We just bought a bunch of greeting cards, chocolate and an ice chest....six states from where we are, and somewhere we have never been within 1000 miles of!!! They had our credit card imprint, and what's more scary, a signature that looked "almost" real. Obviously, at some store we used our credit card for real, they somehow copied the card info and my signature. Till I went over the bill, I had no clue. Had I just paid the bill, I never would have noticed the small charges like that. The thief might have gotten away with it for months or years of doing small charges. Has this or any identity theft happened to you?
Have you ever been the victim of identity theft?
05/25/2013
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not yet, and I hope I never have to deal with someone using my ID. I keep a close eye on my credit cards and my credit reports. If it happens, I hope that I can catch it before it does any major damage.
05/25/2013
Yep. There was a big breach of a security system at a local grocery store and 800 people had their information stolen. Luckily my bank was notified early and they deactivated my card before they spent too much, replaced my money, and sent me a new card.
05/25/2013
I have not had this happen to me yet and I hope it never does.
05/25/2013
I've not had this happen to me, and hopefully it never does.
05/25/2013
No but a close family member of mine has. It's a nightmare. The person managed to steal credit card information and was using it to purchase a whole bunch of stuff on the internet. Luckily the banks caught on and whoever it was got caught.
05/25/2013
Quote:
thankfully no
Originally posted by
Bignuf
We just bought a bunch of greeting cards, chocolate and an ice chest....six states from where we are, and somewhere we have never been within 1000 miles of!!! They had our credit card imprint, and what's more scary, a signature that looked
...
more
We just bought a bunch of greeting cards, chocolate and an ice chest....six states from where we are, and somewhere we have never been within 1000 miles of!!! They had our credit card imprint, and what's more scary, a signature that looked "almost" real. Obviously, at some store we used our credit card for real, they somehow copied the card info and my signature. Till I went over the bill, I had no clue. Had I just paid the bill, I never would have noticed the small charges like that. The thief might have gotten away with it for months or years of doing small charges. Has this or any identity theft happened to you?
less
05/25/2013
Luckily I haven't had this happen to me, but it's happened to my parents and a lot of other family members. It's funny because my parents had LifeLock and it never caught anything, it was actually walmart that thought a TV purchase on the other side of the country looked suspicious and reported it. The identity thieves also made a ton of other online purchases as well. Luckily the credit card took care of everything promptly.
05/25/2013
No I haven't. I have been lucky I guess. *knock on wood*
05/25/2013
Back in college my roommate stole my SIN number and my credit card from my wallet, and really did a nasty job on my credit history. She used my credit card to pay off her phone bill, used my SIN to get another student loan in my name and got a couple credit cards in my name.
I was furious. And I knew she was having issues with her parents because of her always asking them for money. So I sat her down, and much to her surprise, she got to listen to the conversation I had with her parents explaining what their thieving and lying daughter did. They refused to pay initially saying that I did everything and just blaming their daughter. I laughed saying why do I need to shop for outfits at the maternity stores and La Senza when the only stores I can buy clothes from are Addition Elle and Tall Girl?
They didn't know their daughter was pregnant which opened a whole new can of worms. They drove down the next day, and I showed them all the bills which she had tossed in the trash still in the envelope, along with my other official looking mail. When her parents asked what I wanted, I said, I want my name cleared and everything paid back. So the girl had to call the creditors, explain everything and her parents paid thousands of dollars paying it all off. She was evicted from the apartment, and her parents were forced to pay her portion of the rent for five more months as all our names were on the lease.
I was furious. And I knew she was having issues with her parents because of her always asking them for money. So I sat her down, and much to her surprise, she got to listen to the conversation I had with her parents explaining what their thieving and lying daughter did. They refused to pay initially saying that I did everything and just blaming their daughter. I laughed saying why do I need to shop for outfits at the maternity stores and La Senza when the only stores I can buy clothes from are Addition Elle and Tall Girl?
They didn't know their daughter was pregnant which opened a whole new can of worms. They drove down the next day, and I showed them all the bills which she had tossed in the trash still in the envelope, along with my other official looking mail. When her parents asked what I wanted, I said, I want my name cleared and everything paid back. So the girl had to call the creditors, explain everything and her parents paid thousands of dollars paying it all off. She was evicted from the apartment, and her parents were forced to pay her portion of the rent for five more months as all our names were on the lease.
05/25/2013
Nope, thankfully! And I hope I never will be...
05/25/2013
nope
05/25/2013
I've never have this happen to me, I don't even have a credit card, nor will I ever get one out of fear of this kind of thing happening.
05/25/2013
I answered no, but I just remembered that I actually did have a problem once. I received a coffee pot and some coffee in the mail without ordering it. I checked with my bank and found my card had been charged for these things.
When I called the company, they said it was a common way for an identity thief to test a stolen credit card number before selling it. They refunded my money, and didn't even want their coffee or coffee pot back (I kept the coffee and gave away the pot). I immediately got a new card, before any other unauthorized charges were made.
When I called the company, they said it was a common way for an identity thief to test a stolen credit card number before selling it. They refunded my money, and didn't even want their coffee or coffee pot back (I kept the coffee and gave away the pot). I immediately got a new card, before any other unauthorized charges were made.
05/26/2013
Thankfully no.
05/26/2013
Quote:
Oh my! Scary. Bless your heart. I hope you get things straightened out. Sorry you're having to go through this mess.
Originally posted by
Bignuf
We just bought a bunch of greeting cards, chocolate and an ice chest....six states from where we are, and somewhere we have never been within 1000 miles of!!! They had our credit card imprint, and what's more scary, a signature that looked
...
more
We just bought a bunch of greeting cards, chocolate and an ice chest....six states from where we are, and somewhere we have never been within 1000 miles of!!! They had our credit card imprint, and what's more scary, a signature that looked "almost" real. Obviously, at some store we used our credit card for real, they somehow copied the card info and my signature. Till I went over the bill, I had no clue. Had I just paid the bill, I never would have noticed the small charges like that. The thief might have gotten away with it for months or years of doing small charges. Has this or any identity theft happened to you?
less
I chose "other," -- I know, strange response to such a question! I did that though because I wouldn't go so far as to say I have been a "victim" of identity theft, especially since it did not cause me serious consequences or financial trouble like it obviously does most people. Mine have been minor incidents. I had some PayPal crap that happened about 3 years ago. Someone signed up using all my info, including my E-mail & address and B-day, everything! And I found out when I tried signing up for PP. I was told my name was already registered, but thought there was probably just another person with my exact name. Nope. It was another "me." And I had to jump through 2 years of hoops with PP before I gave up last year! I even got help from an organization, but PP only put my account "under investigation due to identity theft." I talked with them til blue in the face and they refuse to let me open my own account or even shut down the FAKe one! So somebody is STILL running that account.
They transfer $ and crap all the time. Since the PayPal was registered using all my real info, including real E-mail, I was able to change the password and go back in! So I did this for a year and could see transactions going on and everything! I tried to find the real person's info somehow on there and I'd monitor closely, but it never happened. I still have no info about it. I just gave up when I realized they wouldn't do anything about it.
That's not a huge deal. I'm sure I could take things further, but I do not know how. But I don't mind because at least I haven't lost anything big like most do when their ID is stolen, and mine wasn't actually "stolen," just someone used my crap for a paypal account, and God knows what else. I got a credit report after that, and there was something weird on there, but never figured anything out there either!
The only other incident for me is my twin sister has told... people... (perhaps authorities!) that she's me! This has happened on more than one occasion & she has really benefitted from it. It scares me though! She has even told regular people that she's me, by giving them my name. Once I was at a gas station and a guy came up to my partner and asked him what my name was. He told the guy and he said "Someone told me she stole some mary J from my car last week, but maybe it wasn't her because it didn't look like her." Turns out my lovely sister did it & gave them MY name! Thankfully, he wasn't angry & just laughed at the situation. As soon as he was half-way through telling me the story, I just knew it was her. I had to tell him it was my sister because well, I sure wasn't going to just say I'd done something bad that I DID NOT do. There's no telling what all people in my town think.
But I hope things are worked out for you & you don't have to go through heck. I hate that it happened. It's scary that someone went to the trouble to even fake your signature so closely!
05/26/2013
I've never been a victim of identity theft... & hopefully it never happens to me... Not like I have anything someone would want.
05/26/2013
Never had my identity stolen, but I have had a website continue to charge a subscription after cancellation :/
05/26/2013
I have to say other. I have had a family member access my bank account via one check I sent...(routing and account numbers are printed on the checks). Luckily I was between big jobs and only a small amount of money was taken and applied to the bills he racked up. I did not prosecute, but did change a few details on all my financial dealings to make it near impossible for it to happen with this person again.
I had my purse stolen many many years ago and there was another me out there for about a month....the police did not catch the person, but it all stopped as abruptly as it started a few weeks later.
I had my purse stolen many many years ago and there was another me out there for about a month....the police did not catch the person, but it all stopped as abruptly as it started a few weeks later.
05/26/2013
Thankfully, no.
05/26/2013
Quote:
I personally have not, but I have family that has.
Originally posted by
Bignuf
We just bought a bunch of greeting cards, chocolate and an ice chest....six states from where we are, and somewhere we have never been within 1000 miles of!!! They had our credit card imprint, and what's more scary, a signature that looked
...
more
We just bought a bunch of greeting cards, chocolate and an ice chest....six states from where we are, and somewhere we have never been within 1000 miles of!!! They had our credit card imprint, and what's more scary, a signature that looked "almost" real. Obviously, at some store we used our credit card for real, they somehow copied the card info and my signature. Till I went over the bill, I had no clue. Had I just paid the bill, I never would have noticed the small charges like that. The thief might have gotten away with it for months or years of doing small charges. Has this or any identity theft happened to you?
less
05/26/2013
No, fortunately, and I hope I never am.
05/26/2013
Nope.
05/26/2013
Total posts: 23
Unique posters: 23