OT, But Need Help with ID Theft

I'm asking this for a neighbor...her son just graduated from Colorado State. He went on line and filled out an application for a new apt. in Boulder. It was a scam and they are now using his good credit to open credit cards, etc. My question....is there a place that his parents can contact there to follow up on this? The son will have to move back here mid-August because his credit has been ruined. He was planning to stay in the Boulder area, and will eventually move back when this gets straightened out. Here, we'd call the Attorney General's ofc. Is there a contact for them to keep up with this in CO... from here in TX? I'd appreciate any suggestions that I can pass along to his worried parents..and him. DG people always have the answers, even it isn't about plants! Thanks...

Bigbubbles,

Even though the cat is out of the bag, contact Experian, Equifax & Transunion credit agencies immediately to explain what happened and institute a credit freeze. I believe the FBI handles identity theft. Contact the folks at the Clark Howard show and they will help to get you started on what to do next. http://clarkhoward.com/ or call team Clark at (404) 892-8227.

Good Luck!

Sonny

Thanks Sonny...they did contact the credit agencies...but I'll let them know about Clark Howard....wouldn't have thought of that one!
Our daughter had her wallet lifted in Chicago one October yrs ago and it was truly a nightmare... Even tho the credit card was canceled, they drew all her money out of the bank, made a new TX driver's license with another face on it but her info. Managed to hit a couple of malls and some crack babies had a wonderful Xmas that year. The worst was two checks they managed to cash at a Montgomery Wards, each for $200. We were getting calls from a collection agency that bordered on menacing....our phone # was on her checks....at all hours. Even tho we sent the police report and the bank's verification multiple times, they still harassed us. I finally went to the local MW store here and had the store manager fax the info again while I watched. when MW went out of business, I considered it Karma.....
Thanks again, I'm going to e-mail his mom now....Sandi

Sandi,

There are a few things that I do that helps prevent situations like this;

On all your credit cards write, "PHOTO ID" that way the thieves don't know your signature & the clerk will have to ask for ID.

I always sign my name using just my nickname. That way I know right away what I purchased.

I only carry one credit card & I never carry checks.

I always use the last four digits of a number that is familiar to me for my PIN, not my birthday, not my home phone or SS number. In Europe many places that use the credit card reader operated by the card holder, (think of the gas station or Walmart) these machines require a PIN, not many US credit cards assign a PIN which is STUPID.

The FBI has a whole section of their website devoted to preventing identity theft.

Sonny

I forwarded your suggestion of the Clark Howard web link to our neighbor, and she wrote back "Great info on the CH website...thanks." Unfortunately, she also wrote that her husband is flying up to CO this weekend to get son, his car, and his stuff to move back home for a bit while all the credit card mess gets straightened out...and he finds a job!

I have..." Check ID "...in the signature line of all my credit cards. In all the yrs I've used them, only once has a clerk turned it over to read the sig. line and asked for ID. Carrying one credit card here wouldn't work. Costco only accepts Am Express or checks. Some other businesses won't accept Am Exp. We do shop a bit online and only use one card that's designated just for that purpose. So far, so good.

I rarely use checks anymore....but I do carry the ck book everywhere just in case... Will have to re-think that one! Have a friend who's house was broken into. The burglar, in addition to stealing jewelry, removed a few blank cks from the middle of a ck book. Someone at the bank alerted her that two large checks had been written. She was never one to bother with balancing ck book, so wouldn't have noticed it herself.
We've spent the last week going thru old documents, some from when we lived in Hawaii in the 80's. We still had boxes of old cks....and on the face of some of them was extra info clerks had written like the entire Master Card #, our driver's license#, etc. But actually printed on the cks beside each of our names was our SS #....times have sure changed! I'm shredding lotsa mulch....
Again, thanks for the tips....I'll pass them along to our neighbor. I told her I'd be just as worried about health insurance coverage for her son now that he's off their policy. There was a brief period after our daughter graduated from college that she was uninsured. We held our breath...

Sandi