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This might be a little off topic but his life is quickly being screwed over due to this.
Today a small (fraudulent) charge was placed on his Discover card (he's been a customer with them for over 10 years IIRC). He called them up immediately and is having the charge removed / new card being expedited. This is the SECOND time this has happened in under a couple months. We’re located in WI, and the first time it happened, his card was used in a motel in our state, this time however it was from Texas. His new card had a different CC number than before… and it’s still happening.
A couple years ago some identity theft happened to him. Some criminals in IL opened up a Paypal CC and an US Bank checking account (they cash advanced money out of the paypal card and put it into the checking account, or something). It’s taken him months to get those closed saying they were fraud, but just a couple days ago there are still collection agencies wanting money… so he’s now gotta waste his time off clearing that up. Do you think this has anything to do with it? Those criminals pulled all three of his 3 free credit reports (and my Dad had to pay to view them since it happened under a year).
Obviously they have his SSN & basic information somehow… but how are they getting brand new credit card numbers of his? Could these be unrelated attacks? He’s very savvy when it comes to using the computer and what websites he puts them in (I know his computer is not affected and he hasn’t fallen for any phishing scams).
He was also a victim of identity theft well over a decade ago (sometime between 2000 2003). Fraudulent charges being made on old CCs that obviously don’t exist anymore after his BK in 2008. Maybe his information is floating around from some decade old database that was hacked into and sold repeatedly? What can he do? Does he HAVE to sign up for one of those identity protection products? Do those actually work? Can he have his SSN changed? How much of a PITA is that? His mother changed/(forged?) his name on his birth certificate in the 60’s but he got his first passport before the US got very stringent on records like that. So yeah there is a lot of stuff… really messed up.
@colinstu wrote:This might be a little off topic but his life is quickly being screwed over due to this.
Today a small (fraudulent) charge was placed on his Discover card (he's been a customer with them for over 10 years IIRC). He called them up immediately and is having the charge removed / new card being expedited. This is the SECOND time this has happened in under a couple months. We’re located in WI, and the first time it happened, his card was used in a motel in our state, this time however it was from Texas. His new card had a different CC number than before… and it’s still happening.
A couple years ago some identity theft happened to him. Some criminals in IL opened up a Paypal CC and an US Bank checking account (they cash advanced money out of the paypal card and put it into the checking account, or something). It’s taken him months to get those closed saying they were fraud, but just a couple days ago there are still collection agencies wanting money… so he’s now gotta waste his time off clearing that up. Do you think this has anything to do with it? Those criminals pulled all three of his 3 free credit reports (and my Dad had to pay to view them since it happened under a year).
Obviously they have his SSN & basic information somehow… but how are they getting brand new credit card numbers of his? Could these be unrelated attacks? He’s very savvy when it comes to using the computer and what websites he puts them in (I know his computer is not affected and he hasn’t fallen for any phishing scams).
He was also a victim of identity theft well over a decade ago (sometime between 2000 2003). Fraudulent charges being made on old CCs that obviously don’t exist anymore after his BK in 2008. Maybe his information is floating around from some decade old database that was hacked into and sold repeatedly? What can he do? Does he HAVE to sign up for one of those identity protection products? Do those actually work? Can he have his SSN changed? How much of a PITA is that? His mother changed/(forged?) his name on his birth certificate in the 60’s but he got his first passport before the US got very stringent on records like that. So yeah there is a lot of stuff… really messed up.
Your dad needs to freeze his credit reports permanently. There's just no reason not to. If he needs to apply for credit, he can unfreeze temporarily or provide the lender a unique pin for that app. He also needs to file a FACTA compliant with all three CRAs. They have to suppress all related credit items to the identity theft within four days of receiving the complaint. The complaint requires a police report and a statement from the filer denying any personal involvement with the transactions related to the id theft. The CRAs must comply and suppress all related and typically negative reporting within 4 days.
In cases of repeated id theft, I've seen a few were family members with access to personal info were involved. See if you can connect the dots that way.
In the meantime, place a freeze on all three reports pronto and file a FACTA complaint.
Good luck.
How would he file a FACTA complaint?
I know he already filed a police report back when he was dealing with the US Bank + Paypal issue, I'm not aware of where that stands now, and cannot remember if he froze his reports or not back then.
No one else besides me has access to his personal information (and I'm obviously not doing it). My parents separated in 2005 and divorced was finalized a few years after. My mom would have information too but she's not doing it.
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0277-create-identity-theft-report
And this.....http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0292-blocking-information-your-credit-report
The other common denominator would be places he frequents. If a new card with a new number is getting compromised, perhaps he is getting skimmed?
@Walt_K wrote:The other common denominator would be places he frequents. If a new card with a new number is getting compromised, perhaps he is getting skimmed?
+1
This has happened to me at least once per year for the last 4 years without fail. Each time I called the CCC, had the charges reversed and was issued a new card#. After the last time this happened I realized the common demoninator was this little mom -n-pop gas station that I visited 1-2 times per year. I noticed that the fraudulent charges would pop up about 1-2 weeks after paying at the pump at that particular gas station. I would say with a reasonably high percentage of certainty that I was being skimmed.
It is terrible thing for anyone to have to go through, so best of luck OP at getting it resolved.
@Walt_K wrote:The other common denominator would be places he frequents. If a new card with a new number is getting compromised, perhaps he is getting skimmed?
Per OP this goes beyond skimming. There are new credit cards and checking accts opened in his father's name. This is real ID theft, much more than fraudulent cccs.
@shols44 wrote:
@Walt_K wrote:The other common denominator would be places he frequents. If a new card with a new number is getting compromised, perhaps he is getting skimmed?
Per OP this goes beyond skimming. There are new credit cards and checking accts opened in his father's name. This is real ID theft, much more than fraudulent cccs.
OP said there was ID theft 2 years ago and 10 years ago. The issue with the Discover card may or may not be related.