Having just spent the morning dealing with a real mess for my soon-to-be wife, I thought I'd share some important information with all of you. Bascially what happened was one of her credit cards started showing up with all kinds of charges that she didn't make. The common thread to all of those charges was that it was the same credit card she uses for her AOL account. Take that for what it's worth....

So, first call was to the credit card bank to get the charges removed, then to some of the people who were making charges so I could yell at them over the phone (and feel better for having done that), then to the local police department to report it, and finally to the FTC to lodge a report there. Both the local police and the FTC were most helpful and really gave me the lowdown on how one can protect themselves against identity theft. And trust me, if you use the Internet, as everyone here does and you have a credit card, even just an ATM card, you are a potential victim of this. Something happens, here's what you do......

First of all, contact your local police department, fraud division and report it. There's not a whole lot they can do about it other than to be aware that something's going on. The detective I talked with in the Glendale Police Department suggested that I contact the credit reporting agencies and place a "fraud alert" on my better half's account. What that does is that ANYTIME someone makes a credit inquiry on her, she is notified by the credit agency before they issue the report. So, any activity that happens, she's going to know about it first. It's a very simple thing to do. You call Equifax at 1-800-525-6285 and you can file it over the phone. They will contact the other credit agencies for you and it's all free.

The next thing I was told to do was to contact the FTC and file a report with them. You can call them at 1-877-438-4338 and actually talk to a real person there. It's a 'just the facts' kinda call, but they will give you some other tips on how to protect yourself, or you can go to FTC - ID Theft and read the stuff there.

Luckily, my soon to be is anal retentive about stuff like this and she picked up on the fraud early, but some people might not be that way.... like me I think that's what some of those criminals count on.

Then with her AOL she shouldof utalized paying it on her phone bill, thats what I do.

Sorry about the mess, Aquilla.

Actually, AOL is one of the better companies out there in terms of keeping it's customers payment information secure, at least on it's machines. If your intended uses that card elswhere as well (retail stores, restaurants, etc.) it's much more likely that it was taken from one of those venues.



How were you able to call them and yell at them for using the card? Did the credit card company give you shipping address info, or the like? Was it local, or across the country? I assume you gave the info on those making the illegal charges to the police. Just wondering. It would be interesting to find out how they got ahold of the cc number.

I am curious Aquilla was it a charge card or an ATM card?
I work at a bank. If it was a charge card your right in doing what you did to stop this. But your also right Atm cards have fraud all the time. I don't know if any of you are aware you can go to the bank your Atm/Debit card is from you can fill out a RegE form. This lets the Atm dept. know what is going on and you do have to fill out a police report. They card will be deactivated. I don't know Aquilla if this as a charge card or an ATM card but the biggest problem is you have to keep your pin number to yourself. You won't believe how many people give their pin numbers to others and then when something happens like this they are amazed. I am sure that is not what happened with your wife to be but please people be careful.

Yes identity theft can be horrible. It only happened to me once long time ago but I did not follow the steps I just contacted the credit card company and they took care of the transaction and I never saw another problem with the account.

The problem with identity theft is one reason why I hope the government does like they said they are thinking about doing, making the Social Security number no longer linked to anything that is not government related. Such as business no longer able to use it as an identification marker for individuals. Cause in reality business except for your employer really have no reason using your social security number it was never intended to be used how it is today.

This is scary when trying to find the information that I have stated, I came across this as well as many websites. http://www.usatrace.com/cgi-bin/Main.pl?AID=033388&BID=3166

hmm I cant find a link for the information I stated except for this link, but I do remember watching the hearings when the committee was discussing the topic on Social security and identity theft. Making so businesses would not be allowed to use it as an identification purpose, but only government use only. Since this is one of the easiest ways to steal someones identity because with the number the thief can have access to all the information like credit cards, medical history, employment history, etc. But it looks like they did not pass that part of the law.
http://www.lincolndavis.com/february232003.htm

It was a regular bank credit card, not an ATM card. A couple of the charges had the company name and their 800 number listed and that's how I was able to contact them and yell at them. In one case, they claimed to have detailed records of having called our home and spoken with my soon to be and recieved her authorization for the charge. Funny thing about that is that the day they claimed to have called, were were on an airplane coming back from Iowa.

In another case, they claimed the bank itself authorized the charges which was really interesting news to the bank! So, the lady from the bank called them while my soon to be listened in. They gave her the same runaround they gave me so now the bank lady is filing a report with the bank's security people about it.

An interesting challenge indeed, like pouring spilled milk back into a bottle.

My employer of thirty years was, and still is diligent about not allowing the use of Social Security numbers for anything outside of the payroll records. As a result, my group insurance has my employee ID number as an account number. Every time I am admitted to the hospital, go to a new Doctor, or whatever; they want my Social Security number so that they can bill my health insurance. It's always a challenge explaining to them that if they use my SSN, the insurance company won't be able to correlate it to my account. Apparently though, it has become a de facto account number for most group insurance policies.

When Paladin Elspeth had her purse stolen nearly a year ago, a bank Debit card was used as a Credit Card. When I wen to make a withdrawal from the ATM, I learned that we were broke. We will be testifying next month in yet another trial related to that.

Replacing ID when you have no ID, we found is a challenge. Do you have a document in your house with a notarized copy of your signature?

This post approved by Spell :sorcerer: Check

But be sure to keep your info private

Easy for you to say, jubes. I'm guessing you've not been in a situation where you've applied for credit, had to have utilities turned on/off, or held any major accounts, etc.? Tell me how to buy a house without your identity being given out to at least one person and I'll give you a free Coke. It's not happening.

Identity theft occurs a lot. It happened to me. Coincidentally, it was also AOL (and the greed of a low life thief). My situation was due to the USPS failing to forward my bank statement to my new address (despite my request they do so). A tenant at my old apartment complex got a hold of it & used the account to open an AOL account.

I was fortunate in that I had already moved and my social security number was not tied into the bank account. I closed the account, my bank reimbursed me, I put out a fraud alert with the credit card companies and I was pretty much set. There's not much else one can do.

The worst part of it was the Savannah Police Department failed to investigate this AT ALL. Seriously. We filed a complaint. AOL told us that they would release the information to the police if they were asked. They never were and no one was prosecuted. No report was ever written - despite repeated calls regarding the matter. Pretty pathetic.

On the sunny side, I have a great article for you, Aquilla. It will make you feel better. I know it did for me. Man Steals ID of Sex Offender

Karma?

just a comment about social security numbers...the default student ID here is your social security number, technically you can change it but most people don't. I don't have mine changed because it would just be 1 more number to memorize. Doesn't make me feel to safe tho.

PE commented, "Any day you can leave this building smiling is a good day!" We were leaving the courthouse. She had been called to testify, because they had caught the person who had stolen her purse. Her recollection was that it "was sometime last winter, probably February." My notes said, it was nearly a year ago, in early October. At the time, I noted the time I was at the ATM and it told me I had no cash, the time that I talked to the Credit Union, and who I talked to, etc. When we got to court today, he had waived his preliminary examination (He was scheduled for three similar trials today.) and our testimony wasn't needed. Still, I am very glad that I wasn't called upon to rely on my memory after a year.

The lesson here, keep records if something like this happens. Pulling a year old printout from my Credit Union file simplified things for me, even if I didn't need it today.

LOL!!!! That's a great story!

It may be proof of Karma, or proof that there is indeed a God and God has one wicked sense of humor. LOL!!