Sitting at work today, I got a phone call from one of my credit card companies. Someone tried to call in and access my account today. They gave personal information that they shouldn't have had and all kinds of fun. The card's activity has been suspended for over a year while I pay it down so they were suspcious and called me to double check and see if I was really the one who called.
Social Engineering at it's best folks. It's a pain. Basked on the credit card company's instructions, I called the Identity Fraud Hotline for the FTC to get the numbers for all three Credit Reporting Agencies. I had to call each of them and place a Temporary Fraud Alert on my SSN which will last for 90 days. They'll send me a copy of my credit report and I'll have to make sure there isn't anything on it that shouldn't be there. The FTC recommends that I check it every 3 months for the first year, which means laying out some cash, since you're only entitled to one free report from each agency when you suspect fraud. Anytime I apply for credit in the next 6 months (if I apply) the company will have to call me before approving the credit.
What a pain. Hopefully, there hasn't been anything put on my credit that shouldn't be there. Guess I'll find out in the next week or so.
[ August 17, 2006, 11:11 PM: Message edited by: andi330 ]
Posted by andi330 (Member # 8572) on :
Even better, the only reason the CC company realized it wasn't me is because whoever she was gave them the wrong MIDDLE INITIAL.
THIS is what tipped them off.
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
That sucks. Someone took out a cell phone in my name once with stolen info. I got it cleared up, but then the damn phone company sold the bill to a collection agency, who hounded me until I got the state attorney general after them.
There really need to be tighter laws and regulations about this kind of thing. The credit companies and cell companies want to be able to get as many clients as possible, so they keep the laws and rules slack and if the customers get screwed, well that doesn't hurt their bottom line much.
I hope you get things cleared up soon. It can take a whole lot of time and effort.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
Wow, that was a close call. Hopefully it was a one shot attempt. If not. . .
Most of these tips may not be relevant yet to your situation. If you're pro-active, maybe you can nip this in the bud.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
Sorry you have to go through this. I'm glad your CC company was on the ball, though. It's a much bigger pain if the fraud attempt is successful.
I argued that point about the having to call "all three" credit bureaus whenever you have a problem with my elected officials back when they were passing the Visa/MasterCard relief act of 2001 (or whatever they really called the give-away to the credit companies). It's such a mess that consumers have to do all the leg work when the companies screw up. And there's stuff they just refuse to change too -- my credit report ended up with bad information on prior employers in there and it was clearly because of a fraud attempt (someone was trying to create a false identity using my info mixed with their history. I don't really know what the deal is, but you should definitely get credit reports (they're free once per year) from each of the credit rating bureaus and go over it very carefully. Anything in there that's even the least bit wrong is worth fixing, IMHO.
Good luck!
Posted by andi330 (Member # 8572) on :
Well, Experian and Equifax both said that they would pass the information on to the other two agencies, but they're under no legal obligation to do so (I don't think) so I called all three myself.
You do get one free report per agency per year by law, but according to the Credit Agencies and the FTC if you suspect fraud and have an alert added to your account your entitled to an extra one. I pulled my free ones about 4 months ago and didn't see anything that I shouldn't have but four months is four months and it can only take minutes to get a credit card from some places.
Yeah, I just got an email to day from a bank that I haven't used in over 6 years about changing my email address.
Sucks that they were able to get so close to using your information. Glad to hear that they weren't able to do any real damage that you know of just yet. Identity theft can be a huge hassle for the victim.
Posted by ssasse (Member # 9516) on :
Good luck, andi330, and best wishes. I'm glad you found out about it on this side of the disaster, even though it means a hassle. Take care and keep us updated.
Posted by andi330 (Member # 8572) on :
New developments.
I went online to pay a different credit card bill last night only to discover that that account has been suspended. Since I know that I'm not over my limit and I have been making regular payments I called Customer Service. I was then informed that the account had been flagged for fraud and given the name and number of the fraud investigator.
I've left her a message. The saddest part is I suspect that this one is my fault. The card was automatically paying for something every month and it expired at the end of July, but the company being paid attempted to charge the card twice. I hope that's all it is.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
quote: I got a phone call from one of my credit card companies.
See -- I'm just suspicious enough (what with all the fraud and phishing) that I think even if my credit card company called me to report suspicious activity, I would be suspicious as to whether who was calling me is truly FROM the credit card company.
It creates a horrible cycle of mistrust of everyone, all the way around.
FG
Posted by andi330 (Member # 8572) on :
Well, I was hoping that the fact that a company attempted to charge one of my credit cards was the reason this one was flagged for fraud. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. I got in touch with my fraud investigator today who stated that someone tried to call on that account and have the credit card put in someone else's name and a duplicate card sent. That's two cards in less than a week. I've ordered credit reports, now I'm really freaked that I'm going to find things that I don't want to find on those reports. Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :
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