Topic: Identity Theft (Read 17458 times)

DonTom · « **Reply #30 on:** November 21, 2006, 08:55:46 PM »

"My understanding is that bad guys on the internet can appear to be on one place while actually operating from far away."

Yes, I was wondering about that too..

BTW, just last Sunday a guy called me here at home pretending to be the fraud department of that same credit card. They were asking me for information in reference to my OLD account number, the same account number that was used fraudulently. They were asking me to confirm my birthday and stuff like that, but he wanted ME to tell him. I wouldn't fall for it and reported this to the credit card company.

Perhaps I should have just given him false information and see what happens from there.

-Don-

Shayne · « **Reply #31 on:** November 21, 2006, 09:08:47 PM »

I had that happen to me once and just for the heck of it , I told him to send info to an old E mail account and I would forward it. Well he did and I did, but I sent the email with his info to the FBI friend of mine They caught him. Don't know what the results where but it satisfied me. I save that email account for crap like that, nothing else.

DonTom · « **Reply #32 on:** November 21, 2006, 11:40:18 PM »

The fraud was against my Altura Credit Union account. They have been having other fraud problems too. You can read about it on their home page at:

http://www.alturacu.com/home.cfm

Where their website page was redirected to a fake one! This had nothing to do with my fraud case.

See here.

-Don-

steves patriot · « **Reply #33 on:** December 13, 2006, 11:39:21 PM »

I was a victim of the 'phishing' type of fraud last week, the information requested from me was supposedly from my bank about my on-line account and the questions they were asking appeared to be questions only my bank should know so I gave my ATM account number to them. That was Wednesday, by Friday night a $650.00 on line ATM withdrawal was attempted through Western Union. The 'crooks' were trying to wire money from my account to the Netherlands. I called Western Union and was told that they would not accept the transfer at the last minute because certain security questions could not be answered, however, the funds were held out of my account until today since my bank did accept them until Western Union replaced them. It was scary because these people were able to give Western Union my address and phone no. I have since called Transunion and placed a Fraud alert on my credit.
Apparently, there is an International ring and they do this type of thing a lot, and they are always trying to wire money out of the states. I not only feel pretty dumb but very vulnerable at this time.

Ned · « **Reply #34 on:** December 14, 2006, 08:00:49 AM »

No financial institution will ask for any account information in an email. If you receive such an email, and you think it might be legitimate, call your bank using the number on your bank or credit card and ask them about it. DO NOT reply to the email.

Karl · « **Reply #35 on:** December 14, 2006, 12:03:55 PM »

Also, do not reply to telephone inquiries for information. People may portray themselves as police officers (FBI, ATF, etc.) doing an investigation, bank personnel, and others that you would tend to trust. Ask them for a telephone number that you can return their call to, and first verify that it is valid. Better still, tell them that you would be happy to meet with them in their office.

Bob Zambenini · « **Reply #36 on:** March 25, 2007, 07:48:51 PM »

Perhaps I am paranoid about this, but it seems that when I order refill meds from either of our online pharmacies, with secure connection, over the next few days I get several emails from various places pushing low cost meds.

Same when I look for golf clubs on Ebay, the I get lots of golf email junk about free golf, golf publications, etc.

Some out there seem to have a lot of time but with my Mailwasher I can delete them in a flash.

I don't find a reason why I get all the email junk about replica watches as I only wear a Timex and have never shopped for a watch!!!

Bob

John From Detroit · « **Reply #37 on:** March 25, 2007, 08:17:01 PM »

I get a few hundred spam on all issues every day, I can't say as ordering something increases the amount.

Though I have noticed winning an E=bay auction tends to bring out the Phish

(And I keep frying them)

Some businesses do sell E-dresses to spammers

Karl · « **Reply #38 on:** March 25, 2007, 08:42:16 PM »

Bob,
I get ad's for med's all the time and I've never ordered any over the Internet. Just a fact of life. Curiously, most of them are for Cialis or Viagra - wonder what they know that I don't?

Bob Zambenini · « **Reply #39 on:** March 25, 2007, 08:49:30 PM »

Quote from: Karl on March 25, 2007, 08:42:16 PM

Bob,
I get ad's for med's all the time and I've never ordered any over the Internet. Just a fact of life. Curiously, most of them are for Cialis or Viagra - wonder what they know that I don't?

I won't 'touch' that at all!

John From Detroit · « **Reply #40 on:** March 26, 2007, 07:29:46 AM »

Quote from: Karl on March 25, 2007, 08:42:16 PM

Bob,
I get ad's for med's all the time and I've never ordered any over the Internet. Just a fact of life. Curiously, most of them are for Cialis or Viagra - wonder what they know that I don't?

I don't know but I do know this... They don't know how to SPELL, and would you really want to buy your meds from someone who can not spell their name

(Yes, I know the incorrect spelling is used in the crazy hope that the spam filters, which are often keyed to the proper spelling, will let them by.. Don't work but it does make for the interesting question above)

localnet · « **Reply #41 on:** April 24, 2007, 01:39:04 PM »

Have any of you looked at Life Lock?

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh, have been for years, and finally took the plunge and signed up with Life Lock who is a Rush sponsor.

I cannot say that I have been a victim of identy theft, but I don't want to be either. So I figured it might not be a bad idea to sign up the family, knowing full well the ease at which the bad guys can get our info.

I have been a member for a few weeks now, and I can say this, my junk mail has just about totally stopped! We would get those credit card offers by the hundreds! I got tired of emptying the shredder every week for all of this unsolicited junk. Junk that is dangerous in my mind, because if you know a few things about an individual, you could use these credit card offers to do some serious damage.

After hearing the founder of Life Lock on a few radio shows, I said screw it, sign me up! Just having the junk mail stop and the credit reports was worth it in my book. Let's just hope they do what they say, so far so good.

Mike

jucieandginny · « **Reply #42 on:** August 23, 2007, 09:59:10 AM »

It can happen to anyone.

Clay L · « **Reply #43 on:** October 20, 2007, 09:37:11 AM »

Quote from: Steve, CDN on March 26, 2005, 04:01:24 PM

SNIP
Are there some credit card companies promoting their cards to be safer on the internet? Does it have something to do with an additional password or some added step in authentication?

I use a software service that is offered by my credit card company. It is called ShopSafe and it generates a new credit card number that can only be used once and only for the amount you set. You can also set it for multiple uses if you wish.
A record is kept of past numbers and the charges to the numbers. There is some info here - http://www.bankofamerica.com/privacy/index.cfm?template=learn_about_shopsafe

Also you can stop pre-approved credit cards from being sent to you by visiting this site - http://www.creditsourceonline.com/opt-out.html

Ned · « **Reply #44 on:** October 20, 2007, 10:00:21 AM »

All of the credit cards offer one time card numbers for online purchasing. It involves a small client program that runs on your computer to generate the one time account number. Since the liability for credit card fraud is a maximum of $50 and in most cases will be $0, I've not seen the necessity of such a program. And they are of no use for card present transactions. However, for the truly paranoid, they may make some sense

RLSharp · « **Reply #45 on:** October 20, 2007, 02:48:51 PM »

Quote from: Ned on October 20, 2007, 10:00:21 AM

All of the credit cards offer one time card numbers for online purchasing. It involves a small client program that runs on your computer to generate the one time account number. Since the liability for credit card fraud is a maximum of $50 and in most cases will be $0, I've not seen the necessity of such a program. And they are of no use for card present transactions. However, for the truly paranoid, they may make some sense

I don't know where my message went.

Richard

John From Detroit · « **Reply #46 on:** October 20, 2007, 06:28:11 PM »

People keep telling me I'm crazy running zone alarm behind a router.... Checked the log yesterday. Had over a page of "incoming" intrusions stopped and the origin told me every one of those came in via the router and got stopped COLD by Zone alarm.

Plus... I'm not always behind this router

Now when it comes to Phish... My favorite was an E-mail claiming to be from Chase Bank... It said my Chase Bank Visa card account had been comprimised and ask me to click on the link so I could give the crooks all my personal info (On a page that looked like Chase Bank)

Well... I did click on a link all right... (In my bookmark file) and then on another link (Contact us) and then I did a cut and paste of the entire post, header and all.. To Chase Bank.

You see.. I don't HAVE a Chase bank Visa, so if that account gets compromised... It's gonna be some comprimise!!!!

Shayne · « **Reply #47 on:** October 20, 2007, 07:15:45 PM »

I agree with you John I wouldn't run anything else until someone proves to me that there is something better.

KodiakRV · « **Reply #48 on:** October 20, 2007, 07:30:21 PM »

Quote from: Clay L on October 20, 2007, 09:37:11 AM

I use a software service that is offered by my credit card company. It is called ShopSafe and it generates a new credit card number that can only be used once and only for the amount you set. You can also set it for multiple uses if you wish.
A record is kept of past numbers and the charges to the numbers. There is some info here - http://www.bankofamerica.com/privacy/index.cfm?template=learn_about_shopsafe
...

I got two notices in the mail yesterday from FIA Card Services that my card information may have been compromised at a third party location. The two cc ending numbers in the letters don't match my physical credit cards, so I'm thinking they must be some ShopSafe numbers that I used. I tried to get onto ShopSafe yesterday and all day today to check it and it tells me "ShopSafe is temporarily unavailable from your desktop." Does anyone know what is going on there?

Ron · « **Reply #49 on:** October 20, 2007, 07:36:43 PM »

Much of the identity theft as well as a lot of mail fraud would be stopped if the incompetents in Washington would just make it illegal for any company or person to share personal data that is not their own and to make telemarketing and sending of junk mailing illegal also.

Ray D · « **Reply #50 on:** October 20, 2007, 07:39:34 PM »

Frank, your description is similar to two times when my card actually had been compromised. I called the 800 number on the back of my card and chose the number for fraud. The service rep, at that number, both times, confirmed that the card had been compromised and sent me new cards with new numbers. I still got the charge on my next bill but it was credited back on the following bill without me doing anything more.

The new cards took only 2 or 3 days to get here.

Try the 800 number and tell them what you have.

Ray D

KodiakRV · « **Reply #51 on:** October 20, 2007, 07:45:06 PM »

Quote from: Ray D on October 20, 2007, 07:39:34 PM

Frank, your description is similar to two times when my card actually had been compromised. I called the 800 number on the back of my card and chose the number for fraud. The service rep, at that number, both times, confirmed that the card had been compromised and sent me new cards with new numbers....
Ray D

The letters say the accounts will be closed and new account numbers and new cards will be issued to me in 5-7 business days. But, if these cc numbers refer to ShopSafe vurtual cards, then there shouldn't be any point in doing that. That's the whole point of using that system in the first place.

Ray D · « **Reply #52 on:** October 20, 2007, 07:47:47 PM »

Copy that!

I see your point.

Ray D

JD & Mert · « **Reply #53 on:** November 04, 2007, 09:51:19 AM »

I use only one card for any and all internet transactions, and it is not hooked to any bank accounts. BOA sends an email each time I use the card to notify me of its use. For resturants etc if not using cash which I don't carry alot of I use a card that I can go online and check 24/7 and usually has any activity on the site within hours. I try to look at these on a regular basis... And no one, no how gets information on me or my accounts via email. If the bank / CU / CC agency needs the information they have other ways to contact me and I have their phone numbers to respond to their calls. With all this I am still ever vigillant as the crooks out there are working harder at getting to me than the financial instutuions are working to protect me...

utmtman · « **Reply #54 on:** November 18, 2007, 07:10:05 PM »

I too got the lifelock after checking them out with the better business bureau and finding them to be safe. For the price its worth it to me just to stop the junk mailings as well as all the idiot companies accessing my credit bureau account to send me junk. We heard them on a radio advertisement almost daily.

Jake123 · « **Reply #55 on:** December 13, 2007, 01:34:01 PM »

Just a couple for suggestions about protecting yourself from ID theft:
1) Shredding documents is good, but be careful with different color or weighted papers because it is possible to reconstruct the document like a jigsaw puzzle given time. It is best to mix the shreds in different batches instead of just throwing all of it in one batch away when the bin gets full. If you are getting rid of several documents which have the same form and letterhead such as from banks statements, don't do it all together; the lettering on the back page makes it very easy to piece them together.

2) If you are selling or trading in an old computer, be sure to use software design to actually "clean" the data off the harddisk because deleting files and re-formating the disk does not actually remove the data. Whoever gets the harddisk next can use specialized software to read/scan the information on it even if you had deleted them.

Ned · « **Reply #56 on:** December 13, 2007, 01:38:47 PM »

We don't shred, we burn. Campfires are a good time to dispose of sensitive papers.

TravelJunky · « **Reply #57 on:** December 23, 2007, 12:22:06 PM »

Those ATM tips really made me think how scary it can be. Thanks for the great info!

Steve, CDN · « **Reply #58 on:** December 23, 2007, 03:48:39 PM »

Quote

be sure to use software design to actually "clean" the data off the harddisk

What would be an example of such a software?

Does formatting the hard drive erase everything for the purpose of selling the computer?

Alaskansnowbirds · « **Reply #59 on:** December 23, 2007, 05:38:18 PM »

Quote from: Steve, CDN on December 23, 2007, 03:48:39 PM

What would be an example of such a software?

Does formatting the hard drive erase everything for the purpose of selling the computer?

No, formatting will NOT erase everything off a hard drive.

Darik's Boot and Nuke is a self-contained boot floppy that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DB&N is but one of many programs out there. Do a google search on "hard disk eraser".

News:

Author Topic: Identity Theft (Read 17458 times)