Who stole my face??

by H. Boehnke-Sharp

"I just bought a brand new computer, and did not pay a penny for it!!"

Sadly, that is not a statement from a new found resource for budget strapped artists, but a card napster. A credit card napster, that is.  

I am not just highlighting this because I want to turn your comfortable internet shopping experience into a tedious pain in the ass. No, I am doing it because “I” was recently a victim of identity theft, and THAT is a royal pain in the ass. Not only will I be  dealing with this for a long time, these no good skunks also have half my life in form of my wallet in their hands. My driver’s license, SS Card (I just made copies for a new job and did not remove it :(...), my credit  card and Bank Credit Card (see more about this below),  Gift cards, receipts, a prepaid Lion King DVD receipt, my aunt’s famous cake recipe, more receipts, and pictures. Pictures of my kids, and a picture of my father holding me as a baby as he shipped off to war.  These personal items can not be replaced.

Once I got over the shock of my loss, and my stupidity, I went into action. When I noticed my wallet was gone, they “finders” had already charged over $800 to my credit card and Bank Account. Here is a personal warning: If you have an ATM card with Visa/Mastercard logo, check with your bank if you are liable for disputed charges. Naive minds think this is like a credit card and the charges are removed until they prove otherwise. In my case, I had a Sheriff report showing  that my wallet was stolen and that these  charges were illegal. Still, I had to wait for all these charges to go through my checking account, then they were refunded. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have an extra $500 on my checking account to play with....Also, I had “See ID” on my cards. Obviously, no one checked them. Actually, most of the charges were made a gas stations. Here, all they have to do is swipe your credit card through the machine. They probably stood there and offered full tanks of gas for cash or drugs. Even though they swiped my card 7 times at the same station within 30 minutes, no warnings went off. Then they shopped big at Walgreen’s, and ate at Carl’s Jr. for over $40 two times. Must have had a great  party! 

Another note on this. Napsters don’t even need to physically have your card to rob you. All they need is your number, and some info. Below is an excerpt that someone posted on a list. This is a statement from a “carder” and was originally posted on a merchant’s warning board:

“Hey,  I've been carding 3 mths but only for amounts up to $500.  The

Holiday season is here and everyone is starting xmas shopping early

and I think this would be the best time to try carding higher amounts.

I get cc#s, cvv,  addressees, and everything needed from my job.  I

have some ssn's and DL#'s too.   Anything a sales rep could possibly

ask for, I have a "legitimate" answer to give.   I've thought

everything inside-out and outside-in.  When I go to card  something I

have everything written down step-by-step, and I always tell the sales

rep the REAL  phone# of the REAL card holder but then I say that I'm

visiting my "sisters" house (which is my drop site) and they should

call me at her # (which is a pay phone) if necessary.   I go to great

lengths finding perfect drop sites.  My drop sites are always upper

class neighborhoods.

The reason why I'm posting this is to  ask the more experienced

carders what they  think of carding say $1,000 or even higher?

Seriously, if I have ALL the critical info at hand,  why couldn't I

card a $2,000 laptop computer for myself,  or a $1,500 gold necklace

to either keep, pawn, or maybe sell on ebay?”

Does that make  your skin crawl?? Think about ALL the places that have this info about you online. A few months ago someone tried to purchase a computer on Overstocks.com with my credit card number. This card was brand new, and I only use it for business transactions. I did have it registered with a web site that gives you points for your purchases, and they have most of the info the “carder” mentioned above. I assume that is how this crook got my info. We caught it because the carder put my name and phone number as a contact, but a delivery address in NY. The Overstocks.com people caught it and called me to “verify my order”. Hurrah for them!   I only make online transactions with a virtual card number. www.citibank.com offers this service. You request a VAN, this number is only for one time use.  

Anyway, once you are past canceling credit cards,  there is still the issue of the driver’s license and SS number. By the way, you don’t have to be careless like me and carry your Social Security card with you, I bet you have a medical card in your wallet with your SS number on it. I had to go to DMV and get a new driver’s license. You cannot get a new numberunless you can prove through a court case that your identity has been fraudulently used (someone living with your name, buying a house, etc., and you catching them and suing them....sure...), this also goes for Social Security.  While I was sitting at DMV for 4 hours and cursing the new keepers of my wallet, I realized that anyone could go in there with my Driver’s license, make an address change, and then have any new information, checks, etc., forwarded to them! So I put a freeze on my license. This way no one can makechanges.  You can also put a security alert on your credit report. One call will alert all 3 major credit reporting agencies that your wallet/identity has been stolen. Incase someone tries to open a credit card, store card, buy a car, etc. in your name, they will contact you first. Of course will create road blocks when YOU are ordering new checks, opening accounts, etc., but that is just part of the pain. Remember, if you have your spouse’s info  in your wallet, for example on a medical card, you need to put an alert on their SSN also.

So am I living on cash only? No, but I have taken precautions that this will never happen to me again. I don’t carry any personal or valuable info with me in my wallet. I have a regular ATM card again, no credit card logo. Granted you can’t pay EVERYWHERE with it, but most places. I have one credit card in my wallet, with a low limit. I also check all my balances online on a daily basis, and only use the Virtual Account number to purchase online. I have ordered new checks, with our names initialed, so a fraudulent check writer has to “guess” how we sign our names.

I have listed some resources for you below. If this ever happens to you, go to your Sheriff office first. They were a great help to me. They deal with this on a daily basis. Sadly, only a few of the crooks get caught, and if they do, the punishment is minimal. So protect yourself.

http://www.sacsheriff.com/crime_prevention/documents/cyber_crime_01.cfm

http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

http://www.fightidentitytheft.com/

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