I might be having my identity stolen

[aimeekitty]

tonight I got an email from ebay@safeharbor.com

due to the font and images in the email (as well as forms), I assumed this email was from ebay.

I know seriously regret this assumption.

the email said my account was being suspended because I had "posed as another ebay user" or something like that. Which I thought sounded fishy, but that only pissed me off into thinking I should PROVE that I was who I say I am.
The email had forms in it requesting tons of information including my bank account number, my credit card number, my SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, my ebay password and name, my bank routing number, my mothers maiden name, my pin number, etc...

I thought this was kind of weird, but seeing as I was pissed off at ebay for doubting me, I filled it out and quickly sent "send".

this forwarded me somehow to ebay's site.... but... it forwarded me to my account page, and I thought this was kinda weird. I then went to ebay's "HELP" page about identity theft and see in big letters "ebay never asks for secure information via email! do not give anyone your password or bank information via email!"

OOOPS.

I've emailed the REAL ebay. No response yet.

I've changed my ebay password and "secret question". I changed my email password.

I called my Bank and asked them what I should do. They said that I shouldnt do ANYTHING until someone tries to charge something to my account, in which case they would freeze the account... but that doesnt seem good enough to me. THey're waiting for something to happen?

luckily this account only has $78 in it... but still. I'm worried.

I also called ALL THREE CREDIT BUROUGHS and put a "fraud alert" on my account.

what if this person using ALL MY INFORMATION (because I gave them everything, I mean EVERYTHING) starts up new bank accounts in my name and starts c harging things??????

what should I do????

I can't believe I was such an idiot. I never do stupid shit like this.

Comments

[astrosnik.livejournal.com]

Oh NO! I got a bunch of those emails months ago, but vaguely remembered seeing warnings on various groups and didn't reply, especially after I noticed a typo in one. Your first instinct is to send it off though! Have you contacted the SS-people to see about changing your SSN? Once they have your SSN and some of that other info they can start opening new credit-cards all over the place. T_T

=_=

[nikita2471.livejournal.com]

http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ You need to read this site. That totally sucks!!! I hope they dun do anything with your info!

Re: =_=

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

I just took a look, thankyou! I filed a complaint via their form.

I'm considering closing my bank account... and also filing a police report.

[karlyl.livejournal.com]

I have had my identity stolen so I know what it's like.

You did a good thing by first letting your bank and the credit bureaus know the situation-- but until anyone actually _does_ something with your SSN or bank accounts, there's not anything you can do. With me, my SSN was stolen-- nothing else. So I have an alias that is _still_ on my record and several random address. it took me over a year to clear up everything and even then, I'm still dealing with the reprucussions. This is mainly because I didn't know about the fruad until a year after it had begun and I got declined for a loan and also because I had no credit history, save two school loans, so it was easy to open a bunch of accounts with my info-- the credit bureaus couldn't know that it was "odd" in comparison to my normal credit history.

Anyways, you should mainly just keep an eye out on your credit and bank accts for transactions that don't belong to you. If anything happens, notify the credit bureau(s), but you'll most likely have to take it up with the orgin of the fraud ( like with me, one of the fruadulent accts was with wells fargo-- i had to deal with wells fargo to get it off and then they reported it as fraud to teh credit bureau and so forth).

that's just my experience-- I know you can also file a police report if fruad starts to occur, but i dont know all the details of that. let me know if you need more info^^;; I'm sorry this has happened to you!

[s8venus.livejournal.com]

Wow........you may want to apply for a new social secuirty number.

I work at a marketing cmpany where we do customer service for major credit cards, banks, and so on. Even if you get it corrected now people who steal/have that information compile data bases and then sell it to the highest bidder.

So three even six months down the road with no violations against your person you'll think you're in the clear, which is exactly how these things work. There is a holding period for most pros at this type of thing. So that youforget about it and randomly the thief will charge/take $50 here and there so you don't notice it.

Getting a new SS# may be a wise move.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

wouldnt changing my ssn cause a lot of heartache for me though?

[s8venus.livejournal.com]

not as much as having someone dressed as aimee storming the castle a year or two from now. Ya know! Especially if...what if you get pregant and wanna buy a house, or some other big life purchase.

Your credit would be shot to shit and you would have never know about it. It would prolly cost less than buying a credit report every few months for the next year or so, and would just as much of a hassel. Dunno. I seriously can't believ you did that! *L* oh my gosh!

Then again I deal with this on a regular basis, so I'm over paranoid and educated and so on....

[nagumi.livejournal.com]

O.o

I don't know what to say, except that I hope things work out for you :\

[trionfale.livejournal.com]

Ugh, what lengths frauds will go to amazes and disgusts me. ;_; I hope nothing happens to your credit but it's definitely a good idea to change your SS just in case they try to do something.

[kisara.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry to hear that, Aimee. I hope all will be well in the end.

eeeepps! I'll save you!!

[ballpointpen.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, with my super powers I can . ............. ANIMATE them to death! Mwaahahahahaaaa..

Got your identity stolen? Well I can give you mine.. It's not much, but I need a new one anyways! ^_^

Seriously.. That really sucks.. I wish there was something I could do.. *big hugs* But to no avail, yet again! I guess all I can say is that I'll have my fingers crossed for you! @_@

erin

[janabanana74.livejournal.com]

OMG, Aimee. I am so sorry.

I think you should close your bank account, DEFINITELY. If it's closed, and you tell the bank not to open another one- that should help.

Changing your SSN will be a pain in the butt, but if you can do it, I would.

The credit card company should issue you another card with a different number if you ask.

I would try and ask as well if they could use some other form of identification in the future other than your mother's maiden name, and explain why.

Good luck, hon.

*hugs*

These emails are going around, aren't they? I got a paypal email similarly tonight, on an email that I do not have a paypal account for. I thought that was very odd. I remember getting this email about a week ago...and figured if ebay really wanted to get in touch with me, there were other ways to do it...

[taeha.livejournal.com]

GACK! Aimee, that sucks -- I'm so sorry.
I've received a few suspect e-mails from "paypal" too and they LOOK so official and it's so easy to get fooled. I wish there weren't scammers out there. >_

[wogs.livejournal.com]

They DO look official!!!
I actually received one too and was 1/2 way filling out my info when I thought..."waaaaaait, why am I doing this?" and quickly stopped.

Aimee still made me paranoid though (^_^) and I changed my passwords on some pay sites I use.

Hope things work out with you Aimee...please keep us posted as to what you're doing about this.
*hugs*

EEEEeheheheheheee!!

[ballpointpen.livejournal.com]

I LOVE MARK RYDEN!! "Sophia's Mercurial Waters" right? And I was wondering.. Where did you get that name, "Taeha"? It's not referring to Mark of Kri is it? Heeeehehehe.. If it is, you rock!! ^_^

Re: EEEEeheheheheheee!!

[taeha.livejournal.com]

Mark Ryden is awesome. :) And yep -- that's the painting I snicked the icon from.

Sadly the name "Taeha" is just one I made up in high school, no interesting origin there. Although now I'm interested in this Mark of Kri business! Do tell.

Re: EEEEeheheheheheee!!

[ballpointpen.livejournal.com]

"Mark of Kri" is a video game.. A ROCKIN' video game at that.. (too tell you the truth, the art style looks like Aimee might've done it *gigglz*) .. But the Taeha is the spear that the main character fiercely wields to smite his foes *ooooo.. poetic* .. It actually has a pretty damn cool story behind it in the game.. Something having to do with a God making it and using it for a holy war, then throwing it into the ground where it stayed there for years upon years where it grew into a mighty tree that bore fruits that could tell the future.. It's an awesome story.. If you have a PS2 you should check it out! I'd have to play the game again to remember all the sweet details though.. Hopefully I can get back to you on that! ^_^

credit! I know about credit!

[ashlan.livejournal.com]

I normally only keep an eye out on this journal for art stuff (I'm such an art whore..) But since I saw this post, I thought I'd respond.

I work in the finance industry, mostly sub-prime. AFAIK, you CANNOT change your SSN - every case I've run into where people have had problems with identity fraud, they have been unable to change their social. Someone else recommended you close your current bank account - good idea. (Maybe they'll let you open a different account number?) Calling the three credit bureaus and putting a fraud alert on your credit was a good idea as well.

One thing you may be able to do is subscribe (for a monthly fee of course...man, everything costs money) to a service that will notify you by e-mail when someone is requesting your credit information; that way you can know right away who's accessing your credit, and you can call them to find out how they got your social.

It may seem a bit excessive, but watching to see who is requesting copies of your credit can let you know if someone is trying to gain credit in your name - not all banks are vigilant about rooting out people who are trying to commit fraud.

You may also want to file a report with the police about someone attempting to gain your identity; if you still have the original email, definately contact the abuse section of the issuing isp about their user. (Then maybe you can file the complaint against a person, and the police will be more likely to file a report. They can be pretty fickle about that sort of thing - I think they at least will let you file a statement.)

Open ALL YOUR MAIL on the off chance the person uses your actual address. If a bank/credit agency denies you credit, they are required to send you a letter. (it's called a Reg Z letter.) Receiving one of these letters also allows you to get a free! copy of your credit report, depending on which bureau they work with.

I'd also recommend keeping copies of any tangible correspondences with the credit bureau's and the police, so when you do need to apply for credit and there is a problem, you'll have some proof that you are the victim, not someone trying to commit identity fraud.

wow, I sound paranoid. :)

[kishmish.livejournal.com]

aww *hug* I lost my wallet with all my ID stuff, I know how you feel. Someone did use my information to open up a new cell phone, so if you have one call your cell phone company and see if there's been anything strange going on. It's been about 6 months and nothing else bad has happened and I did what you did, call the bank and then credit services. So hopefully nothing bad will happen^_^

[architectstorm.livejournal.com]

Change your account, cancel all your credit cards..

[j-riddler.livejournal.com]

I'm in agreement with what everyone said. I just came to give you a hug. *hug* I'm sorry this happened to you, Aimee! E-mails do get trickier these days. It's nice if ever you get the authentic company e-mail, which would probably look different than other ones. If they don't have SOMETHING to tell you that THIS e-mail is directly from the company, it's really hard to tell which one's genuine at times.

oh god

[lilynn.livejournal.com]

oh aimee ! *huggles*
don't be too harsh on yourself ! those scam ppl are IDIOTS ! GRrrrrrrrr....... i don't know any solutions but taking the step to mail them is a start. I read in the papers sometime ago that it happened to this fella and he mailed the company and then he started doing Ebay scam busting....

hang in there !

[zalem.livejournal.com]

That sucks. I agree with the others here....get the new SSN#, close the bank account and get new credit cards. Do whatever you can...better to protect yourself now rather then wait for something awful to happen.

[lostboydv.livejournal.com]

Just do what you can to make all the info you gave those people no longer valid. Close accounts, report credit cards as stolen so they will reissue with new numbers, chance your ebay password and make sure the secret question/answer for that isn't your mother's maiden name. Also make sure your credit card companies do not use your mother's maiden name as a verifier of your identity, as is frequently done by many card companies. Also never use that PIN again, and change it at any banks you use it at. You need to invalidate as much of that info as you can, ASAP.

[pixelfish.livejournal.com]

Look at it this way: You realized pretty quickly that something was up, and you alerted your bank and closed off all the lines of information that you could. You now have an alert on your information that will come in handy later should somebody try to abuse it. That's still pretty smart.

[crzydemona.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD! that sucks muchly. I hope it works out. eep.

Jen

[spacebabie.livejournal.com]

Oh... God I'm..so sorry.

I hope everythimg gets straightened out and the catch this prick who did this too you.

[junosama.livejournal.com]

Hey, Aimee! T_T

Seems like you're getting some really helpful advice already... I'm just posting to let you know that I'm here for any kind of support I can give!
Better safe than sorry, honestly. I know it's going to be a pain in the ass to close things down, renew, all that... but seriously. Isn't it worth the trouble though, in the end?
Don't bash yourself, either! It won't help you keep a clear head. Focus (you're good at that, you came from CalArts and finished films XP), and I'm sure things will be fine, because you've been doing that well so far.
Keep us posted ;o;

[irc-goliath.livejournal.com]

*BIG HUGS* I really don't have much to add that hasn't already been said... so *more hugs* I hope everything works out okay :}

[msking.livejournal.com]

*hug* Oh, I hope this doesn't turn out badly. At least you caught it early. :\

[aunrea.livejournal.com]

Oh my god Aimee.;_; That is so terrible. {{hugs}} I do hope you can convince your bank to do something more than have you wait it out, like change your PIN, etc. I'm so sorry there are assholes that do this. {more hugs}

[ruggels.livejournal.com]

All of the above. and now it's time to "orgqnize, and simplify your finances, with new accounts and the like. But yeah you've just handed them your info on a platter. Time to change it all.

As to your SSN. you NEVER give out your SSN except to government agancies, your employer, and your bank, because you SSN is also your TAX ID. No private party, other than the above mentioned has any right to your SSN. Now that someone else has it, they will be able to get new bank accounts and reg them to your name. The SSN was the killer, because everything else can be changed.

Scott

[angelbase.livejournal.com]

Oh man, Aimee.... *hugs* Hope this turns into a big nothing. You've done all the right things so far.

[jill-chill.livejournal.com]

there was a thing on the news about this tonight...

[columbine.livejournal.com]

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_sid=t8xLNuOg&p_lva=329&p_li=&p_faqid=1120&p_created=1024430227

This is what I found out about getting a new SSN number

[yvonnesedai.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you have done just about all you can. Working for a credit card company, I see this happen all the time. Really you can only do a few things.

Fraud alert, try to change your social, and renumber ALL your accounts. If possible, put passwords on all your open accounts so if the theif calls in to try to take over the account or get a card mailed to them, the password must be verified or the rep cannot assist them.
You should do this even if they havent been used by the theif. You would be surprised at how many companies will LOOK UP your credit card info with just your social. Its not cool.
Some companies will also put a code on your card if you want so ID must be shown at time of purchase. There will be a literal hold on the account until the cashier calls the credit card company has the cahsier verify your Drivers liscence picture with your face.
GET a credit report if you havent done so recently. Most people have tons of credit cards they didnt know about because they opened it and used it once for the new account discount. Make sure you close all the accounts you arent useing. And then get another report in 90-120 days from now to make sure no accounts slipped by. The fraud alert doenst always work, especially if they used the information before the alert was in place.

SOOO sorry this happened to you! Good luck. :) Do file that police report, but they really wont be able to do much from what I have seen unless someone DOES attempt to use your info.... :( GOOd luck! :)

[slai.livejournal.com]

Hi Aimee,

Wow, this has always been one of my greatest fears, and I'm so sorry someone is doing this to you! Yeah, I've also seen those realistic FAKE eBay survey sites as well, but because of my stalker incident, I've been extra cautious. Don't beat yourself up though. Those sites DEFINITELY look all too real and authentic! I hope things work out okay! It looks like you've already got a lot of support and excellent advice! Please keep us all posted though!

[nitedragon.livejournal.com]

I'm really sorry ...O_o that sucks. I hope all goes well with you though. We all make dumb mistakes like this at one point or another, even if it *is* giving away all that information. But hey, at least you were quick enough to change the right things and contact the right people. At least be happy for that. Good luck

Good news, hopefully...

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

I just ran across this article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23606-2003Jul21.html?nav=hptoc_tn) in the Washington Post. Sounds a lot like what happened to you... Perhaps there's a way to find out what happened to all the information from the people who investigated this case? Best of luck!

@_@

[huongstar.livejournal.com]

1. Close your current bank account and open a new one.


2. Ask your existing credit card company to issue you a new credit card number.


3. Request a copy of your credit report from one of the three major credit bureaus.

Other than that, I'm not sure what you can do but it sounds like you've received much sound advice from everyone else. If there is a way to change your social security number, I would definitely recommend taking that route. I'm really sorry that this happened to you, Aimee. *hugs*

Read This, Thought of You

[mtgat]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/957191.asp?0sl=-10