[Novalug] Totally OT: Identify Theft
John Franklin
franklin at elfie.org
Sat Jul 12 21:34:28 EDT 2008
Are you putting all of this on a Wiki somewhere?
jf
On Jul 12, 2008, at 8:49 PM, Jay Hart wrote:
> To the list, I have updates:
>
> 1. First of all, it is amazing what companies/employees will do (or
> not do) to
> get a sale.
>
> 1a. I'm not telling everything here, some items I will not state
> here because
> at this point its speculation, or stuff I will need a lawyer for.
> But, figure
> what I really mean on item #1 and you can read between the lines...
>
> 2. I had to file not one, but two police reports, the thefts
> occurred at three
> different Best Buys, all in Maryland, all within 2-3 hours total
> elapsed time.
> The thieves were kind enough to apply for card/account protection
> for me, how
> special.
>
> 3. Each store got hit for about $5,000. This must be a limiting non-
> trigger
> point for fraud. Can anyone comment on this?
>
> 3a. The account has been placed in a fraud condition state, meaning
> closed.
> The credit card bank did this when I called them the first time. I
> should
> have asked for the credit application, but I thought the store would
> have that
> document.
>
> 4. I now "own" three very high-end laptops ($2,800 each), two very
> high-end
> cameras ($1,800 each) with monster lenses ($1,100), some WII
> hardware ($250),
> a 32 inch LCD TV ($580), and a few other things I don't recognize
> right out
> the bat. They put all this on a 2 year payback plan. Stupid
> Fscking Best
> Buy, if you ask me.
>
> 5. There is video, and it ain't me.
>
> 6. The cops were very helpful, I at least think that video will be
> retrieved
> from all three stores, and once that is done, I'm hoping to get a
> copy. If I
> can't, that is where a PI might can help me out. The PI was not able
> to help
> me today, but depending on the follow-up detectives, I might ask for
> his help
> if it looks
>
> 6a. My goal is NOT to get the guy, but to get the guy to tell me how
> he got my
> SSN. This is the single most important thing to concentrate on. If
> the guy
> gets busted up a little prior to coughing up the info, he has a WII
> that he
> can use while recovering...
>
> 7. Things you should know: a) stores generally won't give you any
> documentation or video. File a police report ASAP, they can supeona
> the store,
> and the store will be very happy to turn over anything they have.
> (at least
> Best Buys seems to be willing in this case) b) Managers won't tell you
> anything usually when you walk in off the street. c) Take enough
> documentation
> so that the cops/store has not doubt who you are d) I dressed in a
> nice pair
> of slacks and dress shirt, was very calm, did not rant, did not
> threaten,
> basically tried very hard to get the store on my side e) tell store
> they are
> in the same boat as you f) get the name and a number if you can of
> anyone you
> talk to, record any phone cons you have, doing this on paper is fine.
>
> 8. It seems like it would be hard for an inside job to occur over
> three
> stores, so not sure if this is a plausible scenario. However, others
> have told
> me inside help is very good percentage of fraud.
>
> 9. Try to get a copy of the actual credit application. Many stores
> do not keep
> your app, they are sent to their credit bank after 1-2 days, so this
> you will
> need to try and get either through the bank, or through the
> companies fraud
> investigation unit. In my case I know that at least two of the nine
> SSN
> digits were correct (I did not want to give the bank rep I spoke to
> any more
> than two, but stasitically its very hard to not say they had the
> rest correct
> as well. I didn't supply them with the first two or last two digits,
> but with
> two random digits of the nine.
>
> 10. Call all your banks/401K/mutual funds and put a fraud alert on
> all of
> them. (CYA)
>
> 11. Not that it matters, but one store has a black male late 20s/
> early 30s on
> tape. Would like to see the other two tapes, good bet not same guy.
> This
> proves it was a fraudulent activity, I'm totally in the clear just
> due to this
> fact alone.
>
> 12. According to Best Buys, when you apply for an account, and prior
> to
> charging on that account, you must show two forms of ID, one has to
> be a
> picture ID, the second they usually ask for a credit card with the
> same name
> on the picture ID. They do not make a photo copy of any IDs. (read
> inside job
> action time here..) I bet most if not all companies have a similar
> policy.
> They want to make it easy for you to buy stuff, remember...
>
> 13. Based on the time line scenario for the charges, my guess is
> that Best
> Buys fraud preventive software does not track or notify if large
> purchases are
> made in several stores within a short period of time. Hence I figure
> if it
> did, the last store, which actually had two charges, might have been
> flagged.
>
> 14. The three large credit reporting agencies will share updates to
> your
> profile if you put a block on it, they say there is no need to call
> all three,
> and that the block is sent out quickly (I can't tell you what
> quickly means
> with regard to a time frame this happens).
>
> 15. I'm going to see about getting a new SSN, will let you know what
> I learn.
>
> 16. If you have a clearance, remember you are doing this to protect
> your
> livelihood, bad credit can get your clearance revoked. IOW, you are
> not doing
> this to "KILL the Mo-fscker".
>
> 17. the police are seeing this type of crime more, they really seem
> to want to
> help you. Don't expect much when you contact the police and file
> the report.
> They may have good relations with the store, or not. Different
> stores seem to
> have different policies. While one store might show the cops video
> without a
> warrant, another might ask for one. But, they all seem to want to
> get the info
> to the police, have patience.
>
> 18. Don't go into the store on your own and talk to any of
> employees, if it
> was an inside job, you just tipped them off. REMEMBER THIS. If you
> do talk
> to someone at the store, STORE MANAGER ONLY!!!
>
> 19. If the store suspects an inside job, they may be more willing to
> pursue
> the matter, but might not be willing to share everything they find
> out (think
> lawsuit here...).
>
> 20. I wonder it its possible for me to determine if someone bought my
> information recently through an online service like Intelius???
>
> 21. I plan on following up with Best Buy corporate, I need that credit
> application...
>
> 22. My brain is dead, hope this is enough for now.
>
> Jay
>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
>>
>> I will check w/ my mom.
>>
>> Call ALL your credit card companies NOW and tell them this
>> happened. Ask
>> them what they can do to help and what you should do. Bank(s) you do
>> business with also. Check with work as they might have some type of
>> program to assist you.
>>
>> The credit card companies or your bank might be of assistance in
>> getting
>> protection (passwords added to accounts, flags set, no new accounts
>> opened w/o a passcode, etc). I remember my mom had to do this.
>>
>> FYI, everyone I know who this happened to was NOT liable for the
>> bills.
>> Don't go in w/ an attitude. Go in trying to get their help and you
>> cooperate.
>>
>> IF you are held liable, then worry about it. Otherwise, do what you
>> can
>> to protect yourself from other damage. Chances are pretty good
>> another
>> card or 6 will show up shortly. It is USUALLY not a 1 time thing.
>>
>> Best of luck.
>>
>> Jay Hart wrote:
>>> I was made aware this evening that I have been a victim of
>>> identity theft.
>>> Someone(s) opened an account at Best Buy using all my
>>> identification,
>>> including my SSN, and rang up $15,000 worth of stuff. Basically
>>> walked in,
>>> opened account, bought $15K of stuff, loaded it up, and off they
>>> went.
>>>
>>> I found out about it when the account information arrived at my
>>> house, along
>>> with the new Best Buy Store credit account card. I received two
>>> separate
>>> items
>>> in the mail, had they not arrived same day, I might have shredded
>>> both.
>>>
>>> I've called the credit reporting agencies, the FTC, my bank, and a
>>> Maryland
>>> Private Investigator. Tomorrow I plan to take a little trip to
>>> the store to
>>> see what I can learn, maybe get the PI to help me out.
>>>
>>> If you have been the victim of identity theft, what other stuff
>>> should I
>>> know,
>>> and what kinds of problems did you encounter that would be good
>>> stuff to
>>> know?
>>>
>>> I'm hoping the store is going to want to work with me since they
>>> are out
>>> $15K
>>> of stuff. The FTC uses your data to search for patterns, so I
>>> figure they
>>> will not be of much help to me. Equifax will help me out, by
>>> putting blocks
>>> on my account, but most of their services will cost me money. My
>>> best shot
>>> is
>>> either video footage at the store, and/or fingerprints on the credit
>>> application.
>>>
>>> Jay Hart
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Ma-linux mailing list
>>> Ma-linux at calypso.tux.org
>>> http://calypso.tux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ma-linux
>>
>> - --
>> greg pryzby greg at pryzby dot org
>> fingerprint: 8A1A DB90 869F 5DD1 D6E9 EEB6 C156 6B04 849F A86F
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
>> Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)
>> Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
>>
>> iD8DBQFIeMMrwVZrBISfqG8RAui8AJ9sOYefkxTnrI5ck54ZxJdv3C6bUACfT375
>> 6Udt88lbFSP+VQoGrIS0ed4=
>> =4l0d
>> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
>>
>
>
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--
John Franklin
franklin at elfie.org
ICBM: 38º 56' 32.6"N 77º 24' 47.7"W Z+62m
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