Latest Victim Of Idenity Theft: ME!

[Isaac]

I've talked with innerSpaceman and Gemini Cricket about this already but those of you who haven't heard:

Yesterday evening I received two phone calls from Discover Card and the Huntington Beach Police Dept. I contacted Discover Card who then directed me to the HBPD. The detective I spoke to said that a man named Mohammad was arrested for credit card fraud in Huntington Beach this past weekend after he tried to make charges to my old Discover Card. Among other things, he also had several blank checks of mine, my name change papers, my W-2 form from Jazz Kitchen, and several of my bank statements.

I'll post full details tonight in my 'el jay' (livejournal).

Eesh! Like I need to be worrying about such drama my 2nd day at my new 'old' job.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

ick! I'm sorry to hear that

I'm glad it sounds like they caught him early.

[wendybeth]

Crap! I hope they caught him early on in his game, the bastard. How in the hell did he get all that stuff? I hope you can get this cleared up with minimal damage, but I know from experience that it can be a huge PITA.

[Gemini Cricket]

Totally lame.
I'm glad the sucker got caught.

[€uroMeinke]

Ack! - Any idea how he got a hold of those things?

[blueerica]

Yeah, there's a lot you can do about it - first thing I'd do (and I'm sure someone's told you) is to get a credit report from all three big agencies (Experian, TransUnion, Equifax). It's easy to do yourself (you don't need one of those other hokey companies to do it), and you get one free every year. Honestly, do it for a couple of years, at least. I learned this by having wallet stolen a couple of different times (one right under my nose!)

That guy had a LOT of personal info on you. While they may have caught him, he may have friends. I know of one lady in Santa Monica that found out around 5 or 6 years after visiting a doctor's office that she'd had credit cards, a car, a house and a crapload of bad debt because someone got her... get this... SSN. That's all that was needed, and that's probably on your paystub, as well as other info about you. She discovered it when she went to go and buy a new car. When she tried to fix her bad credit and restore her good name, she found a LOT of complications due to some statue of limitations because "she'd waited so long." I can't remember if she was able to really fix it. Of course, this was before identity theft was as rampant as it is today... but a little caution now could save you later.

And yeah, like GC said - Totally lame. Glad the sucker got caught.

[Ghoulish Delight]

More than getting a credit report, you should be able to get a watch put on your credit so that if anyone tries to open a line of credit or bank account or whatever, a flag will pop up and they will call you to verify.

Scary stuff, glad the douche was caught before it caused trouble for you.

p.s. Name change form? Making "Isaac" official?

[Isaac]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

Ack! - Any idea how he got a hold of those things?

I really don't know. My dad has a habit of keeping our apt. door wide open & napping. It's possible someone came in while no one was looking. Our storage unit was broken into recently but that was before any of my things went in there. Someone could have stolen stuff from the back of the moving truck when I moved last month. I'm quite confused how he got so much & wonder how much damage he did.

The detective recommended I check my credit report at least once a year to make sure nothing funny pops up on it. I did about half a year ago but I think I should do it again real soon.

[Isaac]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

p.s. Name change form? Making "Isaac" official?

Hehe. Yes. Unofficially it has always officially been my name only a bit more centered than to the left. That changed last year in March

[Moonliner]

And get a cross cut paper shredder