I hear about it all the time, but this is a first for me although from my reading I understand it happens to everyone at least once. I went through a range of emotions from panic to anger to helplessness. I took all the necessary steps of working with the credit card company. I did ask the credit card rep if they every catch the people who do these kinds of things. I got some blurred response. In order to get on with the rest of my life, I feel the need to share my experience with others. It may be helpful.
On the morning of Feb 11th, routinely checking my cell phone, I saw an email from Home Depot at 12:03 am saying “Congrats! You’re Now a Member of Pro Extra”. Never did that, I figured it must be a mistake.
Saw another message around 7:30am from HomeDepot ProXtr saying ‘Here’s your receipt’ and ‘Thanks’.
Total purchases were $665.62. Items purchased were Deadbolts, Door Levers, Cabinet knobs - items that a contractor would purchase.
I reviewed the receipt and noticed a few odd things. They added ‘LLC’ after my name to make the account appear to be a business account. They changed the contact phone number to 407-972-5792. I live in Chicago, IL and the store where the purchase was made is in Daytona Beach, FL.
I did a search on the contact phone number and was able to identify an individual but I did not make contact.
I spoke with a HomeDepot Credit Services representative and we went through the steps of closing the account and creating a new one. The rep also said that I am not liable for the fraudulent purchases and that I would receive a follow-up email from the Citibank security team regarding the investigation. I should receive a new card in 7-10 business days.
Next, I got a copy of my Transuion and Equifax credit reports from annualcreditreports.com.
On both reports, my current address was changed to 5725 Ridge Club LOOP Apt 201, Orlando, FL 32839.
In both cases, I was able to submit an online dispute stating the address was fraudulent. I think for my Transunion report, I had to upload proof of my current address. I used a current electric bill and the fraudulent address was removed within hours.
I always keep my Experian account locked. I was able to review my Experian credit report online and didn’t see any changes.
About 5 days prior to all this, I walked into a HomeDepot store and told a staff person that I had misplaced my HomeDepot card. He says "Well let me look it up to see if anyone has turned it in". Well, I knew no one turned it in because I misplaced it at home. But I let him do his job any way. He said no one had turned it in. I said "Thank You, can I use my ID to make purchases?" and he said "Of course".
Since I was using an ID, a cashier assisted me with checking out and I had to present my ID.
The bright side to all of this . . . . currently my FICO score is so low and my utilization is so high, I doubt these criminials could get any new accounts opened under my profile anyway. On the other hand, maybe they were setting me up for future transactions.
