How old were you when you lost your...

[jfoxcpacfp]

Identity? Ok, people, get your minds out of the gutter.

Our newsletter just came out and September's theme is ID theft. Articles include:

• Tips for what to do in light of the Equifax scandal


• Michelle's vlog on how to lock down security on your online presence


• Most important (imo) - how and why you should protect your child's SSN

As always, you can sign up for our newsletter here and you can unsubscribe just as easily.

[StarTrekDoc]

LOL.  Made me click!

Good story - Med school - 1st year.  -- Get phone call from Sears collections department asking me when I'm going to pay the overdue card.  Denied ever having a card and investigation opened.   Fast Forward 3 months and sting operations afterwards --- culprit ID'd -  Temporary worker at registration for med school skimmed all the students' IDs and paperwork.  Credit scores for entire med school class affected

Second big loss-- OPM in 2015.

Third big loss -- Equifax 2017.

[pulmdoc]

Not identity theft per se, but travelling in Mexico a restaurant worker skimmed my debit card. Came back from vacation to find my checking account empty and a host of purchases all over Mexico in places I hadn't been. Very angry calls from bank "why didn't you report your card stolen?" Eventually sorted out but a MAJOR hassle. Very last time I used a debit card.

[jfoxcpacfp]

pulmdoc wrote:

Came back from vacation to find my checking account empty and a host of purchases all over Mexico in places I hadn’t been.

Click to expand...

And that is why I don't use a debit card!

[MaxPower]

Agreed. Using a debit card anywhere, but in Mexico especially, is just asking for problems.

[VagabondMD]

LOL!

Two years ago, I had my taxes fraudulently filed by another party (age 49).

Earlier this year, someone took out an online payday loan in my name.

I heard a tip on a podcast today--Do not google your SS number. Apparently, there are ways to connect the searcher to the number. Sounds crazy, might not be so, but nothing good can come of it.

[q-school]

Vagabond MD wrote:

 

I heard a tip on a podcast today–Do not google your SS number. Apparently, there are ways to connect the searcher to the number. Sounds crazy, might not be so, but nothing good can come of it.

Click to expand...

isn't that like common sense?  why would one do that?

[MochaDoc]

pulmdoc wrote:

Not identity theft per se, but travelling in Mexico a restaurant worker skimmed my debit card. Came back from vacation to find my checking account empty and a host of purchases all over Mexico in places I hadn’t been. Very angry calls from bank “why didn’t you report your card stolen?” Eventually sorted out but a MAJOR hassle. Very last time I used a debit card.

Click to expand...

I may be paranoid but this is the reason I try my best to only use my debit card at my bank's interior ATM. Before I use it's exterior ATM, I "shake it down" to make sure there are no attached skimmers.

Equifax is a whole different beast. No idea what financial horrors will be unleashed from that breach.

[Matas]

Older than I care to admit.

..oh, wait...

[G]

jfoxcpacfp wrote:

pulmdoc wrote:

Came back from vacation to find my checking account empty and a host of purchases all over Mexico in places I hadn’t been. 

Click to expand…

And that is why I don’t use a debit card!

Click to expand...

My debit card is segregated from my main account.  It has a minor amount of money in it.  If I anticipate ATM withdrawals for cash (long international trips), I schedule small automatic deposits into the account.  Yeah, it would stink to have it stolen, but it is probably safer than just carrying cash.  Or am I missing something?

Yes, I prefer the ease and security of a credit card, but sometimes you need a little cash to grease the wheels of forward holiday progress....

[jfoxcpacfp]

G wrote:

My debit card is segregated from my main account.  It has a minor amount of money in it.  If I anticipate ATM withdrawals for cash (long international trips), I schedule small automatic deposits into the account.  Yeah, it would stink to have it stolen, but it is probably safer than just carrying cash.  Or am I missing something?

Click to expand...

Nope, imo that's the right way to do it. Most people don't approach it so analytically, though. I like the way you think.

[StarTrekDoc]

-Don't keep it in your wallet.  I like the new trends of using phone for ATM access either via access code or NFC -- very useful

 

 

[Private Practice Dentist]

Last week I got a letter that looked like it came from Citi Bank saying my credit card would no longer have on-line access and the auto payments would all be cut off.  It was clearly a phishing scam.  I called the phone number on my Citibank card (not the number on the phishing letter, obviously) to report the phishing scam to Citibank.  I told the Rep I had received a fraudulent letter that said Citi was closing down its online account access.  I told him it had a phone number that I had already looked up online and it came up as a number used by scammers.  I also tried to give him the fake website that was on the letter.  I told him it led to a website that looked like Citi but clearly wasn't when you looked at the URL. He put me on hold to look into the phone number.

He came back on saying he had called the phone number!  Seriously!?!?  He said a few things I could not quite understand due to his accent.  Then he asked if he could connect me -- with the fraudsters!  Seriously!?!?  I told him that I did not want to speak to the fraudsters and told him he had made a very large mistake.  (OK I may have said something more colorful than that.)

So, even after I told the guy six ways from Sunday why the letter looked like a phishing scam, he decides to aid and abet the guys perpetrating the fraud.  And this rep works for Citibank!

[ACN]

Never activated my debit card nor have I ever used one.  Just use Discover Card for cash back or go inside the bank to get cash.  99.99% of my transactions are on my credit cards.

[hightower]

I've had an incident of actual identity theft happen to me.

Got a call from a debt collection agency at work one day stating that I owed them over $1600 for non-payment of a Verizon account that I had supposedly opened earlier in the year.  Turns out someone had used my name and SS# to open a cell phone account, used it for like a month, never paid the bill and Verizon kept charging me late fees until they gave up and turned me over to the debt collectors.  It took me over a year to clear my name from that.  I had a false address on my credit report that had to be removed, I had to file a police report, spend hours on the phone with verizon and 2 different debt collectors (because they turned my name over twice!).  I didn't have to pay a dime obviously, but it was a huge pain in the butt.