Protect Yourself
Topic: Are you at risk?

Hello,  Protecting yourself from identity theft will also help you to protect your assets and ability to purchase investments.  1 out of 4 people this year will be a victim of identity theft.  How do you protect yourself?  1) copy all contents of your wallet and keep in safe place  2) never carry your social security card or your number with you  3) shred all paperwork and junk mail that has your name on it  4) Don't put your phone number on your checks or use a different phone number than you use on your credit cards.  The reason for this the credit card companies use your phone number to identify you.  So why should you freely give out your phone number so a thief can use it.  5) Don't purchase something using your credit card over your cell or mobile phone.  Thieves are just waiting to grab that information.  Always use a land line. Click here to find out more ways to protect yourself.

 

Post Office caused Identity Theft
Mood:  on fire
Topic: Horror Stories
Post Office Slip-up Leads to ID theft
from "Woe Woe Jane Doe"

I wanted to share my story from last summer. I moved apartments and put in my change of address card with the US Post Office branch nearest me. Unfortunately, they did not forward my mail to my new apartment.

So when my mail was dropped at my old location, the people that lived there just left it out in a common area that anyone walking by could take. Because of that, someone took all personal mail from my bank (including statements) and credit card applications and filled them out and sent them in my name. I became a victim of identity theft as a result.

Once discovered, I went to the Post Office and all they could say was "oops, oh well."

Here?s my advice: Beware of the US Post Office and change of addresses. When you move and fill out the change of address card, be sure to watch for a letter from the Post Office at your new address confirming that you've changed your address. If you don't get such a letter within a couple weeks, be sure to check with the Post Office to make sure they indeed paid attention to your change of address. Also, send your own change-of-address letters to your bank, credit cards, magazines, etc. Don?t rely 100% on the Post Office?s change-of-address card.

Regardless of how many times I have been told that I am not, I am a victim. Our police agencies need to realize that having one's identity stolen is emotionally painful, humiliating, and costly. I have spent an ungodly number of hours trying to correct the damage that has been done by the individual who stole my identity. Professionally, as a teacher and tutor, my hours are worth thirty-five dollars. I have been robbed of $5,250 in time. I have been humiliated in my local stores because my checks have been rejected at the check out, and I am emotionally drained. I am a victim, and Congress needs to recognize me as such.

My fanny pack was stolen at a coffee shop in Chicago on Labor Day. By the time I drove home to cancel my credit cards, they had already been used. The credit card companies were very helpful in canceling my cards; however, none of them told me that I needed to notify the three major credit reporting agencies. The police failed to give me this information as well.

My credit union told me to cancel my stolen checks. Unfortunately, they did not advise me to close my account and open a new one. Both stolen checks were written and forged on the same night as the theft; one at a gambling boat, and the other at a major grocery store. Both places required a picture ID. I learned of the forged checks when a clerk at the Target store rejected my personal check for merchandise. The clerk allowed me to use the courtesy phone to see why my check had been rejected. I was told that I had bounced a check at Harrah's Casino (a gambling boat). I tried to explain the situation and was told to call Equifax Check Services the next morning. I called and was told that I needed to address the issue in writing.

That same day, I received a letter of intent to collect from this same company. I called again trying to explain, and I was given the information that I needed to include in the letter to them. This included an affidavit of forgery (to be filled out after I requested and received copies of the forged check from my banking institution which took four days), my mother's maiden name, and proof of identity (which had been in the fanny pack). I was told that once they had received the information, it could take up to 30 days to clear my records.

In the meantime, I could not cash a personal check at any store. I then received a letter of intent to collect from Telecheck for the forged check to the grocery store. Again, I called to explain. Again, I had to send various pieces of information and would have to wait 30 days for my record to clear. Neither company advised me to contact the credit reporting agencies.

In October, thanks to an investigator for Target, I was made aware that someone was opening charge accounts in my name. An employee of Target was suspicious after opening a new account in my name. She realized that the woman opening the account was much younger than what the birth date on the application indicated. She followed the woman and her male companion out to the car and wrote down the license plate number. Of course, all of this happened after she had charged $989 of stereo equipment and electronics.

The investigator was calling to verify that I had not opened an account. The investigator told me that I should call the credit reporting agencies and request reports to see who else had inquired into my credit and to flag my reports with an identity theft alert. Unfortunately, I cannot say that this woman was then arrested, and my chaos ended.

I called my friend in the department of motor vehicles and had her run the license plate number. I then called the police to give them the woman's name, address, and phone number. The police detective in charge of my case refused to take any information. I tried to tell him about the witness at the Target store; again, he would not take any information. His exact words to me were "You are not a victim." He explained to me that I was not actually out any money; therefore, I was not the victim, the credit card companies were. Shocked, I asked him how he could say that. My identity had been stolen, checks where forged, new accounts had been opened, and my credit was ruined. He again stated that I was not actually out any cash. I hung up angry and frustrated.

I then followed through on the investigator's advice; I called the credit reporting bureaus. Trans Union was easy to contact and extremely helpful. Over the phone, I was able to get the names of all the credit companies who had inquired into my credit since the theft. The representative even went so far as to give me phone numbers for each of the companies. I started calling companies. Sears opened a new account even though I had just reported my card stolen and told them not to send me a new card. It was "maxed out" at $4,000. J.C Penney's turned down the new application because I had just closed the other account (smart people there). And Sprint wireless had given the "new me" a phone and a service. I closed the accounts immediately, and page by page filled out all the required paperwork for each company.

Since I now had a cell phone number with a well-used service, I decided to call my detective once again. As a civilian, I figured that the police might call the numbers that had been called on the service and get some clues-even though I already had her name and address. Again, I was told that I was not a victim.

Discouraged, but with a lot of work yet to do, I called Equifax credit reporting bureau. They were harder to reach, but very helpful. The "new me" went on a gift certificate buying spree at Montgomery Wards and at Ashley Stewart-a store I had never even heard of before. Wards told me that they couldn't void the gift certificates that were purchased on the fraudulent account. It wasn't their policy. They told me that they would close the account and that it was over the limit of $2,500. Of course, I would have to fill out all of their forms and return them with an affidavit of forgery. Ashley Stewart is a clothing store. The "new me" is now well dressed in over $1,000 worth of new clothes. They closed the account after two phone calls and sent me the forms. That left one credit reporting agency to contact.

Experian was an experience-a nightmarish experience. No human ever answered the phone at Experian. I called over 20 times at all times of the day. I tried every possible number option on that recording. I made up numbers to try. I sent a letter including the long list of information they requested, and received nothing in ten days -all the while still trying to call them. I sent a second letter. No answer after another 10 days. I send a certified letter telling them that the FTC requires them to send me a copy of my credit report. They sent back a form requesting all the information that I had sent previously. I filled out the form and sent it back certified and registered.

I called the FTC to complain; they told me to send Experian a letter. In 15 days, I finally received my credit report. Again, I called the companies who had made inquiries into my credit. Ameritech told me that a phone had been install in my name at an address in Chicago. The "new me" had installed a new phone at a "new address." Even better, Providian Financial didn't know why they had inquired into my credit history. The credit report had given me access to a new phone number for Experian so I called and was put on hold. It gave me time to look over my report.

I discovered that Experian had listed the address of the house with the newly installed phone as my address. My entire credit history had changed its address without my ever having to move. After 30 minutes on hold (no exaggeration), I finally heard a person's voice. I told the customer service rep. about the erroneous address and asked her how they received that information. She said that Providian Financial had sent it to them. Confused, I asked her to explain. She said that Providian inquired so as to send out pre-approved credit card applications to me. Remember, Providian had no record of me so they said.

I boldly asked why Experian would change my address. Her response was that it was policy to add or change addresses whenever they received information form credit card companies. This means that Ameritech sold my "new fraudulent address" to a credit card company who was sending pre-approved credit card applications to the person who stole my identity. How much easier for a thief could it get?

Well, it does get easier if the police won't do anything. Upset with my detective, I called his supervisor and complained. I was assured that something would be done and my case would be reassigned. I got a new detective all right. She even called me-to tell me that I hadn't gotten the other detective in trouble and she really didn't know what I expected her to be able to do. After 31/2 months, I blew up. I told her that I didn't give a shit whether he was in trouble or not. And that considering the Chicago police department had just put out a propaganda piece on the local news about how they were now going to go after identity thieves, that I expected them to do something or that I'd be happy to call the press and let them know that the piece was propaganda (the press loves that). She shut up. I continued with the fact that I gave them a name and address, that I had a witness, and that she had just installed a phone at a residence in Chicago. I asked her if she wanted me to drive over there and pick her up for them as well. She told me that I couldn't do that. She finally took the information I had collected and said that she'd get back to me. That was on December 20, 1999.

Trying to get a step ahead of this criminal, I realized that if she were receiving mail in my name at a fraudulent address that maybe it would fall under postal fraud. I called the postal inspector, got a voice mail, and left a message. An inspector called me back the next day. I was informed that it was indeed his job to investigate identity theft, and he took the information that I had on the individual and the number of the investigator from Target. In three days, I received a letter from him requesting copies of anything I had regarding opened accounts, fraudulent charges, and any correspondences with credit card companies. That was three weeks ago.

The irony of all this is that two weeks ago, Experian tried to send me additional information and left my P.O.Box number off the envelope. The Federal Post Office sent them a corrected address notice. Experian sent me the notice with a letter saying because of the confidentiality of the information they provide, I needed to send a copy of my driver's license and two pieces of mail to verify my identity before they could change my address. They changed my address because a credit card company sent a credit card application to an unknown address, yet they won't fix their own error when the Federal Post Office sends them a corrected address notice.

If all of this isn't crazy enough, AOL is now making it even easier for identity thieves. For $45, they can get all the information they need to open fraudulent accounts. They just have to go to www.aol.com/netfind/whitepages.adp, type in a name, pay their money, and receive a person's social security number, address, automobile information, family history, roommates, neighbors, income level, physical description, and more.

As I mentioned earlier, I am a high school teacher, and after 5 ? months of this farce that is still not complete, I understand why kids are so messed up. With adults like these, and rules and laws like these, why should they choose to work. After all, the person who is believed to have stolen my identity is only 19 and has proven that crime does pay-quite well-at my expense.

Trying to Clear Your Name on Your Own
Mood:  blue
Topic: Clearing Your Name
ID Theft Victim Struggles to Clear Name
Without Help from Authorities

?Woe Woe John Doe? has been a victim of identity theft.

Woe Woe John Doe first became aware that someone was his identity very early in the chain of events on July 16, 1999, thanks to a perceptive account representative at Sears Credit Central in Louisville KY. The rep. contacted Woe Woe John Doe for verification of an unusual request after someone impersonating him on the telephone attempted to take control of his Sears charge account. The caller claimed a fire had destroyed ?Woe Woe John Doe?s? house and all ?Woe Woe John Doe?s? records, and requested a replacement charge card be sent to a Los Angeles address.

Woe Woe John Doe had placed password protection on all accounts back in 1993 to prevent his ex-wife from tampering with them. When the caller was asked for the password on the account, the caller hung up. Suspecting something was wrong; the Sears rep contacted John Doe at home for verification and explained what took place. ?Woe Woe John Doe? was one of the very first few incidents of fraudulent activity.

Anyway, Woe Woe John Doe immediately contacted the three credit reporting bureaus: Equifax, Trans-Union, and Experian, and added a fraud victim security alert to his credit files that same day.

After getting threw on the call, ?Woe Woe John Doe? explained the situation and asked about inquiries into his credit files.

After ?Woe Woe John Doe? verified his identifying information and information he learned from a representative at Equifax that inquiries had been made by Sprint PCS and Pacific Bell and that a sprint PCS cellular phone account had been opened in his name. These were the first two fraudulent inquiries and the first fraudulent account reported in their records.

Trans Union refused to offer any information; stating that they would be sending him a copy of his credit report. Both Trans-Union and Equifax allowed him to add his correct phone numbers to the security alert so that he could be contacted by creditors for verification of any credit applications they might receive. Woe Woe John Doe could not get through to Experian so he was left with their totally inadequate automated system, which failed to add the security warning to his credit files at that time.

After sending Experian a written request by fax, the warning was added but a month later. By that time several accounts were opened in ?Woe Woe John Doe?s ? name. The security warnings in his credit files at Equifax and Trans-Union did help as much being that he was contacted by several creditors who had even still received fraudulent applications.

Woe Woe John Doe tried to file a police report with Sacramento County Sheriff's Dept. but the duty officer refused to take his report until he could produce evidence from a creditor that a fraudulent account was opened in his name. Woe Woe John Doe learned that police agencies are reluctant to take reports of identity theft without verification from a creditor that a fraud account had been opened, and that credit grantors won't act on any allegations of fraud without a police report. The two policies mutually prohibit any action from being taken to investigate these crimes.

Finally, Woe Woe John Doe convinced a fraud investigator at Sprint PCS to accept an affidavit of fraud with other identifying information to start a fraud investigation. They confirmed fraud, closed the account and sent him a statement, which he took to the Sheriffs and finally filed a police report, 2 weeks later. After filing the report, Sacramento police insisted that ?Woe Woe John Doe?s? case was not in their jurisdiction because the crimes were being committed in Los Angeles. The case was forwarded to Los Angeles authorities, who then claimed it was not in their jurisdiction because the victim lived in Sacramento Co., so he was stuck. Woe Woe John Doe contacted the FBI and got a polite letter in reply saying that his problem was just not worth their time.

Quoting from the letter, it stated "...our investigative guidelines do not allow us to investigate allegations of criminal activity where the loss is less than $XXX amount."

Finally, ?Woe Woe John Doe?case got the attention of a Sergeant at LAPD fraud and forgery department, but he insisted he couldn't start an investigation without a criminal complaint from a creditor who had been defrauded. All creditors who had opened fraudulent accounts in ?Woe Woe John Doe? name refused to make a criminal complaint, even after being contacted by Sergeant Elliot. ?Woe Woe John Doe?s? case has been frustrated by lack of response, inadequate response, and even refusal to respond as necessary to support any criminal investigation. These thieves apparently know this and therefore, go merrily spending thousands and thousands of dollars in the names of their victims with no fear of being apprehended.

Woe Woe John Doe learned back in August, '99 his impersonator had purchased three cell phones by check. Woe Woe John Doe knew then that this meant the thief had also opened a checking account in his name, but the company that sold the phones refused to provide him with any information on that check. Woe Woe John Doe could do nothing but wait until something showed up in his credit files to identify the bank account the check was drawn on. Only just recently, 8 months later, he discovered the bank where the fraudulent account was opened and learned that the imposter had written 200 checks on that account. Those checks are now showing up in ?Woe Woe John Doe?s? credit files as collection accounts. After becoming quite a pest to the investigators at the bank, they provided him with a partial list of the checks with the check serial numbers and amounts. Adding up the amounts of the bad checks with the charges on other fraud accounts in ?Woe Woe John Doe?name, the total amount is more than $44,000.

The burden is entirely on the victim to prove fraud over and over again and the only real actions they can take are limited to damage control after the fact.

Are you willing to protect yourself?

The Story of "Woe Woe John Doe"

The Story of ?Woe Woe John Doe?

For four long years, ?Woe Woe John Doe? couldn?t figure out why no one wanted to hire him. He handed department store managers across southern California a resume full of sales experience, but was rejected hundreds of times.

Those rare times when he got a job, he would be fired within days. Along the way, ?Woe Woe John Doe? filed for bankruptcy, lost his apartment, and became homeless. ?For years as this went on, I blamed myself ? for not being hired for employment, the conditions I went through,? ?Woe Woe John Doe? says. But ?Woe Woe John Doe??s self-blame turned to anger when he finally learned the real cause of much of his trouble: A man had given ?Woe Woe John Doe??s identity to authorities when arrested for shoplifting and other crimes, and the tainted profile found its way into a range of computer databases used in background checks by employers.

?Woe Woe John Doe??s plight illuminates the growing threats to privacy in an age of ever easier computer access to public information.

Bronti Wayne ?Woe Woe John Doe?, now 33, hardly foresaw the cyber nightmare that would grow from what seemed an old-fashioned wallet snatching in May 1990. He reported to police his wallet only contained $4, along with his driver?s license, Social Security card, and military ID for the air force base in southern California where he served as a reservist. But seven months later, ?Woe Woe John Doe?, a salesman in the Robinson-May department store in Riverside, was ushered into the personnel director?s office and told he had been caught shoplifting by security guards in another Robinson?s. ?Woe Woe John Doe? produced a letter from his air force commanding officer saying that ?Woe Woe John Doe? was on duty when the crime occurred, but he was fired anyway.

He says he was equally confounded by the blur of job rejections that followed, usually with no explanation.

For two years he held on. ?Woe Woe John Doe??s work as a mechanic at the local air force base earned him about $700 a month. But in June 1993, the six-year reserve stint was up. With no job in sight, ?Woe Woe John Doe? filed for bankruptcy to stave off bill collectors. He was evicted from his apartment in San Bernardino, California.

?Woe Woe John Doe? stayed with friends until he wore out his welcome. He turned to sleeping in his car, then the streets, using public parking garages downtown to shield him from the elements.

He tried to keep clean using a pool shower at his old apartment complex.

He applied for food stamps and welfare but was rejected because he had no residence or mailing address. He finally landed a job selling clothes at Harris department store in nearby Riverside, but the day before his first day of work he was told that his services were not needed.

?Woe Woe John Doe?, crying at the news, tried to find out why. The personnel manager told him to contact Stores Protective Association, which exchanges information about employees with more than 100 member retail chains.

?Woe Woe John Doe? wrote to SPA, and received a written explanation in January 1995, pegging him for the same shoplifting offense he thought had been purged from the records four years earlier. ? I couldn?t believe the information was still on file,? ?Woe Woe John Doe? says. ?I had never even heard of [SPA] before.? But the vast majority of employers ?Woe Woe John Doe? had applied to were members of SPA.

It took until the next month for the association to remove the false information from its files on ?Woe Woe John Doe?, and then only after a local television station reported his woes. A lawyer for SPA, which ?Woe Woe John Doe? is suing in a defamation lawsuit that also names Robinson-May?s parent, said that ?Woe Woe John Doe? had never given it evidence other than his own statement that he was not the shoplifter.

?Woe Woe John Doe? is seeking unspecified damages and a public apology from Robinson-May. ?Woe Woe John Doe??s problem was far more complicated than he suspected. When ?Woe Woe John Doe? contacted the Los Angeles Police Department to try to straighten things out, he discovered that its records showed he had been arrested five years earlier not only for shoplifting, but for burglary and arson as well.

?Woe Woe John Doe? submitted his fingerprints to prove to authorities that he was not the accused culprit, that instead the miscreant was another white male who had given ?Woe Woe John Doe??s identity to police.

The police gave ?Woe Woe John Doe? a ?Certificate of Clearance,? which states that the police had determined that ?Woe Woe John Doe? was not the person arrested.

However, ?Woe Woe John Doe??s identity remains in police files, even though the most serious charges against the impersonator had been dismissed shortly after his arrest in July 1990. Los Angeles police officials say they need the charges on record in case the impostor is arrested for other crimes.

After SPA removed ?Woe Woe John Doe??s name from its files, he was still rejected from another 50 jobs, and he is still wondering why. One possibility is that the incorrect information continues to haunt him. The problem was spelled out last month after the Associated Press hired an information search company to conduct a search of ?Woe Woe John Doe??s background. AP simply gave Forefront, a subcontractor to Informus Corp., ?Woe Woe John Doe??s name, Social Security number, and a $124 check to search state court records in three counties in southern California.

The search came back showing that ?Woe Woe John Doe? had been arrested in July 1990 for arson, theft, and disturbing the peace. But ?Woe Woe John Doe? no longer has to worry. Seven years after his wallet was stolen, he has stopped seeking work among strangers.

Today, he is employed part-time cleaning pools in a family business, and shares an apartment in Temecula, near San Diego, with a roommate who has helped him out financially. Trying to rebuild his self-image, ?Woe Woe John Doe? carries his police certificate clearing him of crimes wherever he goes. One look in the mirror confirms it was not he who dragged down his life. Says ?Woe Woe John Doe?: ?A part of me feels very proud.? But just to be sure, he is thinking of changing his name. Bad things can happen to good people, and they do.

Are you at risk?
Mood:  mischievious
Topic: Are you at risk?

It's no secret that identity theft is a major problem in America. Think you're not at risk? Unfortunately you are.

- Do you hand your credit card to servers at restaurants?
- Do you sign your credit cards?
- Do you supply personal information over the internet?
- Do you keep your Social Security number in your wallet or purse?
- Do you leave mail at your home or business for the postal carrier to collect?
- Do you shred unwanted mail with personal information?
What if you discovered that your identity had been stolen?

- Call your bank and/or credit card company
- Contact the three major credit repositories
- Go through the helpful but extensive steps recommended by the Federal Trade Commission in its 30-page consumer support publication
- Fill out and submit the affidavit form supplied by the FTC to dispute new, unauthorized accounts
- Spend on average $1,500 in out-of-pocket expenses to resolve the many problems cause by identity thieves
WITH THE IDENTITY THEFT SHIELD: Get REGULAR monitoring of your credit report and let the proven leaders in the identity restoration and legal services fields assist you.
With no obligation, you can view a short presentation and learn more by visiting my website. See what Pre-Paid Legal can do for you at:

Click here to watch the video

What to do if your identity is stolen
Mood:  blue
Topic: What to do if it happens


Business Opportunity-Identity Theft

What if you discovered that your identity had been stolen?
? Call your financial institution and/or credit card company
? Contact the three major credit repositories
? Go through the helpful but extensive steps recommended by the Federal Trade Commission in its 30-page consumer support publication
? Fill out and submit the affidavit form supplied by the FTC to dispute new, unauthorized accounts
? Spend on average $1,500 in out-of-pocket expenses in your efforts to resolve the many problems caused by identity thieves
Or, with the Identity Theft Coverage:
Get REGULAR monitoring of your credit report and let the proven leaders in the identity restoration and legal services fields assist you.
What does the Identity Theft ShieldSM Cover?
Credit Reports
Evaluate your current credit standing with:
? An up-to-date credit report through Experian at no added cost
? A personal credit score calculated by an independent scoring service
? A detailed analysis of your personal credit score
Click here to find out more?.

Experts recommend that you review your credit report regularly. The Identity Theft ShieldSM makes it easy.
Continuous Credit Monitoring
Suspicious activation will be brought to your attention, providing you with early detection.
You'll receive prompt notice if the credit repository is notified by Experian that:
? New accounts have been opened in your name
? Derogatory notations have been added to your credit report
? Public records have been added to your report
? Inquiries have been made against your report
? A change of address has been requested
Click here to find out more?.
Identity Restoration
Identity theft can be devastating, and the process of restoring your name can be overwhelming and costly. You need more than "do it yourself" information if it happens to you.
With Identity Theft ShieldSM a trained expert will take the steps to restore your name and credit for you!
? Help reduce your out of pocket expenses and time spent away from work with valuable services from detection to resolution.
? Fraud alert notifications will be sent on your behalf and applicable follow up will be done with affected agencies and institutions, including: credit card companies, financial institutions, all three credit repositories, Social Security Administration, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Motor Vehicles, law enforcement personnel, and the U.S. Postal Service.
? Proactive searches of applicable local and national databases will be made on your behalf to look for information you may not be aware of, including: criminal activity in your name in your county?s records and certain federal watch lists, Department of Motor Vehicle records in your state, unknown addresses affiliated with your name, and banking activity in your name reported as fraudulent
Click here to find out more?.