorry about being a victim. did you watch Dateline the other night? It was all about Identity theft. Very insightful.
Hi Dianne,
No I did not watch it, it probably was a repeat, being that i have done so much research on this being a victim myself, I already heard so much repeditive information, and the outcome was, they showed me photos of the culprits, but they never can catch them, they do this like we get up in the morning and go to work, that is their regular jobs, preying off of honest people like us.
If I happen to ever catch someone in the act,it would be a painful experience for them, they are messing with the wrong person
Hate to say it, but I too was a victim when my account was at bank of america. They were AWFUL to deal with! I had to make the claim at least 4 times, the bank manager also put in the claim a few times - they kept denying my claim! Someone bought plane tickets using my name and debit card. Now, if they weren't being such jerks they could have had someone waiting at the airport, but nooo... i have no clue what they were thinking. They had refunded the amount I the claim in for, then denied the claim while i was on vacation and took the money back AND added several overdraft charges on top of it, and added more because their reversal caused more bounces! Now i'm at Commerce, nicer to deal with! =D
Jane,
I got my money back within 2 days,but the investigation basically ended with survielence photos of 6 different people and the teller actually let them withdraw right in the back..but it was 3 separate locations in Alabama...I have a very high alert now so there is no way they can do it without my knowlege.
They returned all ,oney including all overdraft charges.
I am not a fan of Bank America either...but I won't get into why.
Sorry to hear you were a victim as well
Neal, Words to live by "When it Doubt Shred it"
Matt,
I shred everything I can,you never know who might steal.
I had little different experience, but it relates to this. I accidentally put a $500 check written to my daughter in an envelope for my monthly subscription to Dr. Seuss books for my grandkids. Scholastic Books cashed it. We noticed right away, and went straight to our bank. They said there was nothing they could do. After hours and hours and hours on the phone, we finally got Scholastic Books to credit our account the $500. All was well for about 2 days, until Scholastic Books RE-DEPOSITED the check. This went on and on and on. The bottom line is to warn you that anyone can apparently cash or deposit your signed check, even if it is not made out to them, and your bank cannot/will not do anything to protect you - at least in Maryland. If you combine this info with Neal's post... just imagne the havoc if/when someone gets ahold of your checks as well as your identity.
Margaret,
Actually I just signed a very expensive lease with a client and the rent is to be directly deposited into the landlords account and the clients were going to put the bank account info on the lease..I told them to do it separate in case someone gets a hold of the lease for protection.
Thanks for stopping by.
Jane,
I have done all the above and more..I even filed a police report and had it investigated...they will never catch them...it wasn't a local thing..and it was filed with the federal trade commission as well.
Believe me...I'm all covered...if I had my way the would hang at the gallows.
I was a victim a few years back, too. But my incident happened through PayPal. I'm not going to get into the whole thing, but I ended up getting all of my money back. And fortunately it didn't affect my credit. It's just so scary how easy it is for criminals these days.
Yes, I too got the money back and it did not effect my credit..the trouble is I found out about it before the bank..so they were able to start to find the trail quicker,but of course they never caught them and I knew that.
Neal, what a problem, I'm sorry to hear about it. I recently was notified by my INSURANCE COMPANY that hey had "missing" discs with personal information on it....I called my credit card company and SS office to put a fraud protector on it....thank you for sharing, it reminds me to be more careful then I already am!
Neal - We also shred everything!! Can't take chances! I get those scams all the time too. Do they actually think someone is stupid enough to respond. Do people respond to this? That's scary!
On a positive note.......my daughter left her purse in the grocery cart and someone turned it in, nothing taken!
Imagine your twin sister stealing identity! She had a child om my ex wifes insurance. We all had the Chris in our names. insurance company said, too bad we already paid!
Carole,
I have learned to be more careful and really felt violated.
Paula,
I can't say I had my purse taken ,but they did take a bit of money right out of the account.
Chris,
Not understanding what you wrote other than your ex wives sister stole her identity?