ID Theft

[bluepinecones]

At Sparkle's suggestion, I'm throwing in my sage of ID theft. It is a very long story which I shall try to pare down a bit. Keep in mind that I have almost always operated on a pay as you go system; no big credit debts ever.

The year following my husbands unexpected death was a difficult one in more ways than just the emotional upheaval. During those first few months I had noticed but paid little attention to problems with missing mail.

About 9 months after loosing him I decided to quit work. I sold his full size van and bought myself a mini van. Shortly thereafter my grandnephew turned 12. I wanted to go somewhere so I offered him a trip to destination of his choice as b'day gift. He selected DC; we loaded up new van, drove to Petersburg, VA where his grandmother was living at the time. She joined us for DC trip. Not wanting to drive in DC and knowing we could get around on Metro, we took AMRAC to DC. A great adventure until I returned home.

My house had been ransacked. Already discontent, I grew increasingly uncomfortable being there. Decided to look for bigger house where family could visit without sleeping on floor and I just wanted to experience more elbow room after living in a small house for 34 years.

Found a house, applied for loan. Bank informed me that while my payment history was excellent they were reluctant to make loan as I had too many credit cards (CC). I was shocked as I had only one CC. I rushed to local credit bureau thinking they had made a mistake. To my horror, there were 9 CCs in my name but with other addresses. Was informed there was an increasing problem with thieves opening up cards, paying off small balances to get limits raised then making a giant purchase and disappearing. I was lucky to have caught it relatively early. They were very helpful and after mountains of paperwork, I thought the matter was resolved. The house loan was approved.

A few months later, I received a whopping bill in excess of $10,000.00 on a joint card where my husband was primary card holder. By then our local credit bureau was closed so had to deal with this one via phone and written correspondence. This card had been opened after my husbands death. Another nightmare of paperwork but finally convinced the CC company it was a fraud. As part of process copies of death certificate were provided to CC company and the 3 national credit reporting agencies.

Fast forward a bit, mortgage interest rates dropped dramatically and I decided to refinance house. Made full disclosure of ID theft problems on application and did not expect any difficulty with new loan. WRONG! Was turned down with only explanation being that there was a problem with my credit score. I was unsuccessful in getting any of the national agencies to give me my credit score. Finally had my insurance agent pull credit reports for me. Another shock, it was not that I had a bad score; I had no score as I was deceased. Apparently when my husbands death was recorded it spilled over to include my untimely demise. There is no way to tell you how difficult it is to prove you are alive once something like this happens. I am still dealing with it in some areas but did finally manage to get house refinanced.

I do not know if problem started with the missing mail, the break-in at house, or some combination of events. To my knowledge, the thieves have never been caught.

[Sparkle]

Wow! I thought I knew the story, but there was a lot more to it than I knew. I thought it was after your car accident that you were declared deceased. So glad they got that wrong.

[Cedar518]

OMG! that is a nightmare! It leaves me with my jaw dropped and completely speechless. I sure hope things will get worked out for you.

[AlmostThere]

Wow, so sorry you've had to endure all that stress and red tape!
What makes me angry is that a person can't find out their own credit ratings whenever they want. I remember going to the credit bureau and walking in and just asking. Now you are allowed one free report a year (and be careful as they ask upfront for you CC# and will then dun you about $10 a month to keep you informed, unless you actually call them and opt out of that monthly service!).

[retiredhappy]

What a horror story. I go to www.annualcreditreport.com and get a free credit report every year. You can get one a year from each of the three reporting agencies. The reason I check so much is that there is another Karen West in Kerrville - different birthday and SSN but she doesn't pay her bills. My home number was listed so I got all the collection agency calls. Was pretty easy for me to show I wasn't her but VERY annoying. If you want to see your FICO score they do charge for that. You do need to be careful NOT to use one of the sights that requires you to join and pay an annual fee.

Because of mail theft I long ago went to paperless statements whenever I could and I've opted out of receiving offers. I use a mail box even before I went fulltime so that my mail was put into a locked box. I get all my statements via email and pay most everything on line as well.

I've heard of people being declared deceased and having major problems proving they're not. I can hear the conversation now: "You're dead." No I'm not, I'm standing right in front of you." "This paper here says you're dead." "Does that mean if I kill you they can't charge me with a crime because I'm dead?"

[ohlucy05]

I do a Senior Seminar for students graduating from high school and we have speakers come in for financial literacy. The people from the State Consumer Agency told me and the students that you may check it 2 times (every 6 months) for free. The address is and http://www.annualcreditreport.com and that is a good thing. For more information go to ftc.gov.

I do this with all seniors and darn if I don't learn a few things along the way.

I don't mean to hijack the thread but it made me proud that 32 of my students scored in the top 25% of 77,000 that took the National Financial Literacy Challenge and 1 of them was in the top 1% (only 265 students) qualified. So when people shrug their head about teenagers....I look at my kids and say that is why I am a teacher. It truly is not like when we were in high school.

ohlucy

[mitch5252]

What happened to you is one of my biggest nightmares!

I believe I've done, and do, all that I can to protect myself. LIke when our new dentist down here in TN wanted our SSNs, I wouldn't give it to them...no need for them to have it. No problem. I'm EXTREMELY stingy with our SSNs...

I have put a lock on our accounts at EACH of the 3 credit reporting agencies. No one, including me, can apply for credit because of the lock. Each lock was, I think, $7 x 3 agencies x 2 people. If I remember correctly, each state varies the charge. If I need to apply for credit, there is some method to unlock the report for a specific instance. Having these locks in place really put my mind at ease. If you would like me to find and post more information about this service, I will be glad to.

I use Citibank Virtual Account Numbers (appears on monthly credit card statement as "VAN" purchase) for ALL ONLINE purchases. These numbers are generated either at citicards.com, or by a small program installed on my home computer. A one-time use credit card is generated, along with an expiration date (ALWAYS the month following the purchase), and CVC code. So, if the vendor's computer records are hacked, my credit card will be 'expired' and therefore, useless to any thief. I don't know if other issuing banks have a service similar to Citibank. The picture below shows the little program that starts when I need to make an online purchase...



Neither my husband or myself keep our social security cards in our wallets, nor anything with SSN printed on it. When someone somehow got my husband's Citibank Mastercard number (from some old online purcahse), they had a good old time at Christmas '07 in Italy to the tune of $3,500! Grrrrrrrrr...what a pain, but not near as big a PITA as identity theft. Anyway, the lady at the Citibank Fraud Department told me the biggest offender for credit card 'thievery' is at restaurants, where some employee has a machine to double swipe your card and duplicate ALL the information on it. My credit card NEVER leaves my sight - EVER. If I have to follow the waiter into the kitchen, I'm there...if he stops short, he has an unwelcome visitor up his butt.

I'm so sorry this happened to you! What a world, eh?

Here's a link for some reading about locking your credit report:

http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/learn_more/003484indiv.html

Sorry this is so long. I want to give you some ammo you might find useful to help protect yourself!

[retiredhappy]

What really gripes me is that my Medicare card which I'm supposed to have on me in case of emergency, has my social security card number. Do wish the government would get its head out of its nether regions.

[WickedLady]

I carry a copy of my medicare card with all but the last 4 numbers blacked out. That is all they need in an emergency.

[bluepinecones]

Karen: Thanks for that link. I did not know which one was free. Also, I agree with you about the Medicare card with SS#. Believe there is currently some consideration in gov't about leaving number off. They may eventually do that but not likely in our life time.
Lucy: That financial literacy class sounds like something that should be required for all students (and many adults). Did you come up with that idea?
Mitch: Thank you for info on virtual account number. I did not know such a thing existed. Will most certainly look into that one.
Sitting in front of some loan officer saying "see I'm alive and here is my id" did no good. I ended up having to go thru SS Admin. with birth certificates and sworn statements by 3 people that they knew me for more than 20 years and a statement from my doctor and details of what may have lead to the error. Once SS accepted me as alive again, others did too.
Prior to all this, I had never considered what one might have to go thru just to prove they were alive. In retrospect, maybe I could have stayed dead and not have to pay taxes.

[AlmostThere]

Whenever I"ve gone to freecreditreport.com they have asked for my CC# regardless if I want my fico score or not and I only get one report from one agency, not all three. What am I doing differently??

[ohlucy05]

We do the financial literacy the last 2 weeks of class when end of year course tests that most seniors do not have to take tests. It starts out with Reality Store where they have to pay bills for a month after they have envisioned their live in 10 years. (Oh they complain about their salary...they expect $50,000 out of college and cost of childcare, credit cards and cost of housing.) And I have a policeman who gives tickets and life's little surprises ( some are good and most are reality(bad) and they figure out life is not easy.They truly are shocked about the cost of living. It opens their eyes that it is not a smooth road.

We then have bankers, lawyers, and othe experts in to give them advice and more reality. It is a fun time for me but 27 speakers over 9 days keeps me busy. I always learn something new... and I am old. But it makes them realize the world is getting crueler when they go out in the world. We also always have a contest with foil to make prom tuxes and dresses and they show up in the last day slideshow (senior brunch) This is the 3rd year that we have done it and it makes me happy to be a part of their last experience in high school.

By the way, we pretest and post test and students who do not pass the post test spend the lastFriday of their senior year with me, a few bankers and the principal exploring financial literacy or they don't graduate. We also make them dress for success.

Yes it is alot of work but it is probably the best class they get in high school.

ohlucy

[Redetotry]

Our credit union suggests using annual credit report but BE VERY CAREFUL! There are many fake sites, they turn a couple of the letters around like they spell credit 'credt' and all sort of ran together so if you don't really check the spelling you will end up on the fake site.

Also, I've heard that if you check your report too often, it lowers your score, as will cancelling credit cards. Read up on when and how you can cancel cards without it lowering your score. I just recently heard that your insurance and mortage rates are linked to your score. Anyone know if this is true.

ohlucy that sounds like a terrific class!! Every high school should have that as a requirement.

[Birdie]

Lenora, freecreditreport.com is a different site than annualcreditreport.com. But I thought it was one a year from each and it was suggested that folks get one report every four months (a report from the three but use one each 4 months). It is a free report and will not ask for your credit card. However, when you apply for the report - be sure to remember the name and password as you will need it the next time you check for your report. Also remember what order you checked. The companies are TransUnion, Equifax and Experian.

Yes your insurance and mortgage is impacted by your credit score. Your insurance agent can be your best friend for pulling your report and score for you, if you have a good relationship with them.

Sarah, you must have felt double or triple violated! It is really too bad you had to experience that. It sounds like you definitely need to do a every 4 month check as you will be a target. Also get that telephone number and keep it in your cell phone for using to notify then of fraud purchases.

[Nasoosie]

What a fantastic idea for a final high school course required for graduation, Lucy! I am going to try to promote that idea at our school-----what a super way to open kids' eyes to the reality of the world out there!