Secrets of the City

Had some fraudulent charges on my check card. USBank was great about clearing it up real fast.

It was my understanding that this VA info was only accessible through a certain kind of software that a person had to program or something?

I talked about this before:
My mortgage company sent my wife and I a letter telling us that they lost their data while attempting to send it to another office. The box that the info was in…was lost.
They then offered to let us join a credit protection program where they would pay the first month and we would pay the $48 every month for the rest of the time.
We didn’t do it.
Three months later, the box was discovered on the loading dock of the shipping company.
Besides, who would want to be me?

Identity Theft is the Y2K Computer Crash of Y2.06K.

I had not heard anything about software, Kevin, and the form letter I got offers few clues. This guy has a clue on how to handle the situation, though.

I’m a vet and I have not received the letter to date. But I think the fact that the number of id’s is 30 million is better than if it was only 30, and I was one of those 30 people. I’m of the mind that anyone can find out anything about anyone at anytime anyway, so this veteran id boondoggle doesn’t really concern me very much, other than the fact that the VA should be more careful and seek to prevent all manner of mistakes.

Didn’t the Legislature pass a bill this session requiring the credit agencies to allow Minnesotans to freeze their credit reports? (Which means no more instant credit)

ironic — who would want to be you? Depends, what’s your credit score? If a data thief steals your info, they could take out a card with a (let’s say) $10,000 credit limit, blow that in a few hours or days, then disappear while sticking you with the bill. People don’t ususally get their information stolen because of who they are, but because what thieves can do with the data.

The best way to solve the problem is to by default freeze credit reports so no one can use your information to get a new credit card. Big Credit hates this solution, because they’d make less money.

Kevin Drum is always suggesting a sound law that would make the market come up with a solution on its own: charge the credit card companies $10,000 per violation every time someone manages to take out a fraudulent credit card. That’d fix them up real quick.

I think Luke is really onto something there, since the people who make ID theft a problem are the lenders, and the lenders are complicit. They could have more stringent lending requirements, but apparently the money is better in fast & easy access to credit, with some writeoffs for fraud.

It’s also quite insane that it’s a personal responsibility to maintain the data in your credit report, but in no sense of the word do you “own” it. It took an act of Congress just for consumers to get a *partial* view of their reports, just once a year — in the meantime, your cable company is free to put a blemish on that record at any time, for even the most minor disputes.

Yes, you can freeze your credit report.

In the story they first said that you would need special software to access the data. Then said that it was likely the computer had that software installed but they couldn’t verify that for sure.

I ordered checks and they never arrived a few years ago. A shifty neighbor or one of his drunken friends likely stole them from my mail box and wrote about 35 checks for cigarettes and liquor.

It was a massive hassle for about 4 months while I filed affidavits of forgery and worked with US Bank to get the situation fixed.

If you want to write bad checks just head to Bylerys or Lunds. They refuse to check ID’s with checks so your free to forge away.

About 2 years after it was all cleared up I got a letter from a collection agency asking why I haven’t paid back US Bank the overdrafts. The first person I called at US Bank would not look up the account and was completely rude to me. Luckily I saved all the paperwork and names and numbers of the people that I worked with originally because customer service people at US Bank would not believe me. Thank God this very nice and capable woman that had assisted me originally, Nancy, helped me out even though she had moved to a new department.

helpful info on identity theft and preventing id theft…it’s a locally run site

Yeah, it’s those damn complicint lenders who are at fault. Imagine somebody wanting to give you their money whether you are deserving or not! Who do they think they are, the government?

The information on the veterans was on a laptop, and that laptop was stolen. Why WOULDN’T the software to view the files be on the laptop? Sounds like a flimsy excuse to me. On the plus side, the thieves probably didn’t know the information was there … until it was widely publicized. D’Oh!

Yeah, it’s those damn complicent lenders who are at fault. Imagine having to check to see if the money they are lending goes to the actual people asking to borrow it! Who do they thing they are, the government?

Last year my younger sister tried to obtain a Discover card and a Dell computer with my social security number. She found all the info she needed on an old report card my mom had in a scrapbook or something. She was a meth addict at the time. It was Discover Card who tipped me off, because her address wasn’t on any of my credit reports. I found the Dell credit inquiry myself on a credit report.

The Minneapolis police captain I spoke with regarding filing a police report (to try and get her arrested and thrown into treatment) said that most identity theft comes from people who know you or have access to your own records. Since she wasn’t successful in obtaining any credit, the attempts weren’t prosecutable.

Luckily, she was also forging stolen checks and was busted. After two months in jail and four months in treatment, she is herself again and on her way to recovery.

On the plus side, the thieves probably didn’t know the information was there … until it was widely publicized. D’Oh!

Which was probably why the VA didn’t come forward right away.

And it was my understanding from reading the article I can no longer find that a person would actually have to program code or some techie thing to see the data.

Yes, you can freeze your credit report.

Well, seven weeks from now you can.

srhcb, I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not, but the lenders are partially at fault. Of course, the primary bad-actor is the person who fraudlently uses your data to get credit in your name, but the credit companies refuse to take real measures to do anything about it, because it would hurt their bottom line. Indeed, they prey on fear to sell credit reports to you at $50 a year! What a joke.

I took the time to look up Kevin Drum’s proposal. Here it is: You Own You: When identity thieves open an account in your name it should be the bank’s problem–not yours.

He makes an analogy to what happens when someone steals your physical credit card: you can’t be held liable for more than $50 in charges. Result: credit card companies got hella serious about preventing fraud.

It’s a great article, I really recommend everyone read it. And in 7 weeks, freeze your credit report. It’ll stop you from getting instant credit next time you want to buy a couch at Design Out Of Reach, but you can wait 24 hours to think about it, anyway.

credit card companies are the largest unregulated business in the country. in some ways, they are very much the bad guy. and here, here, champs, becuase that is EXACTLY right. you don’t own your own info… other companies have better access to it than you do. recently wanted to check out some things on my own report and it was a mess to deal with.

Christ, when did MNSpeak become a clearinghouse for whiny victims of minor crimes?

Clement…why don’t you give us your full name, SSN and DOB if you think identity theft is not an issue? I’m guessing your credit might be so bad already that no damage could be done.

My point is that private data leaks are a problem, but without lenders willing to take flimsy credentials, ID theft just wouldn’t work. The latest bankruptcy bill is all the evidence you need to see that the lending industry can stop fraud (and a whole lot more), if it wants to — but apparently it’s more profitable to write off a few bad loans and keep the credit flowing. The lenders’ fuckups are YOUR problems.

This seems to be Identity Theft Day on MNspeak. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and stories.

I sign off with a piece of advice to VA Secretary R. James Nicholson–you had better steer clear of VFW and Legion events for awhile. There are a lot of angry vets out there!

Its quite normal that large organizations loose documents every so often. However it is important that you show evidence that you have submitted a form or document. So the best advice when it comes to dealing with organization with poor filling procedures is to simply “officialize” every document sent back and forth. When you send something to them, sent it registered mail, if you are dropping off a document in person get a “received” chop on the document. Last but not least. Don’t call them, because there never is a record of conversations.