This is a story about identity theft and how I discovered my identity had been stolen. Some of the headaches, the endless paperwork and the things I wished I would have known years ago. I am determined to get back to a FICO score above 720
A woman was sentenced to 12 years in prison after she lieft to the court about having cancer. It was her attempt to get a lighter sentence to her scam in which she ripped off small business owners in an identity theft crime.
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=111279&catid=188
One of the easiest lessons that I learned in the process of repairing my credit is that a lot of what I did like keeping my social security card in my wallet, just dumping old bills into the trash and tossing unopened credit card offers are the easiest way to have your credit stolen.
I use a cross cut shredder – just search Google for it and you can find one for about $100 bucks. Get a shredder that can handle 10-15 pieces at a time, it will save you a ton of effort and it will mulch trough used credit cards and those huge stacks of credit card statements that you have laying around.
Looks like the government is at it again. The FAA has had a huge data loss. They are doing their best to keep our information safe.
There were 48 files that were breached from a server containing information on over 45,000 FAA employees and retirees.
You can read more about it on the FAA website at – http://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=10394
Today I got a phone call from American Express to let me know that they are reducing my credit limit. I asked them if I was late on any payments and she said about 18 months ago I was late.
So now I was getting a little worried, what exactly had I done – I thought that this was a Phishing attempt,, perhaps a way for me to give up some personal information over the phone.
She said that I could just login to my account online, assured me that it was accurate and they would be reducing my credit limit. They (AMEX) had revieved my credit balance, my OTHER credit card balances and determined that eventhough I have not been late – I am a CREDIT RISK.
So I am now about about $8,400 in credit card limit and my current balance is about a quarter of that. If anyone knows what can be done please let me know. This is shit.
It is not as bad as these other people that I found on Google -
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081112180702AAaWR7G – Hers was lowered to below her current balance!
These crack articles just crack me up! We all try to spend time protecting ourselves from the “unknown” thief you know, the person that finds a wallet, or takes mail from your mailbox and uses the information. But how about the thief that is in your family. This guy steals information from a family member and buys a Jeep and charges a few thousand dollars on their cards – this is identity theft, not by a stranger but by someone you know.
The family discovered the identity theft because “Uncle Cory just got a new Jeep and Mary just had her identity stolen by a guy who bought a new jeep.” Thank goodness my family is not this screwed up, we may borrow but we never would consider stealing an identity. We are happy with our own identities.
http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20090102/NEWS06/90102017/1002/NEWS01
Every time I hear that the cops are able to bust a group like this it brings a huge smile to my face. Hopefully they are able to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law and up the punishment for these types of crimes.
The story is that a group of five people in Chicago went on a three day spending extravaganza using fake credit, and store cards. The Attorney General says that there were almost 400 transactions in which the suspects used a cloned or altered card to purchase products and gift cards.
These guys then used E-Bay to sell items and to make bank transfers to cash in on their sales. While I am sure that the thrill of making these purchases it pales in comparison to the joy that we all should get from their arrest and hopeful conviction.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/01/chicagoarea_residents_face_fra.html
I thought that this was a really interesting article about other areas of exposure and possible ways that your identity can be stolen. I would not have thought that domestic violence victims could be open to systematic identity theft.
All forms of identity theft can be devastating, from a simple lost drivers license that is used as a fake ID all the way to a complete loss of your credit worthiness, money and having a criminal record because of the stolen ID. The article continues by stating that as part of the abuse, the abusers may use private information, credit info, mother maiden names and other information who in addition to other forms of abuse use their personal information as a means of control.
New York State has a system in place to prevent and mitigate identity theft. Their tips and consumer assistance resources can be found at www.nysconsumer.gov. Consumers may also find this and additional domestic violence information on the OPDV website at www.opdv.state.ny.us.
Their tips are basically the same as with any other identity or fraud protection information.
• Check your credit and account information. Close compromised accounts.
• File police and/or Federal Trade Commission affidavits with credit bureaus. This can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/02/idtheft.shtm
• Place a security freeze on your credit reports.
• Check your free credit report regularly for errors.
You can read the full article about identity theft proection at http://www.romesentinel.com/news?newsid=20081231-141453
If you came here looking for a LifeLock.com Coupon Code you can click here IDENTITYLOCK30 for a 17.5% discount and your first 30 days Free.
This is one of the most aggressive LifeLock Promotion Codes.
Why should you use my code versus anyone else who is providing the same discount? Well, because I try harder. I put all of the information you need in an easy to read, easy to find format. And because I know firsthand just how valuable their service really is!
So support me, and support this site click IDENTITYLOCK30 and purchase the service. Choose LifeLock for your Identity Theft Protection.
Or you can choose to use these other codes with different offers:
identitylock30 It is a 10% off coupon
amazing Is a 10% off and 30 days free coupon
idprotected 90 DAYS FREE
lifesecure 10% OFF
identitylock 10% off
bks 30 Days Free
As you all know the past year has been an absolute struggle with my credit score and getting my life back on track. After donating most of my stuff last year (I donate because there are people who are in a worse position than me) I finally decided to do something nice for myself.
I went down to the Costco off of Morena in San Diego and I picked up a Vizio 47inch lcd television.
I had a gift card from my birthday and I figured it was about time, I have been without a television for about 18 months and with the prices of these things falling it was a great deal. I have not been able to get cable hooked up yet, I am not willing to pay the reconnection fees with Time Warner so I have it plugged into a Panasonic DVD player that plays DIVX movies and regular DVD’s. No way that I can afford blue-ray at this point.
The colors and the sharpness are just unbelievable even on an upsampled 1080p, it feels so real that I was getting dizzy just watching it. I think LCD takes a bit to get used to…but it was time to stop feeling sorry for myself and just get it done.
I’m pretty excited about this, hopefully my enthusiasm will not wain in the coming months!
So this guy looses his wallet and 40 thousand dollars from Identity Theft. The crook was so brazen that he actually made with drawls in person from Bank of America. Way to get Bank of America! Your security protection and customer service both suck.
Identity Theft – Way to Spot Suspicious Activity Bank of America.
Personally I am not sure if Lifelock would have been able to defend against this… I would sure like to know, as this type of theft is easier than setting up credit cards and other stuff in someones name.