IDENTITY THEFT – Can it happen to you?

YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO SKIP THIS VIDEO.

An ordinary Friday.

UPS arrived with a box.

Hmmm.  What did I order?  Too big to be a book.

Opened it.  Inside a camera.  And an invoice billing me.  Shopped to me.

WHAT?

Called the company.  They claimed I opened a large “Line of Credit.” I owed them over $3200. for the camera I ordered.

And my next camera order, to another person, was about to be shipped out that  day.

GOTCHA.

Talked to their fraud deparment.  They had ALL my information.  Social security – date of birth – mother’s maiden name – city of birth – and most important my high FICO score.  in the 900′s. Not that I have money.  I just pay my bills on time.

I was one of those people in that video.

The company was very cooperative.  Canceled my account and sent me a return UPS label to ship the camera back.

They also warned me not to give the camera to a messenger who might come to my door and say they had made a terrible mistake.  A package which belonged to a neighbor was mistakenly delivered to me.

NOW THE WORK BEGAN

You have the right to ask that nationwide consumer credit reporting companies place “fraud alerts” in your file to let potential creditors and others know that you may be a victim of identity theft.

A fraud alert can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you.

It also may delay your ability to obtain credit. You may place a fraud alert in your file by calling just one of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies. As soon as that agency processes your fraud alert, it will notify the other two, which then also must place fraud alerts in your file.

• Equifax: 1-877-576-5734; www.alerts.equifax.com
• Experian: 1-888-397-3742; www.experian.com/fraud
• TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com

This is important

An initial fraud alert stays in your file for at least 90 days.

An extended alert stays in your file for seven years. To place either of these alerts, a consumer credit reporting company will require you to provide appropriate proof of your identity, which may include your Social Security number.

THIS WAS NOT JUST A CHARGE ON MY CREDIT CARD SO I WANTED AN EXTENDED ALERT.

If you ask for an extended alert, you will have to provide an identity theft report. An identity theft report includes a copy of a report you have filed with a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency. For more detailed information about the identity theft report, visit www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/.

I FILED A POLICE REPORT AND GOT AN OFFICIAL NUMBER.

(A COPY WILL BE MAILED TO ME)

There’s work to be done here.  Hope you have a scanner.  They want a copy of your SS card, your drivers license, a bill from a utility company and a letter with the details of the theft explaining why you want this extension.

This took about 10 hours.

OK.  I feel pretty good about stopping further theft but how can I monitor future activity?  What can slip through the cracks?

These guys are smart.  They have all my infomation.   Remember, they did not open a new credit card – they opened a line of credit.  And I have a high FICO score.

WHAT WILL THEY BUY NEXT?

A CAR?

A HOUSE?

They have ways of actually creating a job – a high paying job – to qualify.  I have seen this done when I was in the real estate business by fraudulent mortgage brokers.

I needed a monitoring agency which will check all financial transactions anywhere.

After research, I chose  LIFELOCK  for myself and to suggest to you as an affiliate program.   They were among the few that were most highly rated.

Around $10. a month.  Whew!

You can get more information by clicking the link below.

JUST DO IT.

IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU.

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