My husband is THE most private person I know. He uses fancy encrypted passwords for better computer and internet security. He shreds documents like mad. He never shares his sensitive information, such as social security number. And yet, he was a victim of identity theft.
He found it when he was reviewing credit card bills, which he does every week or so on the internet. The Discover card (# 6011 7394 9811 0474 -- Just kidding!!!) had five--count 'em, FIVE-- cash advances made against it in the last week, to the tune of about $1500.
He immediately called the company and found out that someone had called Discover card asking for an emergency replacement card. They provided his name, secret word, and social security number. Discover card went ahead and sent it to the address they provided. This surprised me, because Discover used to be pretty good about picking up on unusual activity. He has never used the card for a cash advance, and has, of course, lived at the same address for years and years. Discover really blew it, in my opinion, by not calling and confirming this request, and then again by not picking up on the unusual use.
So, now he is in the frightening position of having his information out there. He has taken steps to protect his credit, like freezing his credit report. He'll file a police report, and there are steps to take with the FTC. It isn't a good situation.
Protect your info! Do not give out your information! Check your credit reports often. Buy a cross-cut shredder. Review the guidelines on the FTC identity theft website.
2 comments:
That is SO scry!
Would Discover give him the address of where the new credit card was sent? I had a similar situation happen to me and they refused to give me the address the person used! Also, the police did nothing about it. Hmmm!
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