Identity Theft

[Sublimewind]

I has it... My debit card wouldn't work for me today, luckily I had cash for gas or I wouldn't have gotten to work, I tried at the pump, tried in the store, before I gave up the cash... I went to the bank and couldn't even get a balance, before it spit my car back at me... So, I called the bank and they told me my account was blocked due to some strange "authorizations" pending on the account. So, I end up at the bank today for almost 2hrs, dealing with a very nice lady (and quite the MILF/GILF I might add) Canceling my card, filling out dispute forms, getting a new card in the works, setting up a savings account (why not, I was there) act.. This is the second time in less than 2yrs this has happened, luckily my bank HAD fraud protection that flag's "odd" authorizations... The strange thing is that these authorizations seem very similar to the last time this happened.. The one big one for 285.73 came out of Berlin Germany for a "phone over web" company Vortel GMBH... Another for a "web*phone" for 100.00, out of NJ... very similar to last time... Yet another from "Power T" which is a down-loadable DFX/DSP/Mp3 prog, for 29.95, which I called about and the guy was like "Oh, sounds like someone got your information and tried buying our product" yeah, no ****... that one was flagged by them and canceled for missing information.. There were others toSo yeah, I know we do a lot of Internet business, but, it's looking like my buying has come to an end for a while... And I thought I was being carefully ...

[ajflan]

Sucks man! Sorry to hear that.

[Sublimewind]

Yeah, I live up here in BFE, so it's an internet world for me... I do all sorts of web purchases, and well, it's got me in some trouble..

[Sputnik]

Might not be web purchases... could be your card has been swiped through a "bad" card reader. There were stories up here of bank machines and whatnot having an extra reader on them, that would steal your information when you put your card in. I don't remember the particulars exactly, but now my bank has added extra security on their card slots at the machine. And I know of someone who used their card at a gas station, and it was double swiped and the card was compromised so the bank cancelled it.

[Whelan]

Last time my card was used was for some nerd geek jerkface loser who purchsed a $60 account for that big internet game people play, the wizards and dragons gay time with Barney game or something like that.I called them to dispute after I called my bank and they were like, whats your account. I almost spit laughing when I told them I never had, nor will never have an account for such a waste of time.

[Mavrik]

at least its going easy for you. some guy in europe (not sure how) got our CC and was buying runescape stuff over the internet. that sort of thing usually requires the mailing address as well... who ever it was had that too. took forever to get the charges disputed/dropped. I know the wife was forever on the phone with the CC company.

[Sputnik]

Bell Mobility charged $400 on my credit card in August (and I'm a Telus customer!). When I phoned Bell it took me FOREVER and a DAY to get a real person instead of the automated "EMILY" voice (does anyone else feel like a complete idiot talking to a "female" computer?). When I did finally get a person they told me they didn' tknow why it was charged, couldn't tell me anything about the charge and said "get your bank to dispute it." It only took a couple of months for the charge to come off my card, and I have no idea what happened with it after that... why it was there? Who did it? What did they buy?

[zionzr2]

PLEASE I BEG YOU!!!....get your credit reports from the 3 buros(sp?)It should be free in your case. Place Fraud Alerts with the Credit Reporting Agencies. This is also Free! This will stop any further attempts on your credit or idenity. Even if you dont have a regular credit card get this done asap. That way you can fix and idenify any hidden discrepencies that may appear.ID Theft is a royal pain!! I'm glad your bank caught it and is working with you to resolve it.I had a case a while back where someone with a similar name to mine was putting my phone number on his bad checks. (made available to him by the local phone book)To this day several years later i have had to clarify this story with banks.Get your FREE credit reports and check them every year. Esp. When something like this happens.Ok, I'll step down from my soap box.I just hate seeing this kind of stuff happen to anyone and want to offer what i can to help aid the recovery process.

[lovemyraffe]

Wow, sorry to hear of your horrible day. Hope it all works out for you!

[Sublimewind]

So far it seems to be ok... I'm not 100% sure weather or not they will get the money or not... Being that this was tied to my bank account, they can't say for sure... They DID say, when doing online transaction, use a credit card, you can easily stop payment on a CC purchase, but once a "Debit" is in the works, it's much harder for the bank to do anything..

[bull77]

Quote, originally posted by Sputnik »Bell Mobility charged $400 on my credit card in August (and I'm a Telus customer!). When I phoned Bell it took me FOREVER and a DAY to get a real person instead of the automated "EMILY" voice (does anyone else feel like a complete idiot talking to a "female" computer?). don't get me started on bell and emily --- huge pain. I used to work as a bell line tech and had to report into 'emily' to complete my work orders. I sounded like an idiot screaming into the phone, by the side of the road, spelling out every single word.... but i digress hope everything works out with your account

[zionzr2]

I thought I would share this article I just came across and thought it brought to light a lot of good information.http://www.foxbusiness.com/mar....html

[ITcar]

any ideas on how to get a free credit report? i tried awhile ago and the companies wanted me to pay for it!

[808 Vibes]

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope it gets settled and the lowlife brought to justice!The agencies that do credit reports: Equifax, Experian and for the life of me, I can't remember the other one. I *believe* you're allowed one a year for free (?) A friend had his card number used in Spain multiple times. The bank thinks that some scum is pulling up random numbers on a computer.

[mspalmer]

Quote, originally posted by ITcar »any ideas on how to get a free credit report? i tried awhile ago and the companies wanted me to pay for it!the best way to get a free credit report is to go to:http://www.annualcreditreport.com which allows you to get 1 copy free per year from each of the 3 credit bureaus. Do not go to freecreditreport.com which will give you a free credit report but only after you sign up for their "credit monitoring" service.That reminds me I'm due for one of my reports. I get 1 different report every 4 months so they are scattered throughout the year in case of fraud, etc.

[futureviber]

Quote, originally posted by mspalmer »the best way to get a free credit report is to go to:http://www.annualcreditreport.com which allows you to get 1 copy free per year from each of the 3 credit bureaus. Do not go to freecreditreport.com which will give you a free credit report but only after you sign up for their "credit monitoring" service.That reminds me I'm due for one of my reports. I get 1 different report every 4 months so they are scattered throughout the year in case of fraud, etc.My mom works at Chase and this is what she has been telling me to do. She hates the freecreditreport.com commercials because she has to deal with people that come into the bank disputing the charge that they evidentaly know they were verifying.If you do a lot of online purchasing, get a credit card that you ONLY use online and have a second that you NEVER use online. That way I believe its easier to dispute.Good luck!

[asburydan]

Our credit card was used in England (I'm in NC)Friday a week ago for 4 purchases including a train ticket. The bank called, got the account closed, and got everthing straight.

[nate06]

Someone help me out. I keep thinking that if you steal my credit card number and then use it online shouldn't they be able to catch you. I mean wouldn't most people then have the item shipped to them. I don't believe identity thieves are usually smart enough not to use someone else card and their own shipping address.

[mspalmer]

Quote, originally posted by nate06 »Someone help me out. I keep thinking that if you steal my credit card number and then use it online shouldn't they be able to catch you. I mean wouldn't most people then have the item shipped to them. I don't believe identity thieves are usually smart enough not to use someone else card and their own shipping address.20/20 or Dateline had a report on this about a year ago. What some of the more organized people were doing is: they would place an ad in a paper asking for people interested in working from home. Then all the packages purchased with stolen credit cards would be shipped to the home-business person and they in turn would re-send these packages usually out of country (in this case the thieves were based in Africa). The "business-owners" were duped and promised lots of money for doing this simple task and they were eventually stiffed for the shipping charges. If the authorities came to the house then they would just shut off communication with the shipper. They were usually running several "marks" and shipping millions of dollars worth of stuff per year to Eastern Europe and Africa. Some of the people lost their retirement savings and ruined marriages thanks to this scam.Another scam involved people ordering a product to a specific address and then kind of casing the property waiting for the UPS or USPS to drop off the Dell computer or iPods and then scooping them up and driving away.I'm sure there are a million scams out there.

[kunkstyle]

Quote, originally posted by futureviber »If you do a lot of online purchasing, get a credit card that you ONLY use online and have a second that you NEVER use online. That way I believe its easier to dispute.I keep meaning to do that. Not so much because it's easier to dispute, but because I'd keep a lower limit on the web only one, so if the number does get used by someone else, it's not as big a financial burden.Although that's going to mean changing all my other numbers.