Credit fraud used to be everyone else's problem until yesterday afternoon, when it glanced off my head, leaving a small bruise.
Most credit related mail addressed in my name is either some package made to look like I've received a huge settlement check or it contains a plastic card is inside, inviting me to turn it into the real deal. These pieces of mail are ripped up, destroyed, and thrown away.
Sorting through this afternoon's mail I found a letter sent to an old address from a bankish looking company. As it didn't look like the normal infomercial-mail I opened it and began to read. Inside was a letter explaining that the credit company was working to approve the credit card I applied for ten days ago, yet I never applied for a credit card — not ten days ago, not even four years ago.
At first I thought this mail package was a lure to get me to call the company whereby I would receive a quick sales pitch about interest rates and free gifts. They even had a case reference number printed right under the date. The letter seemed more legit with the store name of the card applied for. Not wanting to take a chance I picked up the phone and dialed.
After entering the reference number at the request of an automated voice I was forwarded to an agent who stopped asking more questions when I told him my mothers maiden name, which did not match the one supplied in the credit application. Surprisingly I was not on hold for more than two seconds when the fraud department picked up the call. It was then that I began to wonder if I had caught the problem in time or if some numbnut had already purchased a Porsche using a platinum card emblazoned with my name. This guy had the only two pieces of information you need to start your own life of crime: A Social Security number and my birth date.
The fraud agent said that a person had called in and applied for the credit card by phone. His application was denied instant approval because he had problems verifying information and tried to explain that he was going through a divorce and didn't want his former spouse to have access to the account. I tried getting the phone number used by the applicant but either they don't collect that data, or the agent could detect that I was about to cut a bed sheet into a Batman cape and bring my new archnemesis to justice, Diablo style.
Fortunately it looks like replying to this mail saved the day and I have a new found respect for the credit card companies new application process. Not that I'm completely free of these problems but it was evident they have altered their internal policies and introduced procedures to help fight against this war on private information. A case was started and a fraud alert placed upon my credit report with the credit company. The nice lady quickly provided phone numbers to the big-three credit reporting companies in America. Placing a fraud alert through these three is the first step in effectively protecting yourself against credit card fraud. As I learn more I'll post what I can.
I'm writing about my own narrowly avoided credit disaster because I don't want anyone I know to fall victim to this type of crime. As a consumer you are able to order a credit hold at anytime and it's highly recommended that you do so by calling the following credit bureaus:
And to the asshat, who's trying to pull damage my credit and my name, stop telling people I'm getting a divorce. Of all things to do, that pisses me off the most and it makes me want to give you a VW tattoo across your chest, I'll try not to mess it up with grill marks.
UDPATE: With the help of some Airbag readers I've found the FTC's website for ID theft along with this form for filing a complaint.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
Won't a fraud alert on your credit record harm your credit worthiness? It happened to someone I know and he can't get credit approval on anything anymore. He's certainly not going to get defrauded, but the credit companies really don't care.
Aegir, your friend's credit rating was probably shredded by the fraud itself, not the alert. Putting a pre-emptive freeze on your credit profile only lasts 90 days, and if you plan to open any new accounts in that time, yeah, you're gonna have to jump through some extra hoops. There are presently only about half a dozen states that allow you to apply a freeze (California is one of them). While repeatedly freezing and refreezing your profile might make you look like a greater credit risk in the long term, the freeze itself has no impact on your credit score.
Greg, you probably already know that you can get a free credit report from each of the three bureaus at annualcreditreport.com, so do it if you haven't already. It's important to check all three since different companies report to different bureaus. The most obvious red flags are new accounts and inquiries, but also look for sudden large balance increases on existing accounts, and especially name and address changes.
Once you've checked out your reports, and assuming everything is clear for the moment, you'll definitely want to check again in two or three months since it can often take weeks for a new account to be reported. If your asshat applied for one card you can bet he tried a few others too. Alas, the FACTA law only entitles you to one free report per year per bureau, so you'll have to buy them when you want to check again down the line. They'll run you about 15 bucks a pop.
*runs off to return the porsche*
My wife had a similar experience not too long ago where someone tried to open a new CC account under her name. Fortunately the lending co. called us to confirm the information. Not to shift blame, but I think a lot of fraud would be prevented by companies doing effective follow-up to confirm new applicants.
I don't think having a fraud alert would hurt your credit report, at least it shouldn't. But I don't know for sure.
It's good that you've listed the phone numbers of each of the credit bureau's... but my experience with those numbers has been less than stellar.
I will admit, up front, that my credit isn't good because I was a stupid college kid who tried to live a bit beyond his means. On the other hand, it's not nearly as bad as "most" college kids. Just bad enough to cause me a headache while looking for a house.
The problem with the credit bureau's is that they make it next to impossible to "do" something about bad credit. Those numbers will NOT put you in touch with a human being. (Unless Greg has listed different numbers than I was able to find.)
The only way to talk to a person is to pay for a credit report and then use the phone number off of that credit report with a special confirmation number. Sadly, both times I've paid for a credit report, there's never been a different phone number on it. I"m also pretty sure they operate independently... so you can only talk with a representative from ONE credit agency if you all three reports through.. say... equifax.
Disputes are also pretty difficult to initiate even IF you pay, and if you don't pay.. they're next to impossible. I found it easier to find information from 3rd party websites than from the big 3 bureau's.
I'm not saying that I should be rewarded for some poor decisions, but I DO think credit accrued during a certain age... say up to 25.. should dissapear quicker. Especially if you can prove that you're now making 10 times more money than you've ever made in your life.. and certainly more than you made while trying to feed yourself (and play a few video games) during your college years.
(I've worked pretty much full time since I was 16, and had a paper route before that.)
It's currently FAR too difficult to clean up.
Still, I'm glad Greg had a good experience.
Yea, my friend and myself got hit by some credit card fraud. Mine was porn and my friend, Kristen from Wiphey.com was the infamous 9.95 scam that hit thousands as you can see by her extremely popular post about it. Stinks, they kind of ruined my credit but the governemt, since I work for them, helped me out.
The problem with the credit bureau's is that they make it next to impossible to "do" something about bad credit. Those numbers will not put you in touch with a human being.
Bad credit and credit fraud are two very different things: one is the result of personal decisions, the other is a federal crime.
The numbers I've provided have nothng to do with bad credit, only credit fraud. And yes you do get to talk to a human being if you follow the instructions, and after entering all the data up front.
You're also wrong about working with the big three creditors when dealing with credit fraud, the are all networked together and share information when a potential crime has been reported.
Well, I have no experience with credit fraud, and was merely commenting about the credit bureaus in general... as they were mentioned in your post. It's nice that they are a bit more pro-active about helping when credit fraud is an issue, but I still contend that they do little or nothing to help those of us who are interested in cleaning up our credit as a result of (yes, as I already admitted, personal) mistakes that were made during our college years. They can and should do more.
As for the phone numbers, it appears that (as I mentioned might be the case) the numbers you listed ARE different than the numbers that are readily available on their website.
I realize my comment was slightly off topic, but my recent experience with the big 3 mean I have a hard time -not- tempering your praise with a bit of deserved criticism.
I disagree Brian. At 18, you are an adult and must experience the reprecussions of poor decisions... The real problem is 18 year olds believing in consumer culture that says they deserve all this crap without really having to work for it or really not needing it. We glorify rich heiress's who do nothing and college kids think they are entitled.
We have postponed "growing up" in this country by making college the new high school and that's stupid. Get yer ya-ya's out in high school before 18 and then wise up. Postponing reprecussions to 25 will do nothing but putting off adulthood and responsibility.
Sorry for being the Debbie Downer, but I work with young kids volunteering and this entitlement culture is very reminiscent of 80's culture and it's annoying and destructive and personally I am sick of it and am probably projecting a bit unfairly on Brian.
Jim...
I tend to agree with you, but only in certain instances. I think that some people make stupid decisions in college and spend so far beyond their means that there really isn't an excuse. For example, welfare families that have widescreen High-Definition Televisions..
On the other hand, lets look at this scenario: My parents were bringing in poverty-level salaries (combined.) I could not begin to hope for financial help from them. I was denied Grant money and we had difficulty getting enough financial aid as well. As I said, I always worked while attending school. (Full-time.) As I was attending a school that wasn't in my home State, I couldn't live with my parents. As a result, I was juggling rent, groceries, utilities, school, etc. etc... all while trying to hold-down a minimum wage job. MOST of my credit issues are utilties that I was suddenly unable to pay and were subsequently sent to collection. A couple of them are instances where I would get a Department Store credit line in order to buy clothes for an interview or groceries. (Super Target.) When you're a college student and scared to open your mail because you know it's a bill you can't pay... that's a problem. Because of this you ignore things and hope that they'll get better. Credit and utility companies are rarely sympathetic and at best offer payment plans that aren't much more affordable.
My second beef is that credit card companies set up booths all over college campuses and give credit to students who are in no way able to handle a credit card. You can't deny that there's an issue if a large percentage of college graduates are entering "the real world" already in debt. Many of us are only in debt because we tried to get by, making the occasional blunder of purchasing something that we didn't need. Having credit is fairly addicting, and I think it's completely unfair to severely punish college students in a way that is "difficult" (at best) to repair.
You got relatively lucky, Greg. The first we knew of the theft of our identities was when we started getting bills for dozens of pairs of Tommy Jeans (!) and leather sofas from departments stores in cities we had never visited. At that point, it's a real chore to get the charges reversed and the items cleared from the credit report. Some fraud departments were good to work with, but others were horrible, especially the ones affiliated with instant in-store credit at department stores. I think the requirements have changed since this happened to us three years ago, but it was clear that the person who obtained credit under my wife's name couldn't even spell it -- not to mention not having any ID. What a mess: Once fraud has been committed, it was our burden to prove that we hadn't incurred the charges. Now, one would think that when the signatures were wildly off this wouldn't be a big deal, but when the fraud department at the creditor insists that, really, they have no direct phone numbers -- yeah, that was untrue -- I got the feeling that they weren't really there to provide an important consumer service.
We eventually got everything cleared up, and the El Paso sheriff's department even caught the woman who had committed the fraud. When they caught up with her, she had dozens of credit reports in her trash can. But it cost us dozens and dozens of hours writing letters and making phone calls before it was all taken care of. I think a number of states are now mandating that the credit agencies give consumers a free credit report every x months, once or twice a year, I think. This has the potential to help, but only if people actually take advantage of it.
Greg, Speaking from experience I feel for you man. I have been going through this for the past 2 months. You SHOULD (AKA need to) take a look at your credit report ASAP. You can get one from Equifax that will show you all three bureaus for only 29.00. You might find out something that you wouldn't have found out otherwise. Case in point, how I found out that someone was using my personal info all over the place.
Long story short...
My credit card company calls me and asks me if I was having trouble using my credit card online the previous week. I supposedly was trying to wire money from my credit card to another account but tried 11 times to enter the correct 3 digit security number. Funny thing is, it's a card that I haven't taken out of the drawer for over a year. My bad for hanging on to it for so long. At the time I thought it was a crazy fluke that someone got my card# somewere so I just canceled the card.
The next week my same CC company calls me and asks me about the online application that I filled out for a new CC. They couldn't verify some of the info. YO! WHAT THE?!?! So now I am getting a little suspicious with 2 things in a row happening. I let them know it was not me and they sent me the credit app in the mail. It's my info but with an address and ph# in CA. I'm in TX and have never lived in CA. At this point I take it to the next level.
I contact Equifax, put a fraud alert on my SS# and get my credit report. It takes 2 mins to sign up with them and get access to your report. DO IT! I found that they had used my info to try and apply for a total of 6 new credit cards. All were denied because the person couldn't provide enough proof that they were me. Sometimes the CC companies are on our side. Thank you.
Next thing I had to do was cancel all our cards, file a police report with my local PD and with the PD in CA, file a report with the FTC and with all the CC companies that I use and the ones they tried to use. After I did all this I figured I was covered. Nope!
Fast forward 5 weeks later...
I get my credit report again and they were still trying to get new accounts opened with my info and they WERE ABLE TO get an account with an online merchant. YO! WHAT THE?!?! I contacted the company and told them about all the fraud so far, they closed the account and launched an investigation. They told me the account was opened the same day the fraud alert was put in place. Notified the PD's and they are all over it too now that something was purchased and delivered with fraudulent info. Along with the CC's they have also tried to get new cell phone service set up with my info. Denied.
Be careful in thinking that just because you have a fraud alert on your SS# that you are safe. The FTC told me over the phone that not all CC companies are as mindful of that as they should be. Some apps slip through the cracks. That scares me.
I'm with you dude, I have their info and want to "cut a bed sheet into a Batman cape and bring my new archnemesis to justice, Diablo style." But for now I am letting the PD handle it and I just keep monitoring my credit report. Sucks for me that I have to keep watching my stuff for a while but luckily I was able to catch this at the start. In speaking with the PD's and the bureaus, I have heard all kinds of horror stories that went on for years before people found out that their credit was ruined.
The bureaus have all been nice and very helpful over the phone. I have dealt with all three numerous times over the past 2 months. They are on our side. It also doesn't affect your credit score one bit for you to keep accessing your report or to have a fraud alert on your SS#.
This crap is the kind of thing that "will never happen to me" so people don't always take it seriously. Now I do. This ID fraud is just going to get worse. That sucks.
BTW Greg, great site. I enjoy reading it often. Thanks.
I still disagree Brian. You are an adult at 18 and who says you have to go to university right away? I was in a smilar situation as you were and it took me seven years to finish university becuase I worked a year to save. Then went a year to university, then worked.
Student loans are great as well. I never took one, but I should have. My wife did and it actually helped our credit. She pays a ridiculously low interest rate that is guaranteed and locked in and we will have it paid off in 20 years, but we pay it on time every month and it works.
But I didn't want to get into details and was speaking abstractly. I didn't mean it too personally. I know people who have no health insurance and of course there are horrible situations where debt is unavoidable. However, for the MOST part it's young adults making stupid decisions who get into debt. Our culture pushes young adults into college right away even though they haven't figured out what they want, so they waste time and money in college. Our culture says that young adults are the marketing focus and we glorify the entitled... see MTV Cribs, E! Televesion, Gawker, etc...
Man, sorry to hear that. A friend of mine recently was a victim of identity theft, and she's having a heck of a time clearing her name. Here's to hoping & praying that the situation gets resolved quickly and decisively, and that the culprit is brought to justice without you having to put a dent in your car.
Frustrated, where did you go to file a report with the FTC? I'm looking at their website and nothing is jumping out at me.
Great post Greg and this is an interesting thread. I feel for anyone who has experienced ID theft or actually, theft of any kind. Being violated like that is sickening.
My question for Greg and all of you web design gurus is this: how does "digital" make it easier and what can those of us who buy, sell, and transact regularly in this medium do to protect ourselves?
My social security number is not on my person, ever but it is on invoices I routinely send to clients in pdf form as attachments to email or through surface mail.
I know there are sites dedicated to no-no's to protect IDs but not all of them seem to have the background most of you have in the digital world. I'm curious what advice you have for people who do a lot of transactions online.
Interestingly, Newsweek's cover story this week is on Identify Theft. It's a good primer on the subject.
In Maryland, we are entitled to a free copy of our credit report every year. After reading the Newsweek article, I was meaning to do this. Your experience, Greg, made me get on the phone and do it right away.
I tried getting the phone number used by the applicant but either they don't collect that data, or the agent could detect that I was about to cut a bed sheet into a Batman cape and bring my new archnemesis to justice, Diablo style.
I laughed my ass off when I read that, Greg!
Anyway, what would be most helpful is knowing how some of you guys became victims. Of course I don't expect you to know that, but anything would be helpful. For instance I don't leave receipts anywhere, but I'll often use a card at restaurants. In the US, they take your card to the card reader, but in Europe, they bring portable card readers to the table, which is much more effective against credit fraud. Anyway, what were your habits with your cards and your mail? Do you normally get a lot of credit card applications in the mail?
Also Christopher, I just read your friend Kristen's article. I don't know if any of the 528 comments mentioned this, but people don't have to guess card numbers and hope they exist. There is a formula called the Luhn Formula that is used to determine if a credit number can exist. Combine this with knowing the starting few digits, and length that major credit card companies use and it's easy to write a program that spits out correct credit card numbers.
I had lost a shoulder bag with everything in it (including PDA and cell phone) and immediately called the credit bureaus. The first one I called had said that there was no need to call all three, they pass the alert on to the other two. This was confirmed when all 3 sent me info and reports, etc.
My bag was "found" three days later and I got an unnerving phone call from MY cell phone! I met the 'guy' whose kids had found it 20 miles away "behind a dumpster". I know this to be a lie as it had been snowing for three days and there was not a hint of water or scrape marks if it had been quickly tossed from a moving vehicle.
Every part of my wallet, even the $20 bill in the billfold, was intact. At first I was relieved, but soon realized that all my information could have easily been copied down and put back. Leaving the $20 bill only made his case for a "reward".
I didn't trust the guy and I'm glad I called the Credit Bureaus when I did. I get a confirmation call everytime a credit app is attempted or a loan is applied for. I like this.
One other thing: I have purchased a cross-cut shredder and I shred absolutely everything I can. It can't hurt.
Greg, thanks for the public service announcement, keep up the good work. Enjoy the site.
Greg,
since they don't have thier number listed on their website, I am going to have to respect their decision and not post it here. I will however email it directly to you. Hope that's OK. A number that I will post here is the number for the Opt-Out program. Just call this number, answer some simple questions and you will be taken off of all those preapproved CC's and loan mailing lists.
1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688)
Good luck.
Anyway, what would be most helpful is knowing how some of you guys became victims.
I'd like to know that as well Joe. Last time I gave my social security number along with a birthdate, I was signing home loan documents. I think it's safe to assume that criminals are likely working within the very places they intend to steal from.
Scary.
My social security number is not on my person, ever but it is on invoices I routinely send to clients in pdf form as attachments to email or through surface mail.
Richard, it's a bad idea to have your social security number on your invoice. What you need to do is to fill out IRS Form W-9 for each client and give it to your client. A W-9 contains all the information necessary for your client to report your income to the IRS and to provide you with a Form 1099 at year end for tax purposes.
Although your social security is on the W-9 (if you're a sole proprietor), you should only have to submit it once (not with every single invoice). Hopefully your clients have good record rentention practices and does not let this information out of the accounting department.
You can find a PDF of Form W-9 at irs.gov. Search for "forms".
A W-9 is one of the first things I give to my clients after they agree to hire me.
Mike, Thanks for the tip and it's off all current open invoices and invoice templates now. Some of the people I work with are so small that they don't circulate a W9 to me (or anyone else) but you're right, that ought not stop me from sending one to them. Thanks.
It may be just me, but I get the feeling that it's relatively "easy" to do ID theft in the US. Lots of different parties that have all kinds of info on folks, no consistend country-wide laws governing those databases, and so on.
Here in the Netherlands, you can't just go and collect info on people. Of course, the numbers are different, too (just 16M souls), so maybe it's just not enough of a "market", but still...
Am I misunderstanding things, or could the US do with stronger regulation?
As pointed out by others: interesting read on an (almost) always interesting site. Good luck in fighting off the bad guys, Greg.
FTC chief's credit card info stolen
Personally, I like the idea of freezing credit reports a lot more than some annual review of the sucker; cut them off at the source and all that.
I like the idea of freezing credit reports as well, but it should be a free or non-expensive option — some companies want $60 annually.
I was just about to suggest that the CC companies could offset the annual fee for freezing credit reports but then realized that whatever revenue they lose to fraud is dwarfed by the profits generated from ubiquitous access to quick & easy credit; which, ultimately, is at the root of the problem.
A few notes (specific to the U.S.A.):
Yes, do put fraud alerts on all three Credit Bureaus - this is the single most important thing you can do to limit the damage from credit fraud. When you put the fraud alerts on, the bureaus will then snail-mail you your current reports. Review the reports for anything funny.
But do NOT contact the bureaus directly for anything funny that you find. The bureaus are just big databases. They are required to report whatever information the lenders (or utility companies, rental agencies, etc.) provide to them. When the bureaus investigate your report, they will contact the lenders who will tell them that the funny accounts do exist, and you will have gotten nowhere. You need to contact the lenders (etc.) directly to get the funny accounts cleaned up. Then you can either contact the bureaus to get the update from the lenders, or just let it happen automatically with the periodic reporting cycle.
You might need to contact one or more bureaus to find out which lender to contact, and/or to get a contact number. For example, if a fraudulent address appears on your report, the report doesn't tell you which lenders (etc.) are reporting that address; you'll have to ask the bureau. Good luck getting ahold of someone you can ask.
If anyone else is on your accounts (a spouse, for example), they should also put fraud alerts on their accounts and look for funny things in their reports.
Filing a complaint with the FTC will not do anything to help your situation. The FTC does not act on individual cases. The FTC reporting form is essentially a statistics-gathering device.
Finally: fraud alerts are a good tool, but far from foolproof. There are a number of ways a crook can get credit in your name without your credit report being pulled. (The voice of experience here). There is no substitute for vigilance, and unfortunately vigilance is expensive - signing up for credit monitoring with your "local" bureau will cost you around $80/year, and for full coverage you need to sign up with all three bureaus.
BTW: under FACTA, everyone in the US is entitled to one free credit report per year from each bureau. However, that provision does not take effect in the Northeast (NC and north) and PR and US territories until September 1 of this year. A few states have specific laws allowing free credit reports (typically one per year), so if you live in MA, MD, ME, NJ, or VT, you can get a free report without waiting for 9/1/05.
If you aren't currently experiencing credit card fraud, you might consider spreading your FACTA reports over the year, by doing one Credit Bureau every 4 months. Some lenders (etc.) report to only one bureau, but many do report to all three bureaus so you might get an earlier indication of fraud that way.
Banks and credit unions are definately getting smarter. 3 times in the last two years I've had somoeone withdraw money from my us chequing account. All 3 times the bank was the one that phoned me to say "don't worry, we are fixing it" before I even noticed.