Defrauded by a sneaky credit card thief!
Bless you, Key Bank. I got a call from them today asking whether my charges at Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, and a gas station in New Jersey were legitimate. Since I’m in Christchurch, New Zealand, I tend to fill up the tank at more convenient locations, so I was able to state with confidence that I had not authorized those charges.
So is this identity theft? Not according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, which suggests that someone actually has to pose as someone else for it to be identity theft.
The four types of identity theft
- Financial Identity Theft (using another’s name and SSN to obtain goods and services)
- Criminal Identity Theft (posing as another when apprehended for a crime)
- Identity Cloning (using another’s information to assume his or her identity in daily life)
- Business/Commercial Identity Theft (using another’s business name to obtain credit)
Some other interesting facts from the IDTC:
- According to the Gartner study the 2006 victim population was at 15 million victims. That means every minute about 28 ½ people become a new victim of this crime, or a new victim in just over 2 seconds.
- The incidence of victimization increased 11-20% between 2001 and 2002 and 80% between 2002 and 2003 (Harris Interactive).
- This same study found that 91% of respondents do not see an “end to the tunnel” and expect a heavy increase in victimization.
- In a bulletin published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, an estimated 3.6 million households were affected by identity theft during a 6-month period in 2004. If an entire year was considered, that could mean that 7.2 million households were affected in a 12 month period.
- Studies on the total cost of identity theft vary. One study said that identity theft cost U.S. businesses and consumers $56.6 billion in 2005.
- Losses from phishing attacks: in 2004 was $137 million, in 2006 it was $2.8 billion
Holy moley! With so much of it floating around, it’s pretty likely that some of you reading this have had a personal experience with identity theft at some time or another. What was it? How much money was involved? Were you out of pocket at the end of the ordeal? Take the poll or tell us your story in the comments.
October 31st, 2007 at 8:14 am
Boxes were everywhere when preparing the sale of my house, along with toolboxes and drop cloths for the painters. I didn’t notice the missing files until a repo man pounded on my front door at 7AM to repossess the Cadillac. I asked sleepily, “What Cadillac?”
In a matter of hours after the theft, new credit accounts were opened for dozens of purchases including the Cadillac. The purchases were astounding: big plasma, little plasma, handhelds, appliances, computers, fashion, groceries, trips, a rental Cadillac with bridge tolls and gas… And the greater problem of at least a dozen new credit cards, instant store accounts and cash cards accruing tens and tens of thousands in charges and fees.
The services provided for this type of theft are lousy. By freezing all my accounts and placing an alert, I could stop ongoing transactions, but also including mine! By spending hours per day over weeks and dealing with credit for months and months, my life came to a stop, went into reverse. While some companies were quickly cooperative, other firms required notarized accountings and signed police reports sent to one department and another, treated me rudely, and took hours to find the appropriate people.
I placed an in-person password on my checking accounts, requested new credit cards, new postal addresses, prepared written affidavit and xeroxed account records, 100s of phone calls and phone trees, police and legal consulting, witness and criminal actions, leaning on too many office counters — and there is no possibility for a victim to restore good ratings or recover all the losses.
There must be better systems for the victim of identity and financial crime.
The first step is greater knowledge for law enforcement so that advice is accurate, agencies are coordinated, and procedures are communicated politely. The second is adequate and ‘human’ response from credit agencies. The third is my suggestion: An instant but temporary escrow identity where the damaged accounts can be frozen and resolved while a new ‘escrow identity’ will allow the victim to carry on without blemishes and debt piling and piling and piling.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:44 am
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November 1st, 2007 at 4:08 am
Brian, that STINKS!!!
In addition to the Key Bank story of yesterday, I remember a dozen or so cell phone accounts being opened in my name and racking up a couple thousand dollars in bills, but it was a relatively straightforward matter to sort it out. Yours is the true nightmare story.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Identity theft no laughing matter read the news here…
As the world wide web continues to pile up online identity theft court cases resources, we will attempt to deliver them to you….
November 26th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
The saddest thing about this is that it doesn’t depend on a person and he can’t do anything to prevent identity theft except being attentive.