My identity - she has been stolen!
Asked by
meagan (
4675
)
March 19th, 2010
Well I’ve been getting phone calls lately. And for privacy’s sake (even though obviously, mine has been violated ) I’ll use a faux name.
These phone calls have been debt collectors calling for Meagan “Maerat”.
My name is Meagan “Macrat”.
I’ve thought… thats odd! What an odd spelling of my last name! But I don’t have an account with verizon / bank of america. So being the naive 21 year old I am, I thought – this is just some other Meagan.
Yesterday I get a call from a Debt Collector asking for Meagan Maerat.. I say politely that it isn’t me and that I’ve gotten calls for her before. And then we chat for a while… turns out this sucker has my social security number and has racked up quite a bit of debt.
Long story short, I’ve been making a lot of phone calls trying to clear my credit. And today I realize.. They got “Maerat” because I write my cursive c’s like e’s. Ugh. I feel so violated.
Has anyone else been a victim of identity theft? I need a lot of tips / information. These low lives are living only thirty minutes away from me which makes me think they’re probably my past employers (after seeing my signature and social).
Please please, all help is very very much appreciated.
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14 Answers
I got a notice from the IRS saying I didn’t claim a W-2. I countered that had I claimed everything. It is easy since I only worked for one company and claimed it and shwed them my W-2. Well, they showed me a W-2 with my name and SS# but for an address in another state. Presumably the scumbag had paychecks going there and the W-2 was an automatic follow up. The IRS agent was extremely helpful. Let me repeat that in case you missed it – the IRS agent was extremely helpful and was willing to help me by showing me everything they had. . They agreed I was the victim and not responsible. they even contacted the scumbags state to let them know not to bother me. They sad they would continue the investigation without my involvement. I never heard anything more.
I know we are supposed to love to hate them but my opinion of the IRS went up quite a few notches after this.
@worriedguy Well my mother is pretty geared toward the idea of pressing charges against them, filing reports with the local PD, etc.
I’ve already made claims with the “bank of america” that I got the calls from. And I’m about to put a lock on my credit ( these terms go right over my head, excuse me. )
But youre right. I was very surprised at how helpful everyone has been.
@meagan It would be super terrible if it was a former employer! I’d want to press charges, too. Might want to consult a lawyer to make sure you play your cards right.
@lilikoi Well the misspelling due to my terrible signature probably means it was a former employer. :( I don’t know who else would see my sig. and ssn.
Thanks for the advice.
@meagan If it was a former employer you would think they would have your name right. Didn’t your paychecks and W-2 forms have the right info on them? If you’ve opened a bank account or a credit card someone could have gotten your info that way.
@knitfroggy This identity theft has been going on for a while, now. I’ve had a few little odd jobs that I hadn’t stayed on very long. My bank account is over 10+ years old, and I opened my only credit card six months ago.
Did I not mention that the person that stole my identity is living thirty minutes away from me?
I forgot to add that this person lives thirty minutes away from me! Isn’t that insane!?
get a hold of your credit score. credit report monitoring is good. and they have counselors to aid you. most of them have reimbursement programs for photoscopies, etc. expense associated with identity theft, not the monies taken itself.
@meagan : Your signature is stored as an image in a database in a lot of cases. Anyone with access to a database with your ssn and signature, not even necessarily the same database, could do this. Cybercrime is tricky stuff in that provenance is hard to prove because the laws of physics are meaningless in cyberspace. It may not necessarily have been your employers.
@Fenris But they live thirty minutes away from me! ;P
Proximity doesn’t matter anymore. A good cracker in Singapore has just as much ability to see that info as any business around you. Anytime you sign anything or use your ssn, this is the risk you are taking. The world is flat and space doesn’t matter any more thanks to the Net.
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