Reply With QuoteGood advice. They'll go through your trash, too, so a crosscut shredder is also a good investment. For not much money, you can get one that will even do credit cards.
| Search Fishin.com |
Senior Member
When I went for my morning walk on December 24th, I saw that my mailbox door was open and I knew I had closed it tightly when I had picked up my mail. Also, as I waled up the street I saw that almost every mail box on my side of the street was left open. This has happened seveal times in the last two years. And, on three different occasions I have found bunches of opened mail in a ditch when out for my walk. Each time, I gathered this stuff up and turned it into the Post Office. The Post Master thanked me and told me the same thing I have read in newspaper and magizine articles about Identity Theft.
Thieves steal mail in the hopes of getting checks, account numbers, Social Security Numbers and other personal identification so that they can steal your identity using the stuff they find in the mail. This happens, even in a small rural city like Radcliff.
The Post Master said you should pick up your delievered mail as soon as possible and NEVER LEAVE IT IN THE BOX OVERNIGHT. He also recommended that you not put outgoing mail in your mai box, if it has any personal identification (social security numbers, credit cards bills, other account numbers, etc.), rather make the trip to the Post Office and leave it in a secured box.
Identity Theft is getting to be big business, PROTECT YOURSELF.
Grumpy
Senior Member
Good advice. They'll go through your trash, too, so a crosscut shredder is also a good investment. For not much money, you can get one that will even do credit cards.
Senior Member
A friend of mine had 4 daughters and got a divorce and then had a wreck and lost his job (Truckdriver) . Someone stold his Identity tried to use it and sent him a $5.00 bill in the mail and said here,,,,, nobody would want your identitysupposedly true but always guard your private info as well as your elderly parents info if it applys... sage advice
Senior Member
Actually had something like this happen to me about 15 years ago. Someone stole my outgoing mail, so I never put it in the mailbox. Also I know within about ten minutes of when the mailman is coming and I try and get my mail out of the box right after he drops it off.
I got lucky all I had stolen were some checks that were able to be stop payment made on them before the theif was able to cash them.
Senior Member
I've had to deal with one identity theft case and it took me 4 months to get it settled. That can be the most frustrating thing in the world; even more so when the credit card company treats you like you are the thief.
A few years ago Sweetie Pie went to a Managers meeting at corporate offices in Greeneville, SC. He and a few other managers went to an upscale restaurant in the city and he paid the bill with his credit card. When he returns to his office, he gives the accountant the receipts for food, hotel and other expenses and is issued a check.
When our credit card statement came in I was checking the charges against our receipts as a safety precaution. There was one charge for $800 that neither of us had made. I called the company where the charge was made and learned that it was a wholesale house for fresh meats. I then called the credit card company and reported the theft and was told that my husband had been in Greeneville, SC on that date and they were sure it was his bill. That's when I lost it and went off on her. I said, "You tell me if you're dumb enough to think my husband will walk into a meeting with the CEO and Board of Directors of the largest construction company in the world with $800 worth of raw meat in tow." I then called the restaurant where he had dined and informed them that one of their employees had stolen Sweetie Pie's identity and used it to buy $800 worth of meats at a certain place. I told the owner to straighten it out or I would be driving down and swear out a warrant against him and the person accepting my husband's credit card. He said he would investigate and 'handle' it. I made many calls and wrote letters disputing the bill, refused to pay the charges, and threatened to sue if they made one scratch on our credit report. Finally the credit card company refused to pay the wholesale meat co. and wrote me a letter of apology long before they removed the charges from our bill.
The accountant that I mentioned above received a call from his credit card company and said, "Mr._______, we have a charge that has just been submitted and wanted to make sure that you are purchasing this item. It's out of character with your credit habits and we have frozen your account until it is verified." He asked her for the name of the company, the amount of charges, and what the item was. She said, "A $38,000 boat at ________ dealership. The man was arrested at the dealership while waiting for his paperwork to be done.
Super Moderator
Gotta be careful with those ones too. If the "credit card company" then wants you to confirm your info by giving them your credit card number, you can bet they are an imposter.Originally Posted by bassin_bug
Andrew
Senior Member
This was a legitimate call and MasterCard never asked for his ID numbers. This was back before they started eleminating the first 12 numbers on the receipts. The guy had found a receipt and copied the numbers from it.
I received a call from Visa telling me my account was frozen because there were charges that were larger than normal for my account. They simply asked me if I purchased a certain item on a specific date for $3,221 at ____ business. I told them that I had and they released my account and paid my charges. I appreciate them monitoring our account to prevent theft. We never give our date of birth, social security or drivers license number, or any credit card information over the phone.
Super Moderator
Yep, I've gotten legit ones from the CC co too. Similar kind of deal, someone charged a bunch of stuff that I normally do not get and shipped it elsewhere. Closed them down real quick. I've also had a similar call, and then the "CC Co" started asking personal questions. I hung up, and then called my CC Co using the 1-800 number on the card. Said they never made the call and it was likely someone trying to get that info from me.
Andrew
Super Moderator
Here is one for you:
About 12 years ago my wife and I went to Disney World on a vacation. At the time we were providing 24 hour care for her mother, who was in the advanced stages of alzheimer's (not something I would wish on anyone). We had care givers at our house during the day and we took care of her at night. Since we were going on vacation we needed someone to sit with her at night. We hired a nurse assistant that had been highly recommended by the local hospital.
We were in Disney World for about 7 days..staying on the resort in a nice room etc....at the end of the vacation we had just about exhausted all of our cash...pretty normal for my first wife...lol. When we went to check out, my credit card was denied for insufficient funds...as you can imagine the bill was pretty large but since there was only a small balance on my card and the limit was very high, I could not understand why it was being denied.
I called my credit union who had issued the card to see what the problem was. The manager at the credit union told me they had frozen all my accounts because an employee at Penny's that processes catalog orders at night had found a lot of charges on my card and that the goods were being sent to an address which was different than my address that was on file. The manager told me they had been trying to get in touch with me to verify the charges.
I, of coure, informed the manager that I appreciated her having frozen all my accounts as we had made no charges at any Penny's store. Now my immediate problem was getting out of Disney World without having to shovel duck crap from around their ponds to work off a couple of thousand in hotel and room charges...lol The manager opened my account for 10 minutes to allow my Disney World charges to go thru then immediately shut them down again.
What we found out after we got home:
This nurse assistant that had come so highly recommended (and was an active employee at the local hospital) had gotton into our drawers and gotten our account numbers, had gotten a book of our blank checks (which she had already cashed 3 of them totalling a large amount at the drive up window at the Credit Union before they froze our accounts), to top that off, my wife belonged to a professional organization that took it upon themselves without my wife requesting, to send her a credit card in the mail which this nurse assistant activated of course. She had already charged over 8,000 on it at a furniture store and various clothing stores.
The end result here is priceless. We of course got everything straightened out and were not out any monies...although the folks that had sent the unrequested credit card were less than nice...actually down right rude...but they had not seen rude until they met this ol MSG when he was not happy...lol.
We pressed charges against this nurse assistant....I wanted her hung from the nearest tree...or at the least, since she was a pretty young blonde, I wanted her to have a nice long stay at PeeWee Valley and maybe get a chance to visit the Marrying Tree there with some of the dykes that inhabit that fine facility. As it turned out, the prosacuting attorney called me and told me they were cutting a deal with her and only giving her some probation. I also called the local hospital and talked to the administrator and told him what happened and that he had a theif working for him who undoubtably was probably stealing from the patients there. The hospital administrator told me that since they had no problems with her that they would not fire her nor take any adverse actions...so I assume she may still be working there..who knows.
Bottom line here....if the system is not going to do anything to these folks for their crimes...they will just continue to steal when they can.
P.S. You can bet that I rewarded the lady at Penny's that was the catalyst in catching this thief as well as the credit union manager for her diligence in shutting down my accounts.
Senior Member
While checking social security numbers, found out my dead wifes number was in use. Called social secuirity to ask if that is possible. They said I was mistaken, asked for a supervisor, and got the same answer. This was several years ago, but I couldn't get any more information.Since I never was bothered by anyone, I just forgot about it.
Senior Member
What really chaps my A$$ are the "checks" you get in the mail from BPS cards, or USAA cards, or Chase Cards, etc, etc.........it is NOTHING for some JACKA$$ to take these checks, and cash them.........MAN o MAN......talk about fraud.
All credit card companies are SCUM of the earth........
Not only that, but my daughters......STILL in high school are getting applications from credit card companies quite regularly...........AND the don't even have JOBS.........
AND MY OLDEST actually got a CARD.........which was NEVER requested..........WOW.
THEY should all be ran out of town........
Later,
Geo
Senior Member
I informed my credit card companies to never send me those stupid blank checks. If they did not honor my request I informed them that I would promptly cancel their card. I have not recieved anymore blank checks.
I also infomed my Bank to never send me any promo offers of any kind. All I wanted in the mail from them is my monthly statement. This request has also been honored.
In addition, I requested that they not sell my personal address and any information to any third parties.
Just call the companies that you do business with ie bank and credit cards, and they will honor your requests. If they don't, drop them and find another company that will fulfill YOUR needs.
Posting Permissions