Identity theft. Someone tried to steal me.

[Droopy]

And they succeeded for about 3 weeks. Long enough to rack up over $13,000 on one of my credit cards in purchases and cash advances. What's that old saying? Something like, "A Democrat is just a Republican who hasn't been mugged." Well I'm still a Democrat and this is not the first time I've been robbed, although it is the most severe.

I put my little pickup in the shop on Monday and then went to a rental car company to rent a set of wheels for the next day or two. I tried to use one of my credit cards to pay for the vehicle and the transaction was declined. I didn't understand that because I pay off the balance on that card every month and it had an $18,000 credit limit. The most I've charged in a month in the past year on that card was $600. So I paid with a different card and then went home and called the credit card company to see what the deal was. I was shocked to learn that there was a balance of about $13,000 on the card and they denied my car rental transaction because they suspected fraud. That $13,000 had been charged up in about the space of 3 weeks.

So, the credit card company closed the account and ate the $13,000 once they determined they were fraudulent charges. They referred me to a company that specializes in identity theft cases and they are working for me for free on the credit card company's dime. The only stipulation was that I have to agree to work with them if or when they pursue litigation. They didn't have a hard time getting me to agree to that. This company pulled my credit report and went over it with me. There was only one other possibly fraudulent occurrence on there. Someone had tried to open a home equity line of credit on my condo. I don't remember doing that and I have no reason to do that because I have no equity in my home (just bought it last year). Everything else on the credit report was okay. They also advised me to file a police report with the local police and I did that.

Another thing I've done is hired one of those identity theft deterrent companies to help protect my identity. They check my credit report every day and will immediately call me if they see suspicious activity and they will also call any time someone tries to open up a line of credit in my name to make sure it is me that's doing it. They have also told the credit reporting agencies that I'm a possible identity theft victim and have flagged my credit reports with a fraud alert. This will tell potential creditors to scrutinize any application in my name more closely.

I think that's everything I can do for now. If some of you have experience in this area I would greatly appreciate your advice.

[mainegreen]

1. I've signed on to one of those identity theft deterrent companies thingies.

It's great. They called me once five minutes after someone tried to use my card number on the other side of the country, and five minutes later we had it all sorted out with a new card on it's way to me. Snazzy.
Lots of perks and piece of mind for very little money.

[MissMillie]

3. define "very little money"

just out of curiosity...

[Droopy]

4. $5 to $20 a month

I bought a year's worth of coverage for $110.

[mainegreen]

5. 12 bucks a month.

I get for this (roughly, based on shoddy memory):
Up to $150,000 total per incident to clear shit up.
Not included in the $150,000 (ie does not deduct from the total) is a lawyer (provided for you) as well as they will pay up to three weeks of lost salary (or 10,000 whichever is highest) due to time spent fighting this.
Bi-weekly credit checkup (usually an email that sez 'All is well!'). Lots of free credit reports (really in depth ones). Monthly FICO score for all three agencies. Staff that help you fill out those pesky 'That's not my charge' forms. (They actually are really helpful at this).

I've already used them once.
Well worth it to me.

[soleft]

2. Someone stole my credit card last month

But they only wracked up about 600 before I noticed my card was missing. I had to fill out an affadavit, that was about it. But now I'm thinking I should get a copy of my credit report to make sure there isn't anything else out there.

Good luck!!!

That must have been very upsetting.