Just had my identity stolen

[bjl584]

So, someone was nice enough to open up a credit card in my name at a Walmart in Florida and rack up $670 in charges on it before it got caught by my identity theft provider. Thankfully, they are taking care of everything for me, so I won't need to make any phone calls or do much of anything. But, now I am a bit paranoid that my info is out there, and that there will be more attempts at identity theft. I'm going to spend some time tonight changing passwords for everything just as a precaution. Great way to spend my Friday night.

[disneysteve]

now I am a bit paranoid that my info is out there,

Your info IS out there. All of our info is out there. Security breaches have hit virtually every American at least once. So you aren't being paranoid at all. I've had at least 2 credit cards compromised and I've gotten notifications multiple times that my data was included in what got breached by various companies.

Identity theft is just a fact of life today. Not much of anything you can do about it. Our lives are digital and nothing digital is ever actually secure.

[Like2Plan]

Sorry this happened to you.
You can freeze your credit with all the credit reporting agencies. You are also entitled to a free credit report if you are the victim of identity theft. (You May have to file a police report)

[Thrif-t]

Yep I second Like2Plan advise, freeze your credit. I think ours has been froze for 5 or so years. My kids credit are all frozen too because of different hacks. My son is still a minor and they froze his because his soc number was comprimised. The freeze will automatically come off in 8 mos when he's 18, then I have to refreeze it.

[msomnipotent]

Sorry it happened to you. My husband's identity was stolen in May and we didn't find out about it until 3 cards were opened. Even if you freeze your credit, check back in a month or so to make sure it is still frozen. I have been reading that some accounts were magically unfrozen for no reason. I think I am one of them. WOW was able to run a hard credit check without any problems and my account should be frozen.

And change all of you passwords. I received an email from Belk this week. "We are contacting you because we understand that a list of usernames and passwords used to access another service may have been posted online. Unfortunately, we believe that some of our customers may access belk.com using the same usernames and passwords that appear on the list. ".

I have no idea if this is a new hack or what other service has been compromised, but I have been changing most of my passwords for what seems like days now.

[Gailete]

Sorry this happened to you. When I signed in to PayPal today I got a notice that I had to change my password because of unusual activity in my account. I didn't notice anything different, but I changed it anyhow. Perhaps someone had tried to hack in and couldn't get the pw to work.

I get so tired of all the PW on everything. It wouldn't be so bad, but some sites that have absolutely NO need for a pw requires them as well.

[msomnipotent]

Sorry this happened to you. When I signed in to PayPal today I got a notice that I had to change my password because of unusual activity in my account. I didn't notice anything different, but I changed it anyhow. Perhaps someone had tried to hack in and couldn't get the pw to work.

I get so tired of all the PW on everything. It wouldn't be so bad, but some sites that have absolutely NO need for a pw requires them as well.

I got that from Paypal a few times. I seem to get it from Kohls almost once a month. Someone is desperate to buy some sensible, lower priced clothing.

[Gailete]

Because of my on line business, I'm at the PP site frequently. It isn't just a site I opened and forgot about. So I thought it was funny, and it didn't come via email, it was a message to me when I signed in. I figure if they tell me to on their site, I had better do it. The only thing different is I signed up for an Acorns account through PP in the last week or so, so I don't know if that is it or not. Not sure if I will even like the Acorns account, but I didn't want the Bing rewards, etc. ending up yet again in the family pot to be spent on gas and groceries as needed. I wanted to be able to SEE that these minor money making activities are worth the trouble.

[Starry436]

Sorry this has happened. So much of out information is just out there anymore. I don't even know how they protect any of it with the ever increasing amount of stuff we do and send online. I'm extremely paranoid anyhow, so if/when I'm faced with a situation like this I would be freaking out to say the least.

What are some good identity theft companies to look into? My dad uses the one Wells Fargo provides, however I wouldn't trust them to handle anything one bit.

[AmazingStephen]

Sorry to hear that. Although you must know this happens really often. Just in the past few years there were 2 or 3 security breaches I think.

[GoodSteward]

My debit card was compromised at a Good Will of all places, as was my wife's. However, we didn't know mine was until we were halfway to Ky 9 hours away. That happened during my "Credit cards are of the devil" days following ol Ramsey. This is now one of the reasons I no longer agree with him on this subject. We were stuck with $40 bucks in cash(which was rare for us) away from everything. I had just enough to get to where we needed, and since we have a regional bank and a branch in the town we were going to, I could get replacement cards on site(new feature at the time).

From that time on, I've had a credit card. I never wanted my wife to have that happen in the middle of a trip with my four kids, and no real backup.

Also, I can't stand the idea of someone getting charges on my bank card pulling real cash until it's put back. My mom had that happen. She works at a Dr's office, but while away from the desk someone with a patient stole her wallet, and went and spent like $600 at the store on her behalf. She got the money, but not before it caused other problems and she had no money until they replaced it. To some people with big accounts, this may not be a big deal. To the avg paycheck to paycheck person, this could be detrimental. A co-worker had his card compromised as well at a Chick Fila, but it took about a week to get his money back. I use a card for everything I possibly can now, for points and protection for my money. Every bill, every purchase, everything.

I lovez my reward cards :>

[FLA]

I'm sorry this happened to you but glad you caught it early. My discover card has been hacked so many times requiring getting new cards that I've lost count. I use an RFID wallet so there not getting the info that way, shrug, it's the risk we take to have all this technology I guess. But it sure is a PITA. And I'd be more upset if I found out someone was able to get a mortgage in my name, which happened to a friend of mine.

[Gailete]

I got an RFID wallet to use and review and my first time at the store with it, I didn't realize how close to the card reader I was holding it, until 3 cards in a row were rejected (personal and business debit cards and the business credit card) finally put the wallet in my purse and the Discover worked!

[rennigade]

Not sure if people are aware but if there is an unauthorized charge on your credit card you could be forced to pay $50 by whatever company your card is through.

Ive never heard of anyone being stuck with eating the $50...they always eat the fee out of the "kindness" of their hearts, lol. Im guessing they have insurance for this very thing...but either way...wouldnt that make you furious!

[GoodSteward]

Not sure if people are aware but if there is an unauthorized charge on your credit card you could be forced to pay $50 by whatever company your card is through.

Ive never heard of anyone being stuck with eating the $50...they always eat the fee out of the "kindness" of their hearts, lol. Im guessing they have insurance for this very thing...but either way...wouldnt that make you furious!

I'd drop them like a bad habit if they did.