Identity theft is on the rise. Your own computer may be one of the easiest ways for thieves to access your information! Spyware blockers and anti virus programs are your first defense against criminals and idenity theft, but you still need to search and secure your private information, including social security numbers, credit cards, drivers license, and even passwords. Find and secure your personal information before others get the chance! That's where a program called Identity Pro comes in. It goes beyond current protection offered by spyware blockers, anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, or anti-phishing, etc, to protect you where these programs don't. It automatically seeks out and protects your important data. You'll be surprised at how much of your information is kept on your PC, from web forms to emails. Once you know what's there, you can delete or encrypt with ease! Take Identity Pro out for a free spin, see what's hiding just around the corner that anyone with access to your computer can discover. |
Although my personal experience as a victim of Identity theft started on May 28 2006, each year Memorial weekend reminds me of the initial distress I encountered as an Identity theft victim. Nearly three years later and I am still dealing with the repercussions of this crime.
I came home from work Friday May 27, 2006, checked phone messages as usual. A female voice says, "This message is for (my first & last name) and I’m calling on behalf of Circuit City in Culver City California to verify your request to open a credit card account”. My first thought was someone must have messed up at Circuit City. I returned the call saying ‘sorry, you have the wrong person’. She continued to verify my address, and SSI #. Again, I say "I’m sure it’s not me, I do not live in California and I just home from work". Now remember this was three years ago and my understanding of Identity theft was that it usually happened to either well to do people and it was a rare occasion.
May 28, 2006 I returned home from work very excited and looking forward to the Holiday weekend. I checked my messages. This female voice had an accent I was familiar with; this time she was calling from Bloomingdales in New York. Instantly my anxiety level shot up, I felt the heat on my face and my heart beating rapidly. After a few minutes of initial shock, denial and hesitation, I picked up the phone and hung it up at least three or four times prior to dialing the number. As the phone was ringing, my mind was spinning, I was scared and my stomach felt as if it were in my throat, it was all surreal. At the same time was trying to prepare myself for a conversation I was not looking forward to having. A friendly female voice picked up "Bloomingdales of New York, may I help you". I frantically replied ‘God I hope so, someone left a message earlier today to confirm that I (my first & last name) opened up a charge account with your company, I continued to say ‘It WAS NOT ME, I live (city & state) I had a message on my phone yesterday from Circuit City she as me the same thing about opening an account, it wasn’t me and what’s going on here….the friendly female voice cut me off, she says, “Hold on, hold on, let me try to get some more information for you, calling me by my first name she asked me “are you telling that you are not the person trying to open this account and this is the second time since yesterday that two different people from two completely different companies had contacted you in regards to opening accounts” I replied ‘Yes and what is up’? She says “Honey, I hate to tell you this but it sounds like someone, somehow got a hold of your personal information and…. well you need to contact the credit bureau immediately, the is phone number to Experian Credit Bureau ***-***-****, call them RIGHT NOW and good luck to you, I hope you can stop this mess before it gets any worse for you” I say "Thank-you, you have been a big help, I’ll call right now, bye"! I could tell by the urgency in that friendly female voice that my Memorial weekend off was not going to as relaxing as planned.
No hesitation on this phone call, I did not know what Experian was going to tell me nor was I prepared for what I was about to hear. A rather surprised female voice answered "Credit bureau" I fearfully replied "my name is (first, middle and last name) and I think I might be having a huge problem… I have been notified by Circuit City in California and Bloomingdales in New York and they are saying that someone has been using my personal information to open up accounts and I am kind of freaking out here". She says, "How did you get this number"? I said "From the lady at Bloomindales, she told me to contact you right away, so I did". She says, "You are not supposed to have this number, we have a free automated system that you can use to attach a temporary fraud alert to your SS#, the fraud alert stays on for three months, after that you can place another fraud alert for six months or longer if you feel it is necessary". I said "I have no idea what’s going on, I’m freaking out and I need to look further into this". She says, "As long as I have you on the phone, let me check for requests of credit. (verifies my name and SS#) can I place you on hold". My reply was "Yes, and thank-you for helping me, I am clueless as to what is going on". After a few long minutes, she came back to the phone very sympathetically saying "Ah (first name), did you lose any of your identification, SS card or credit cards"? "No" I replied. She continues "I hate to be the one to tell you this but your credit report has been requested at least Twelve times over a Two – Three day period, you can expect to receive several credit cards throughout this next week, she adds" and that’s just with Experian". I was speechless, confused and shocked. I said "What did you say and why am I going to receive these credit cards"? She replies, "Because you have good credit, I highly recommend you contact the other Two Credit Bureaus but before you do that, call our automated system to place your fraud alert, which will buy you some time to deal with this". ‘What exactly am I dealing with I replied" She says, ...next 1 2 3 4 5 (Here is a good source for id theft to look into - ID THEFT CENTER -)
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