this identity theft is really fucking with my head

[Deleted]

it's expanded. they tried to go after my actual accounts. so far, i'm not out any money, and i've done what i can to protect myself, but i'm just all kerfuffled all the damn time. i've seen the fake applications and looking at my name in a forged signature is deeply unsettling.

yes, i know that there are worse crimes out there. i know that this isn't personal. they picked me because they were somehow able to get the information and because i have clean credit. but i feel so very unsafe.

[mypunkinpie]

((cville)) I'm sorry. I'm sure you do feel a little vulnerable right now. I would too.

[sugarplum]

I'm so sorry you're going through this. This is my worst fear. Hopefully they will catch them in the sting.

[Mrs.Beagle]

It's not personal to them, but it's deeply personal to you.

I wonder if when they're caught, you can get to kick them in the junk as part of the settlement.

[HiC]

How did you come to find out that somebody had stolen your identity?

[saraandmichael]

=(

i imagine i would feel much the same way.

[Deleted]

Ugh.

This is probably the same feeling as having your house burglarized. Except they keep coming back. Which would be more unsettling.

I hope they catch them soon.

[Deleted]

Aug 14, 2012 8:36:31 GMT -5 HiC said:

How did you come to find out that somebody had stolen your identity?

a completely badass bank fraud investigator noticed some funny stuff with the application, and tracked me down. she called every phone number she could find that could possibly be me until she got ahold of me. i want to marry her. thanks to her, i was able to learn about accounts opened at several other banks and to get an alert on my SSN as quickly as i could.

[miss1991]

Any crime is upsetting. When we first moved into out house about 10 years ago we where robbed when we where at work they caught him a year later. It was hard at first it does get better. Sorry this has happened to you.

[Nicole]

I think what you are feeling is justified. It's a really scary thing.

I'm thinking of you and hoping that this gets resolved quickly so you can feel better soon.

((cville))

[Deleted]

Aug 14, 2012 8:46:03 GMT -5 Que? said:

So how do they catch these people? I'm assuming they never do anything in person.

:-|

I WISH I KNEW.

[cleo29]

Sometimes they do do things in person, with fake IDs I would imagine.

Cville, I think this is a very personal crime. I'm so sorry that you are dealing with this. What will they do for you?

[eightangryreindeer]

It's a sucky feeling. My ATM card got duped a couple of years ago and I was paranoid for a long while.

Glad you caught it before it got out of control.

We checked our credit a few weeks ago because some assholes who were saying they were from freedom finance were hassling Nigel about his loan. For his boat. Yeah, ok. Nothing happened (phishing I think) but it was disturbing they had our home number and his mobile number and called several times acting threatening.

[Deleted]

I'm so sorry. I'd feel the same way.

[peachykate]

Gift basket time for the fraud investigator

I'm sorry cville. I can't see anyway how you wouldn't feel violated and take it personally. I hope they catch the fuckers very soon.

[gozf]

I'm sorry, Cville. I'd be out of sorts, too.

[HiC]

Aug 14, 2012 8:41:05 GMT -5 cville said:

Aug 14, 2012 8:36:31 GMT -5 HiC said:

How did you come to find out that somebody had stolen your identity?

a completely badass bank fraud investigator noticed some funny stuff with the application, and tracked me down. she called every phone number she could find that could possibly be me until she got ahold of me. i want to marry her. thanks to her, i was able to learn about accounts opened at several other banks and to get an alert on my SSN as quickly as i could.

Wow!! Did they do any financial/credit damage?

[Deleted]

sorta. it's being fixed.

[mamasaurus]

I get freaked out when spammers seem to know too much about me. ("Are you the [name] who lives at [address] and [some other personal information]? Then my father, the prince of Spammerania, has a million dollars for you!") I can't imagine how creepy it would feel to have this happen. I hope this gets resolved soon and you can feel at least a little better with some closure.

[montereybride]

I remember being so enraged when someone duped my debit card and drained my account.

I was so seriously pissed that some asshole felt entitled to the money I had worked hard for.

That, plus all the work I had to do to undo the mess meant missing work, hours and hours on the phone, trips to the bank. Plus, there were a few things that hit my account right away that weren't paid and I had to explain to those companies what happened. A couple of them didn't believe me and made *me* feel like I'd done something wrong.

[drrn04]

I would feel that way too.

What a complete P.I.T.A to have to deal with. Ugh, that just sucks.

[LLL]

that blows, I'm sorry you are having to deal with this

[eb777888]

Oh, I could totally imagine how this could shake you up.

I remember when I had my car broken into, which was no big deal, I just felt so violated. Yeah, in the grand scheme of things, worse things happen but someone still tried to take advantage of you. It's scary.

[Deleted]

It does feel like a violation -- prior to our home invasion where they went full force and try to remortgage our house, I had a store employee at GAP swipe my debit card number and try to make purchases with it (sucessfully, actually - thank god I was living paycheck to paycheck so was checking my account daily to make sure I wasn't overdrawn.) I felt so unsettled about it and really exposed, despite my logical brain telling me that it wasn't personal, etc.

If it makes you feel better, the "icky feeling" factor fades after time.

[kellbell191]

I think how you feel is completely valid. CCfraud is a very personal crime and as other people mentioned, totally fucks with your sense of security and takes a ton of time, energy and $ to fix. You are so lucky they caught it early and I'm glad you haven't lost any money yet. But it blows, hard.

I'm doing a subpoena for online accounts right now. Sometimes we can trace the computer activity using the internet provider's records. You also catch people when they try to do it in person. But the feds are usually better to handle the cases b.c. they can go across state lines more easily.

Have you called your AG's consumer fraud department? I think they'd be a big help.