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Pre-planning for Identity Theft (Score:5, Informative)
My first clue was a collection agency notice for outstanding bills, a couple of credit cards and an account with Gateway computers. I'd never received the original bills, of course, because they went to the phony address where the goods had been shipped, six months before, in a different state.
The collection agency managed to find the real me and demanded that I pay up. They wouldn't let up unless I had police report documenting that I'd been identity-thefted. My local precinct refused, saying I had to file in the state where the crime had actually been committed. I was considering calling up the FBI, but then I remembered that I had a copy of an old police report from getting my wallet lifted -- including my Social Security Card (Do they still say "Keep on your person at all times?" That was a dumb idea...) -- about 10 years before. Probably not actually related to the identity theft, but worth a try. I faxed the report to the collection agency, they closed the case, and my credit rating was cleared.
The moral of the story: Go to the police right now and report your wallet stolen, along with your Social Security card. Keep the paperwork on file. It may come in handy. If you want to cover your tracks, report a credit card or two missing and go to the Social Security office and get a new card. They won't give you a new SSN, though... not their fault that banks consider that number a secure way of verifying your identify.
Re:Identity theft or scraped card number? (Score:4, Informative)
If you want to minimize bank account fraud, use your wallet to block the view of the PIN pad from above when using your debit card. Skimmers that record card data at ATMs and other debit transaction points need to know your PIN in order to operate as a debit card, which would possibly give them more avenues of attack and probably longer usage before fraud is detected. Otherwise the credit card companies seem pretty good about dealing with it. If your bank account is drained by a fraudulent user, however, it's probably a lot harder to rectify the situation.
Between PIN theft and getting stolen money back, using a debit card for purchases just seems like a bad idea to me that asks for more potential trouble for no real increase in convenience. I know that not everyone has a credit card, and if you need to withdraw cash at an ATM you'll need to expose your PIN occasionally, but I try to keep usage to an absolute minimum.
Screw PayPal and USBank (Score:5, Informative)
I had my old PayPal account stolen years back, which was tied to my USBank checking account. Ordinarily, I/my wife would make maybe 1-3 purchases a month, but then there were some 60 made in 2 days most for amounts under $50. PayPal didn't catch this. USBank didn't catch this... WE did.
We reported fraud (blatantly obvious fraud as the mailling address had been changed as well) and PayPal proceeded to look into it. In total, PayPal had some $2100 in charges on it waiting to be approved to be covered by checking. PayPal allowed them to all go through during the fraud investigation, which proceeded to overdraft my USBank account. I advised USBank of the error and what was going on with PayPal and they also began fraud investigation. Somehow, USBank did a chargeback against PayPal which made my PayPal balance negative $2100(est) while leaving my USBank account overdrawn PLUS FEES. PayPal dropped the fraud investigation for and said they didn't know what to do basically, and USBank followed suit. So, thanks to some a$$hole out there, I owe PayPal $2100 and USBank ~$2700 for the same event since both Fraud Depts are incompetant and downright stupid. Higher ups in both companies both basically told me to sit and spin, and pay up.
I refuse to use PayPal or USBank for these facts, and tell everyone who asks about their service to stay away! F*ck PayPal! F*ck USBank! And like hell will either of them ever get a dime from me XD
Re:Identity theft or scraped card number? (Score:5, Informative)
Using a printed card, they made numerous purchases of $500 to $1000 at a time ... Fortunately, none of this cost me a dime
That's _not_ an identity theft issue. That's credit card theft. Because if someone charges _your_ credit card, it isn't your responsibility and banks work hard to catch such problems.
On the other hand if someone opened _another_ credit card or took a loan in your name, then it would take you a lot more than 1 phone call to deal with this issue. Your credit history might take years to recover. And personally I am not sure why that is the case.
Re:Screw PayPal and USBank (Score:5, Informative)
But, for all those, I wonder what paypal actually does. I bought something that didn't ever arrive. I argued with the seller, who charged an insane amount for insurance, so I declined, that the definition of a purchase in the US requires receipt. If it had been shipped, received by me, packed properly, but damaged, then I'd have gotten it and be out the product because I didn't get insurance. But it has to get to me. Sellers should use tracking to protect themselves. Buyers should *never* get insurance. Why? Because it's never in your best interests to pay someone else's insurance premiums. The insurance covers the shipper only because the item belongs to the shipper until you receive it. If it gets to you and looks beat up, just refuse to sign and insist they take it back.
But the item I never got, I opened a ticket with paypal They said "the seller says he shipped it, so you have to pay." I said "I never got it, so I don't have to pay." Paypal never gave me my money back, so I reversed the charges on my credit card. No idea if paypal took the money from the seller.
Sellers should always get tracking, buyers should never get insurance. Always pay by credit card. Never link a bank account to paypal (works better for buyers than sellers, but I'm mostly a buyer).
Re:Identity theft or scraped card number? (Score:3, Informative)
Wrong.
http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/78/~/legal-requirements-to-provide-your-social-security-number [ssa.gov]
(and this was the FIRST RESULT on Google for "US SSN law").
Summary: you may be required to provide it to various state and federal government organizations to get their services, but they are required to tell you who needs it and how they will use it. You are never *required* to provide your SSN to a private business, but they are then not required to provide you with a product or service. There is NO law prohibiting anyone from asking for it or tying it to their own databases, etc.