The purchasing of spyware blockers is becoming more of a necessity everyday. The need to protect your identity is quickly becoming one of the basic priorities with more and more people and the criminals masterminding the attempts at taking your life over are becoming increasingly more resourceful and smart. YOU NEED PROTECTION! Spyware blockers are great for removing all those keyloggers and malicious programs but did you realize there is other information on your computer, as well, besides malicious programs. It's your personal browser history, any miscellaneous notes on your finances, SS#s and almost anything else you don't stop to think about, but write down. The spyware blockers will remove the threats, but it can not remove the people. A lot of indentity theft starts with friends and family, friends of friends, or to make it simple, anyone that can get access to your computer. First and foremost, do not leave your computer on when you are not around. Password protect your login, and never give it out. Give your children thier own accounts and screen what they do! Identity Theft is skyrocketing, it's not a matter of if you'll be the next victim, but when, if you don't take precautions. Identity Pro can help with finding all the miscellaneous information you have laying around your computer and give you the choice to either remove, or encrypt it! This is an incredible program! Myself and my fellow staff use it faithfully! |
the case number. Thank-God they were taking this seriously, I felt a bit of bravery, at least enough to ask questions, after all, I was the victim and I should get my questions answered, right? Not so much but they gave me city, state (Culver City California) and charge amounts. I asked the rep ‘who is responsible for these charges, how was this account open and what happens next? She replied, “In order to determine this indeed is fraudulent activity, we need to investigate the situation because some people have used their own charge cards, then claim Identity Theft in order to get out of paying the bill.”. I thought ‘what do you mean investigate, it’s obviously fraudulent activity’ I asked ‘How long will it take to complete an investigation because I need to have this Identity theft resolved now! “Four to Six weeks, then she adds, at this point this is all I can tell you”. Now I am aggravated, I must have been naïve in thinking this Identity theft was going to be resolved with each call. Frustrating as it was, I had to keep playing the investigator game, ask questions, take notes and names and be assertive. One down, Ten to go. I was assertive, almost demanding. Most of the Fraud department reps were very helpful, although some were uncooperative and rude.
There are two conversations that I remember very clearly, I do not remember which credit cards they pertain to but they were very different. I will give you the helpful one first. “Fraud department” he says boldly. I said ‘A credit card was opened in my name under fraudulent circumstances with your company and I need some information from you so I can forward it to the Officer that’s on the case’. He replies “Okay, I’ll try to help as much as I can but first I need your name, address and some detailed information from you” I thought ‘Well he sounds nice and I proceeded to answer his questions. Some were repetitive like ‘Did you lose some form of ID or Credit card? My answer was always ‘No I didn’t’. He goes on to say, “Identity theft is growing rapidly in the United States and victims such as you do not always lose something in order to have their Identity stolen. One of the most popular ways to steal someone’s identity is by way of Internet”, then he asked me if I give any of my personal information on the internet. ‘I said Yes, but only to pay bills, but I thought it was safe’. “Not necessarily” he says, as a matter of fact I’m not supposed to be sharing this with you but your credit card account was opened by the on line application” I was shocked. I said ‘Are you kidding me, why doesn’t your company detect fraudulent activity? If someone can obtain enough personal information about you, all they have to do is fill out the application, answer the questions correctly as if they were you, that are how Identity theft is created, especially if you do not have a certain type of Spyware blocker program installed in your home computer. Did you hear about the Veterans Identity theft? Huge deal, it just happened before Memorial weekend. I said ‘do these people have nothing better to do like get a job? He replies, “They are very smart especially with modern technology and since it’s really not that hard to do, the rate that these crimes are growing, the feds can not keep up”. ‘I ask him ‘how can this crime be prevented? “Install Spyware Blocker, that is your best bet for prevention,” He says. He was very informative, knowledgeable and helpful, he was one of few that offered information or at least did not hold back when I asked questions. I continued with my calls, every credit card company either had to either investigate to confirm that my account with them had indeed opened under fraudulent activity and/or had me fill out a Forgery Affidavit to process prior to finding me NOT responsible for the charge amounts. I also had to obtain up to date copies of the original police report that included all of the notes the officer added, remember I had to call her with all additional information, such as the names of reps, how the fraudulent activity happened, the city & state where these Eleven credit cards accounts were originally opened. One of the last cards I received was the Chase Bank card from Circuit City; evidently, they called me after they approved the purchase.
As I said earlier, most of the fraud department reps were helpful but I finally encountered an uncooperative rep, which turned into a heated conversation. After I had made several phone calls, I was getting used to the routine of investigative questioning. “Macy’s” she answers. I replied to her with my repetitive request, ‘Can you connect me with someone in your fraud department’? She asks me “Do you believe you were victimized by Identity theft, if you do it’s difficult to prove because anybody can claim fraudulent activity” My answer was ‘Yes, I know my Identity was stolen because I’m sitting here with Eleven credit cards that were opened in my name from coast to coast. At least half of them were opened in California as well as New York, Nevada, Oregon and Minnesota which is where I live’. I know that sounded a little bold but remember I have been on the phone for several hours and frankly, I was tired and sick of these calls. She says, ....next 1 2 3 4 5 (Need more Id theft info? - ID THEFT CENTER ) |