This is the last thing I wanted to do a Project Notebook series on: but it just happened. I got a letter in the mail informing me that my credit info was stolen and that I should protect myself. I cannot tell you what a chill that sends through you.
Luckily, so far nothing has been tampered with that I can see, but the first thing you should do is cancel the card that was associated, and then set up a fraud alert that will trigger a phone call if anyone tries to pose like you and sign up for a loan or line of credit, etc. Here are the numbers:
Equifax
To order your report, call: 800-685-1111 or write:
P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
For Fraud Alerts, call: 800-525-6285 and write:
P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Hearing impaired call 1-800-255-0056 and ask the operator to call the Auto Disclosure Line at 1-800-685-1111 to request a copy of your report.
EXPERIAN
To order your report, call: 888-EXPERIAN (397-3742) or write:
P.O. Box 2002, Allen TX 75013
For Fraud Alerts, call: 888-EXPERIAN (397-3742) and write:
P.O. Box 9530, Allen TX 75013
TDD: 1-800-972-0322
Trans Union
To order your report, call: 800-888-4213 or write:
P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 19022
For Fraud Alerts, call: 800-680-7289 and write:
Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634
TDD: 1-877-553-7803
To get a Free credit Report: Click Here
Here’s hoping you never have to face something like this. If you got something similar in the mail, please share more tips so we can all learn.
A bit of bad luck. I trust you have reason to believe the notice (snail mail can be a “phish” too) was factual. You may have to file a police report. It might be required for the reporting agencies to issue a fraud alert. Good luck.
I wonder where they got the info. Here’s an interesting read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40379-2005Feb20.html?refe
A local clerk at a motel stole my CC info and made a buy on Amazon.com — I caught it–after the transaction, reported it to AMAzon, cancelled American Express etc. (I had used the card to rent motel space for visiting relatives)
Also reported it to local cops, and of course nothing happened — it was a $400 plus purchase on Amazon.
The clerk was later indicted for identity theft — not because of my compliant, but because of more flagrant offenses.
I was lucky to catch this– the size of the purchase was the clew– a lesser charge may have escaped scrutiny. (As a side note, before I cancelled my Amex, I told them my card info had been stolen — they put the charges on hold while it was being investigated — but continued to charge me interest –!! –that why I cancelled my Amex rather than just changed CC numbers.)
Interesting. My wife and I had an odd experience with our checking account recently. There was a charge of $5.95 one day and a credit back three days later in the same amount. The business is some sort of outlet mall in Tennessee. I live in North Dakota, and have never been closer than two or three states to Tennessee. I called them and they said I was one of several calls they had received, and they had no idea what was going on. They said they don’t take credit cards over the phone, nor do they have an online store. They gave me their corporate phone number (also in TN). I called them and they also had no clue. I immediately called my bank, explained the situation, and opened a new account into which I transferred all but enough to cover the few outstanding checks. After they cleared, I shut it down. I’m glad I check my account online, nearly everyday. If not for that habit, it could have been weeks before I realized my account had probably been compromised. I’m sure somebody somewhere on this planet got a hold of some of the info hacked from Choicepoint or Lexis Nexis databases. I suspect it was a dry run see if it works thing. Pretty disturbing…
What was the supposed origin of the notice you got? Sounds “phishy” to me somehow. I once bought an item with a credit card that was a significantly larger purchase than normal and Visa called me to confirm that it was a valid charge. Mailing a paper notice would take a lot longer to get to you, and your account could have been seriously compromised by the time you received it.
Oh great. The notice was from DSW (discount shoe warehouse). I shopped there when I was in Phoenix visiting my sister. Do you thihk the note could have been a fake? What about all the numbers and links they gave me that I pasted in the message above? Are they legit?
The TransUnion link is broken (404 error message). The others seem to work but who knows. The “TransUnion” one could be the phishing link made to look like TransUnion and it was taken down because it was fraudulent. Googling TransUnion gives a working URL. I can’t imagine DSW sending that note but I can imagine a less than honest clerk doing it to get you to go to a phishing site and give away personal information.
The TransUnion link is broken because it tries to link to a page called http://www.transunion.com on realtechnews.com instead of to the site http://www.transunion.com. (The link was made as relative to this page instead of absolute.)
And if DSW discovered that one of their employees was taking information or that one of their servers was hacked, then they would probably be required to send a notice to all customers.
A little paranoid is a good thing. Taken too far it leads to doing things to yourself that may be just as bad as anything someone else could do to you. Or it leads to urban legends spreading around the internet.
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