Comments | cynicalgrey: Identity Theft and a quick life lesson

cynicalgrey

Identity Theft and a quick life lesson

Apr 09, 2009 14:53

Yes, I am an idiot. I errantly gave my SSN to a spam Wachovia telephone account (1-866-813-2508). There was enough info before hand that made me think it was legit, yet stupid me fell for it. And here I thought intelligent people didn't fuck up such things. WRONGThat's not the point of this post, though (yes, I let Equifax, Wachovia, and my ( Read more... )

identity theft

Comments 16

psychicgypsy April 9 2009, 23:52:44 UTC

You feel more awake because you took charge and said, "I'm not letting this screw me!" (?)

It sounds like you took control of the situation and decided the outcome and it felt empowering. Good for you! That is a step towards adulthood!

cynicalgrey April 10 2009, 14:11:31 UTC

Heh, it's something I would want to post about in a friends-only post, since it's deeply personal. Message me on gchat or ljmessage to get mo info, dawg.

That's exactly how I felt! Normally, I would accept what happened to me and try to fight it as crap was being slung my way. This time, I took charge, caught the problem before it got anywhere (yet), and I did it without the "slightest fear or reservation" (yup, thems some lyrics by my fave rapper, K'Naan).

Wow, I am starting to be more adult-like. That's cool, right?

drasca April 11 2009, 07:04:44 UTC

Hurray for a gal who can take care of her own business!

A word of advice though, it'd be better for your credit score to keep the account open, just with the minimum balance in there.

There's also SSN guards from equifax (or transunion or that third company, same service) that make all SSN inquirys must go contact you directly (by phone usually) before they're approved to even inquire. It slows down the application process on your side, and stops other people from using your SSN completely when they try it.

cynicalgrey April 13 2009, 17:54:42 UTC

Thank you for your text the other morning. I woke up, barely read it, smiled, and fell back asleep. It made my early morning. :D

Thanks for both accounts! Do you think I should change my bank account at all (to be honest, it will be a huge hassle for the various things I have attached to it through automatic bill pay)?

I am definitely going to sign up for that option you mentioned. I feel that this problem will never go away so long as I have my SSN, but I think that this is the best solution.

drasca April 13 2009, 19:36:55 UTC

If you can't tell, I deal with people's SSN's and protecting against ID theft daily... and dealt with some folk that DID have it used. So many people in military, so much scandal, so much to take care of.

No, there is no need to cancel your bank account. Your SSN was taken, not your bank account number. If you feel insecure about your current bank account number, you can contact them and have the numbers changed without canceling your account.

Admittedly, Auto-bill pay is very nice. I use variations of it. I, however, for reasons other than ID theft, have multiple bank accounts. It is convenient for me to have accounts in local banks in addition to my main bank, and it helps me put aside emergency nest eggs should I need them later (because I don't draw money from those other accounts until I need them).

I don't think you need to cancel your account, or change the number. However, it is very good that you notified your bank about it. Some banks have optional security passwords only you should know. I added that to my account.