Did you know that I live in an industrial complex in Keller, TX and that a few days before that I lived in an apartment complex in Fort Worth, TX? Neither did I. I logged in yesterday to take a look at my credit card statement and after logging in was greeted with a mostly bare page that told me to call an 800 number and that’s when I learned about my shopping spree at Buy.com and my repeated changes of address. Luckily the fraud department of the credit card company did not allow those charges to go through. And now I am left wondering, did someone just happen to crack my password on the credit card site? Or does someone have my Date of Birth, Mother’s Maiden name, and Social Security number (which is the other way to take over an account online)? So far I haven’t seen any major damage on my credit report but I will have to monitor it closely for the next long while.
What to do?
1. Setup a 90 day “fraud alert” at the 3 Credit Bureaus. They now share information, so notfiying one should notify them all. Here is the info you need on all three just in case:
TransUnion
Fraud Victim Assistanc Department
Phone: 800-680-7289Equifax
Consumer Fraud Division
Phone: 800-525-6285Experian
National Consumer Assistance
Phone: 888-397-3742
So far I am runniing through step one, I am guessing I will be monitoring my credit like a hawk for the forseeable future and possibly contacting the police if there is any erroneous activity. But if I find out more, I will update this post.
By the way, US federal law allows you to request a free credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus once a year. The website to do this is :
Comments
One response to “Identity theft sucks”
Man, that sucks. Yeah, one of my card numbers was stolen once and they used it to steal some internet stuff. Luckily the credit card company noticed that then too. By the way, if it makes you feel better, you seem to have fixed that other recurring post.
-bill