Of Course It Won’t Happen To Me…Guess What? It Did!
Did you know that 26% of Americans report having personal or financial information stolen?
- Did you know that 21% of people whose financial or personal data were stolen knew who stole the information?
- Did you know that in a recent survey, 63% of those interviewed had unauthorized purchases on an existing credit card?
- Did you know that in that same survey, 22% of those interviewed claimed that someone obtained a new credit card in their name?
The survey I’m referring to was conducted by Experian.
Frankly I was a little surprised at how high those numbers were. One out of five people had a credit card opened by someone else! Yes I know people who have been affected by identity theft and fraud. I have asked myself, "Could it happen to me?" Quickly I said no. That turned into I hope not. And it did.
I am not sure how, but someone got one of my frequent traveler cards for a hotel. Thankfully it wasn’t a credit card. But what they were able to do was make reservations all over the United States and show up and cash checks — bogus checks. Those checks didn’t have my name or address on them but the policy of the hotel is still to cash the checks because I have high status at this hotel chain. Not only did I know that I could cash checks, I never thought a hotel would cash checks without looking at ID — which is what most of the hotels did.
Identity theft is real. Just to put that into perspective, this blog gets 1,000 hits per week. That means that 250 people will be affected by identity theft. Yes 250 readers of this blog will be affected. The number is huge!
I thought I was being very careful and have no idea how this happened. Right now I am focusing on cleaning up this mess which has been a royal pain in the #$%^&*(.
A few things all of us should do:
- Examine the charges on your credit card statements before paying them
- Shred all documents that have account numbers
- Order your Social Security Earnings and Benefits statement once a year to check for fraud.
- Cancel all unused credit cards
And of course never give your social security number to anyone
- Has this happened to you?
- How did you handle it?
- Do you have any tips to prevent identity theft and fraud?
I look forward to your comments.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I got my debit card hacked at a gas pump outside a supermarket. Within five days the hacker had used my debit card to purchase goods and cash checks for about $1,500 in cash. Most of it was done at stores from the same chain as the one where I made the inital purchase of gasoline.
I didn’t realize it until the bank called me and said they were seeing extraordinary activity on my card.
I was able to get all the money back, but it took two hours of my time, and I am self-employed. I was amazed that the supermarket that took the losses showed such little concern over what appeared to be an inside job.
Moral of the story — check your checking account activity regularly via the internet. You just might catch it before it gets too big.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Tim,
Thanks for your comments. The painful thing is trying to make it right takes so long. I thought I was done but this weekend I got my platinum card in the mail with my old number - it never seems to end.
I hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
Merrill
January 28th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Tough stuff for sure.
In addition to the “preventative maintenance” tips mentioned above, you should also check your credit score as well…
Good luck getting it all squared away Merrill!
kath
January 28th, 2008 at 10:41 am
There are services and companies out there helping people deal with these types of issues in a preventative manner. One such company is LifeLock (www.lifelock.com) that helps you protect yourself from identity theft and lowers your risk of someone opening other accounts in your name and ruining your credit. A lot of what these companies do are things you can do yourself, they merely make it easier by doing these tasks for you. Keeping your information as private as possible is a good start, credit protection companies are just another in a long list of tools you should look into.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:44 am
My hand is up - I am one of your 250 victims!! The day before Thanksgiving my Daughters Brownie Troop volunteered at a Senior Center. I had my purse on me most of the morning - I didn’t feel comfortable leaving it alone in the Center. Eventually I hid my purse in my car. Less than an hour later my window was smashed and the purse was gone! The 3 hidden ipods weren’t taken, nothing else was gone through. AWWW! All of my credit cards were used within 2 hours! The kicker is - I live in a different city than where the Center is located - the @#$% thief used the cards in my City and also near my Office. I didn’t have to pay for any of the charges, which totalled to a bit over $5k. BUT the hassle of filling out the forms, jumping through hoops to prove it is ME, ordering and yes re-ordering cards, opening new accounts… you know Merrill, is FRUSTRATING! My work keys were even used - this month - so now we’ve had both Offices re-keyed. Will this end?! Thanks for letting me vent…
January 28th, 2008 at 10:51 am
Ken,
Thanks for the tip - have you or anyone used http://www.lifelock.com?
Merrill
January 28th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Magda,
I just walked over to someone in my office and mentioned we will probably hear from a number of people that this happened too and than I read your story. I am so sorry to hear that you went through this. It is painful, time consuming and extremely irritating.
I hope it ends for you soon.
Merrill
January 28th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Merrill,
I use lifelock…is it any good? That’s hard to say. I treat it like life insurance. You don’t really know if it’s any good until you need it…and you never hope to need it.
Ken
January 28th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Fortunately, I have not been a victim but I know plenty who have.
Look out for older relatives: My elderly neighbor’s home nurse stole her identity right under her nose and went on a spending frenzy before her out-of-town relatives noticed. It took months to straighten out.
We shred everything addressed to us directly except catalogs and coupons. Shredders are inexpensive and easy to find at any office supply store.
I’ve heard you should never leave anything valuable in sight in your vehicle in ANY neighborhood. Clothes hanging in your car from the dry cleaners are an easy target for theft.
I read these recs from Javelin/Better Business Bureau Survey - January 2005:
- Cancel your paper bills and statements wherever possible and instead check your statements and pay bills online.
- Monitor your account balances and activity electronically (at least once per week).
- Use email-based account “alerts” to monitor transfers, payments, low balances and withdrawals and review your credit report (now available for free annual review).
It’s interesting they recommend online as a safer alternative to paper. However, if you use online bill-paying or payment services, beware of phishing emails!
This same 2006 study reports the average amount per fraud victim is $6,278, and average resolution time is 40 hrs/victim. Ouch! Merrill — hope it doesn’t take this much of your time.
January 28th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Ken,
I should have phrased my question a little different. I assume it is easy to use.
How expensive it it?
How long have you been using it?
Thanks.
Merrill
January 29th, 2008 at 10:37 am
READERS PLEASE BE AWARE
LifeLock: Shocking Facts Uncovered
Mugshot of Lifelock founder and executive Robert J. Maynard Jr. Arrested for various crimes. Accused by his own father of identity theft. Read on to learn more about Lifelock.
http://www.squidoo.com/LifeLock-Identity-Theft
This was emailed to me last night and I wanted to share this information.
January 30th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
When it comes to preventing identity theft in our household, we shred everything. Here is one tip; when you stay at a hotel, do not throwaway or hand back the electric key cards for you room. Take them back home and shred them. Sometimes that little magnetic strip on the door key incorporates your credit card information as part of an unique code for your room’s door lock.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:12 am
another point to remember: if you intend to leave something hidden in your car, hide it before you get to your destination. Otherwise someone watching knows where to look. If I’m not going straight home, I always put my laptop in the trunk before I leave the office.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Merrill, I was contacted at Christmas time about a credit card that I had but had not made one purchase on it - it was being used in the UK. We cancelled the card and the credit card sent me a replacement. I received another call from the Cusotmer Fraud unit about two weeks ago and the new card was being used in CA and TX. I had not “activated” the card but the credit card company stated that even though I had not called to activate the card, it was still considered open. I told them to close it and not send me any more as I would not be using their company. Thanks.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Nancy,
Great point! We hid something in our car years ago in NY after we got to our destination and everything was stolen from the trunk. I assume we were being watched.
Thanks for sharing.
Merrill
February 4th, 2008 at 10:53 am
In addition to credit reports, reviewing your bank balance, etc. I also recommend installing a locking mailbox. I had my mail stolen on the day that my credit card bill arrived. Fortunately for me, the banks fraud department was A-1 and called me on the first attempted use because the purchase seemed out of the ordinary (It was for $1. I learned this is common for thieves to charge only $1 to determine if the card is active). I immediately closed out the account and notified the 3 credit bureaus and placed a fraud alert on my file. Needless to say, almost everyone on my street now has locking mailboxes. It’s one small precaution to help in protecting your identity.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:02 am
In the past few days I have received a call and a letter from Chase Visa to verify some charges that looked a little odd or out of the ordinary. After what recently happened I appreciate those calls so much more.
Keep up the good work Chase Visa!
Merrill
PS - those charges were mine they were from a recent vacation trip out of the country