Identity theft!

[Ypsilanti Undead]

Hey guys, I haven't been on the boards for the last week because I've been cleaning things up after my run-in with identity theft. Long story, but the short version is that somebody used my credit card to register two web domains, through which they were running scam businesses. (They were claiming to sell ATVs at low low prices, but only accepted payments in cash via Western Union to an address in Luxembourg.)

I only found out about this because a couple of would-be shoppers smelled a fish and decided to see who was behind this scam. They searched the domain name in the WhoIs directory and came up with me!

I had gotten into the habit of only checking my credit card statements for large charges or an unusually high number of charges. But these crooks set up their web business with just three charges to my account, none of which was above $35.

Everything seems fine now. I've shut down their website and reported it to the local police, the FBI and the FTC. (Of course none of them will do anything since the damages were so low, unless someone got taken by the scam and reports it. If anyone finds out who was behind this, it will be my credit card company.)

So the lesson I've learned: make sure you check every line of every credit card statement! I know I will.

[Nittany Dodgers]

That's the one good thing about having sucky credit, it's not worth stealing your identity.

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. Glad to hear it's cleared up for you.

[Preds]

I ALWAYS reconcile my credit card statements against my charges. I know it's anal, but it's a good business practice. I actually track all of my expenses (check, cash, credit) in Quicken and pretty much know where every penny goes. It takes time each week, but it's a great enhamcement to budgeting since I know where my money is being spent at all times.

I assumeyour credit card company credited you back for the fraudulent charges? Any idea how they got your name as well?

[Ypsilanti Undead]

My credit card bank guarantees that I'll be credited for fraudulant charges, so I'll get my $90 back. I have no idea how they got my information. I do a fair amount of shopping online, always with trusted vendors, but still I imagine it has something to do with that.

What's weird is that they gave my work phone instead of my home phone. I don't give that out too often, so I'm trying to put together a list of places where I keep that on file. So far I only have Yahoo and Amazon, and as far as I can tell no activity happened with either of those accounts. Nonetheless, I've changed all of my passwords!

[Brain Dead Squirrel Chasers]

Wow. This is probably one of my biggest fears. Glad to hear everything cleared up for you. It must have been a pain to deal with though. I can only imagine. I do alot of shopping online myself. It's scary to think that people can steal your info so easily. I only use one credit card and usually check my statement online monthly. I will definitely be more careful from now on.