Identity Theft Checklist

[Gompers]

Hey all - About 5 days ago, I checked the mail and found 3 credit card forms/applications made out to my wife in her maiden name. We figured that her identity was being stolen, so we went through the process of contacting the various agencies. This is what we did the night that it happened:


Called our local police department to report the situation.
Called the credit card agencies that sent us the phoney credit cards and reported that it was fraudulent
Reported the situation to our personal banking lenders (USAA and Chase)
Reported the situation to one of the big three credit agencies.


Only one of the credit cards that they attempted to create was successfully charged. It was around $300 for a pre-approved Amazon rewards card. The other two required additional information, and they weren't charged (as far as we know yet).

Today we received multiple phone calls from various banks and lenders around the country about car purchases. Apparently these fuckers tried to buy three cars with my wife's information. We know that they have successfully purchased one car, and we spoke at length with the dealer and the local police (in fucking California!) about the situation. The other two car dealerships were closed, and we didn't get anywhere in the automated systems of the credit agencies that apparently approved the other two cars.

We've since connected the dots to the Anthem Healthcare Insurance data breach - since it was in her maiden name, and the address that the person who came in to purchase one of the cars was the address she used when she was a member of Anthem. They've apparently provided two years of identity protection, and we're currently working on starting that angle.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I was just wondering if any of you have suffered from similar identity theft situations, and if we've done enough to cover us in the short term? I understand that this is something that isn't going to go away - that these people are smart, and they'll know to stop attempting to purchase things for a short while (a few months to a year) but is there anything else that we missed that can protect us?

I'm tempted to do a credit freeze, but we are a few months away from buying a home, and we don't want that to bite us in the ass...any advice would be really appreciated - thanks guys.

fml

[Allereli]

oh man, what a nightmare. Did you get a credit report as well? freecreditreport.com if you haven't yet. I haven't had anything major, just a few charges here and there that my banks caught right away. My ex-stepfather had someone file his tax return before he could and that caused a lot of problems.

[phantasm]

I would recommend you go out and apply for credit all over the place since its going to get wiped anyhow. Have fun.

[iJin]

If anyone tries to use my credit, they're in for a rude awakening. They ain't gonna get shit.


Sorry that happened though, sucks.

[Grey]

When the University of Maryland lost all of my data they ran out and bought us ProtectmyID, a service run by Experian. It included ProtectmyID ExtendedCare that includes a personal agent to walk you through the process of disputes and protections if your identity gets stolen. You may want to look into it. If you want, I can do it for you. Just send me your full name, address, birth date, SS number and a urine sample and we can get it started.

[Candor]

I cannot speak from experience, however I suggest contacting all three credit reporting agencies, not just one of them.

[Tgo01]

People suck. Sorry you're going through all of this, I've never been through this before so I can't really offer any advice, other than to say I'd keep up with some sort of credit/identity protection after the 2 years is up. It's only like 5 or 10 dollars a month, most of them come with insurance that if you are a victim of identity theft they'll pay up to a certain amount of any costs you might incur fixing the mess. Plus they'll help you along the way and everything.


I'm tempted to do a credit freeze, but we are a few months away from buying a home, and we don't want that to bite us in the ass...any advice would be really appreciated - thanks guys.

I don't think a credit freeze has any adverse affect on your credit, you can usually freeze it and unfreeze it whenever you want I think, I'd ask someone who works at a credit rating agency to be sure.

I think there's also an alert you can put on your credit reports that basically tells anyone running a credit check to be sure they acquire additional ID to make sure the person opening the line of credit is really who they say they are.

[Gompers]

I cannot speak from experience, however I suggest contacting all three credit reporting agencies, not just one of them.

I read that if you contact one of them, the other two will be immediately notified (per identity theft .gov source)

[Tgo01]

I read that if you contact one of them, the other two will be immediately notified (per identity theft .gov source)

It's possible but it's probably a good idea to check with all three just in case.

[Gompers]

I think there's also an alert you can put on your credit reports that basically tells anyone running a credit check to be sure they acquire additional ID to make sure the person opening the line of credit is really who they say they are.

I believe the only reason we were notified about the car, was because we set up an alert. A bit too late, though, seeing as how they're currently driving around one of them. Unless it's been scrapped for parts already.

[Gompers]

When the University of Maryland lost all of my data they ran out and bought us ProtectmyID, a service run by Experian. It included ProtectmyID ExtendedCare that includes a personal agent to walk you through the process of disputes and protections if your identity gets stolen. You may want to look into it. If you want, I can do it for you. Just send me your full name, address, birth date, SS number and a urine sample and we can get it started.

haha fuck you

[Tgo01]

I believe the only reason we were notified about the car, was because we set up an alert. A bit too late, though, seeing as how they're currently driving around one of them. Unless it's been scrapped for parts already.

Oh a credit agency contacted you? I just thought the dealership contacted you wanting their money :p

[Gompers]

Holy shit they actually arrested one of the bitch that bought the cars. I guess they bought one outright, and the other was on temp approval over the weekend. Stupid bitch actually showed up to finish the paperwork! What a dumbass!!!

[Tgo01]

Holy shit they actually arrested one of the bitch that bought the cars. I guess they bought one outright, and the other was on temp approval over the weekend. Stupid bitch actually showed up to finish the paperwork! What a dumbass!!!

lmao wow. Catching identity thieves is almost impossible. This must have been a "special" one.

[Taernath]

lmao wow. Catching identity thieves is almost impossible. This must have been a "special" one.

They're not super villains.

[Gompers]

I'm thinking this might be the dumbest criminal on the planet... If she didn't send all those credit card applications to our current address, we wouldn't had even known anything was up. Hope she bought something nice with that preapproved amazon rewards card.

I guess the moral of the story is act quickly when this shit happens to you, because if we didn't put up the alerts, they wouldn't have contacted us... Even WITH the alerts, they managed to get two cars.

[Tgo01]

They're not super villains.

No but usually identity thieves get a few goodies with one person's identity then move on to the next victim. I think it's something like 1 in 1000 cases of identity theft leads to an arrest. This person must have not read the identity theft handbook.

[Astray]

No but usually identity thieves get a few goodies with one person's identity then move on to the next victim. I think it's something like 1 in 1000 cases of identity theft leads to an arrest. This person must have not read the identity theft handbook.

You have to have the thief confess to a crime, which will lead to jail time. Because the government doesn't know the average citizen apart from one another, it's extremely difficult to prove who you are. Even with all the paper work and ID, these cases are dropped more often than they are solved.

[Gompers]

I just got off the phone with the manager at the car lot. Apparently this lady brought a shit ton of evidence in the car with her (multiple IDs, license making equipment, a book with random people's information in it, etc). I'm going to call Stockton PD here in a bit to get some more information. The manager was concerned about how much this lady knows about my wife.