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Sunday, March 17, 2019

DENNIS PATRICK: IDENTITY THEFT REDUX

It will never happen to me. But it did. Twice. Identity (ID) theft is real, ongoing, and knows no bounds.

Thieves stole my name, social security number, and birth date. On June 8, 2010, I received a telephone call “Hello. This is not a solicitation. This is the fraud department from Bank of America (BA) calling about the checking account you requested June 7.” Really? I had not opened a checking account with any bank. BA immediately terminated the new account.

Before the call ended the B of A Fraud Department rep assisted me in contacting and establishing a 90-day free fraud alert with the three major credit bureaus. Any fraud attempt would be halted.

On July 17 I received a call from AT&T Credit Verification Department inquiring about a wireless account I was seeking to open. Really? I had not sought to open a wireless account with anyone. This account was for an address in Pompano Beach, Florida. I was informed that an account had been opened on May 26 and there was a $194 bill for June. The rep helped me close that account and deny the opening of the second account. I was then transferred to the AT&T Fraud Department.

I immediately contacted the State Attorney General’s Office and filed a report of the two AT&T incidents. Next I opened a paid, pemanent credit check monitoring service with Equifax, Experian, and Transunion, the three credit bureaus.

Scanning my Experian credit report, I noted the Pompano Beach address. I asked Experian to expunge that address to clean up my credit report. I was told they could not remove the address because an active CitiBank credit card account had been opened with that Florida address. What?! I should have been alerted. No, sir. The card was applied for on June 8, the same day BA contacted me. The fraud alert had not yet gone into effect by that date. It never rains but what it pours!

I contacted the police on July 27 and filed a report before contacting CitiBank. When I did contact CitiBank I was told the account would be investigated and closed. Moreover, a $6500 check had been requested against the $7000 line of credit using my information and the Florida address.

Four fraud attempts were made in 8 weeks using my stolen identity. I froze my accounts with the three credit bureaus. No one could seek a credit check using my identity unless I lifted the freeze. Nevertheless, my information was still “out there.”

The next incidents occurred the spring of 2012 by circumventing the credit rating bureaus. Here’s how it went down.

On March 8, 2012, I received a legitimate letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA) confirming that I had redirected my direct deposit social security check from my legitimate bank to a different bank in another state. Of course, I had not. I immediately contacted my local SSA office. They confirmed the redirection, the fraud became evident, and the redirection of my check was stopped. I filed a fraud report with the SSA and an “identity theft victim” tag was placed on my file. A password was assigned.

But, that’s not the end of the story. There is more. On April 6, 2012 my TY 2011 federal tax return was filed electronically and rejected by the IRS. It seems someone had already filed using my identity to claim my refund. The IRS noted anomalies in the fraudulent return and froze my account.

I immediately picked up the hard copy of the unfiled return from my CPA and took it to the local IRS office. To prove my identity I had to produce two forms of photo identification, my original social security card, and my passport. Once identified, the IRS agent was able to unfreeze the account and officially mail a copy of my identification together with the tax return to the appropriate IRS center. He then filed a fraud report on my behalf. For enhanced security, he also applied for a personal identification number (PIN) to be renewed annual for use with future tax returns.

Unfortunately, there is no collaboration between the three credit rating agencies and federal agencies. Consequently, no fraud alert came from the credit agencies.

I have no knowledge about how my identity was stolen. I’m confident it was not my carelessness. Fortunately, I found out within weeks. Some people don’t find out for years.

The following may be concluded. First, my identity will never be retrieved. It’s gone forever. Second, my identity is being bought and sold as would be any commodity.

Ways to minimize the risk of ID theft include opening an account with the three credit bureaus. Order a credit report and check your information. Use passwords liberally. Secure personal information at home and work. Guard mail and trash. Limit access to your SSN. Scan bills for fraud.

At this point I had alerted every institution with which I have critical transactions including the SSA, IRS, Department of Defense, Veterans Administration, financial institutions, and the State Attorney General’s Office to the fact that I had been a victim of identity theft and that fraud was perpetrated using my identity. I had attempted to close off every avenue of approach through which a perpetrator might gain access to my finances and government records.

The age of innocence has passed and vigilance is key. For safety’s sake, be aware.

 

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Click here to email your elected representatives.

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