Identity theft
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LOL - do you know what percentage of restaurants go broke ?
Christian Graus - C++ MVP
Christian Graus wrote:
LOL - do you know what percentage of restaurants go broke ?
Yeah, a good % I guess, but I am talking about Indian-run Indian restaurants in the US (most of which serve pseudo Indian food).
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*) -
I was just thinking about this today. If someone has your name, address, and date of birth - that's all it takes? Wtf! I don't think a more insecure system could have been invented! The system needs to be changed!
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
Wtf! I don't think a more insecure system could have been invented! The system needs to be changed!
No kidding :)
I'd like to help but I don't feel like Googling it for you.
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Christian Graus wrote:
That's different, if you're from OS, what reason do they have to assume you won't leave again ?
Yes, that's a point. But they do give you credit if you are on a student Visa - that's really strange to me.
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
But they do give you credit if you are on a student Visa
Thats because you are spending money from your dad's pocket and you have no problems in paying up for stuff. :rolleyes::->
Tarakeshwar Reddy MCP, CCIE Q(R&S) Experience is like a comb that life gives you when you are bald - Navjot Singh Sidhu
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leckey wrote:
Did you make sure the expired passport gets flagged? Someone may try to alter it.
I'll get her to call the passport office.
leckey wrote:
In the US it's harder than hell to get your SSN changed after identity theft. most choose not to even do it. Not sure if in Australia you can change your equivalent of our SSN. (The only thing I had was a tax ID for wages that I can remember.)
We dont have an equivalent, the Tax File Number is useless unless they want to pay our tax for us :)
leckey wrote:
I recommend either a safe deposit box at a bank for a large fireproof safe. (One that isn't easily carried out of the flat.)
My mum has a large safe so everything is in there now.
leckey wrote:
Ask your landlord if you can upgrade the locks (if that's how they got in).
:) I had a locksmith out that day and sent the real estate a letter saying I was taking the cost of it out of this months rent.
System.IO.Path.IsPathRooted() does not behave as I would expect
and you've done the obvious calls - RTA (driver's license), Bankcard/Mastercard/Amex/Visa (etc), right ? Police report (for insurance purposes ?) (Im giving you credit for being a smart guy and trying to make it harder to get hurt/hurt again here) 'g'
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and you've done the obvious calls - RTA (driver's license), Bankcard/Mastercard/Amex/Visa (etc), right ? Police report (for insurance purposes ?) (Im giving you credit for being a smart guy and trying to make it harder to get hurt/hurt again here) 'g'
Garth J Lancaster wrote:
RTA (driver's license), Bankcard/Mastercard/Amex/Visa (etc), right ? Police report (for insurance purposes ?)
Yeah we canceled all the credit cards and they've been reissued with different numbers. We had to get new drivers licences. Mine was easy because I had two valid passports, for hers we had to get a new birth cert and someone to vouch for her. This worries me a bit as they have her old bert certificate and could easily get smoeone to vouch for them. We had the cops round when it happened, gave them a list of what was stolen and have the report number. We also have a bill for the mobile that was stolen that lists all the calls they made, we gave this to the cops a few weeks ago but they have not been in touch with us since. Someone tried to apply for a credit card on line using her details. Im hoping the cops will get the application details from GE (they must have entered an address to have the card delivered to) and be able to get somewhere from that but Im not going to hold my breath.
System.IO.Path.IsPathRooted() does not behave as I would expect
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Garth J Lancaster wrote:
RTA (driver's license), Bankcard/Mastercard/Amex/Visa (etc), right ? Police report (for insurance purposes ?)
Yeah we canceled all the credit cards and they've been reissued with different numbers. We had to get new drivers licences. Mine was easy because I had two valid passports, for hers we had to get a new birth cert and someone to vouch for her. This worries me a bit as they have her old bert certificate and could easily get smoeone to vouch for them. We had the cops round when it happened, gave them a list of what was stolen and have the report number. We also have a bill for the mobile that was stolen that lists all the calls they made, we gave this to the cops a few weeks ago but they have not been in touch with us since. Someone tried to apply for a credit card on line using her details. Im hoping the cops will get the application details from GE (they must have entered an address to have the card delivered to) and be able to get somewhere from that but Im not going to hold my breath.
System.IO.Path.IsPathRooted() does not behave as I would expect
Josh Gray wrote:
mobile that was stolen that lists all the calls they made
yeah, that sucks .. even if you can ring everybody and say 'my xxx has been stolen' seems like you still dont get a whole lot of protection. We use Blackberry(s) here at work - one advantage they have, is that should I lose it/it be stolen anywhere in the world, a reverse charge call to our comms team and they send it a self-destruct signal - yep, you read that right - it erases the sim card AND the operating system and renders it a useless piece of plastic ... 'g'
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Josh Gray wrote:
mobile that was stolen that lists all the calls they made
yeah, that sucks .. even if you can ring everybody and say 'my xxx has been stolen' seems like you still dont get a whole lot of protection. We use Blackberry(s) here at work - one advantage they have, is that should I lose it/it be stolen anywhere in the world, a reverse charge call to our comms team and they send it a self-destruct signal - yep, you read that right - it erases the sim card AND the operating system and renders it a useless piece of plastic ... 'g'
Garth J Lancaster wrote:
yeah, that sucks .. even if you can ring everybody and say 'my xxx has been stolen' seems like you still dont get a whole lot of protection. We use Blackberry(s) here at work - one advantage they have, is that should I lose it/it be stolen anywhere in the world, a reverse charge call to our comms team and they send it a self-destruct signal - yep, you read that right - it erases the sim card AND the operating system and renders it a useless piece of plastic ...
Wow thats really cool, we were lucky in that everything that was stolen other than wallet and purse belonged to her company. They replaced the laptop, phone and company car and paid the phone bill.
System.IO.Path.IsPathRooted() does not behave as I would expect
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About a month ago our flat was broken into. My wallet was stolen with my drivers licence, credit cards and other bits and my girld friends purse with the same things, her birth certificate and an expired passport. She got a phone call from GE consumer finance today as someone had attempted to obtain credit in her name using the stolen identification. I've contacted the credit reference authority here and paid $80 for each of us to have our files flagged so that we will recieve an email every time a company attempts to obtain our credit details. The whole situation has got me a bit worried. Any idea what else I can do?
System.IO.Path.IsPathRooted() does not behave as I would expect
My sympathies Josh, that sucks man. I was robbed of my mobile by two men at knife point yesterday - not nearly as bad as what you've been through but pretty awful nonetheless.
Josh Gray wrote:
Any idea what else I can do?
I think you've got most of it covered, has the flat got an alarm system/burglar proofing/etc? How'd your gf take it?
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Christian Graus wrote:
The system is designed to give credit, not limit it.
That has not been my experience so far. As someone new to the States, I have been automatically categorized as a potential bad credit guy. Whatever happened to innocent-until-proven-guilty? :-(
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)I was once a new-resident of the US. It doesn't take long to 'get credit'. Just borrow a small amount of money ($2-3,000) for something like a very cheap car. Pay it back over a period of 3/4 months (based on your affordability, of course!). After two payments, someone will give you a $500 credit card. Get one of those. Max it out on stuff and pay it down a couple of times. Hey presto! Instant credit! You'll be flooded with credit cards in the post now :-) I understand the reluctance to give new residents credit - I mean, if you're new in the country, how is a credit provider going to know that you are going to stick around. Not many debts can be chased across national borders.
Bruce Chapman iFinity.com.au - Websites and Software Development Plithy remark available in Beta 2
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About a month ago our flat was broken into. My wallet was stolen with my drivers licence, credit cards and other bits and my girld friends purse with the same things, her birth certificate and an expired passport. She got a phone call from GE consumer finance today as someone had attempted to obtain credit in her name using the stolen identification. I've contacted the credit reference authority here and paid $80 for each of us to have our files flagged so that we will recieve an email every time a company attempts to obtain our credit details. The whole situation has got me a bit worried. Any idea what else I can do?
System.IO.Path.IsPathRooted() does not behave as I would expect
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Christian Graus wrote:
The system is designed to give credit, not limit it.
That has not been my experience so far. As someone new to the States, I have been automatically categorized as a potential bad credit guy. Whatever happened to innocent-until-proven-guilty? :-(
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)Yup, that's something surprising when you're new to the US. Have you heard of the credit bureaus? They collect datas about you when you do some credit related activities. Using some algorithm they rate you with a number. Based on that number the creditor will determine how they charge you, or if they will do business with you. By default, no credit means bad credit, so you have to be patient and build yourself a good credit history. There are some traps with this. For example, each time you ask for a credit it is written in your file, and if you do this too frequently it lowers your score. This is like a vicious circle. You're new, you keep on asking for credit and being rejected, and this lowers your score... The worse is, it is hard to be informed about that, and people get trapped easily. Also when you go get credit the sales person pulls off your credit report, and most of the time hides it from you!! In the fine lines they usually tell you this, but this is weird to see someone getting your credit report and preveting you from accessing your own datas!!! Still I used to live in the US a couple of years ago, so this might have changed. I have heard there is now a federal law that says everyone is entitled to a free credit report, each year.
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My sympathies Josh, that sucks man. I was robbed of my mobile by two men at knife point yesterday - not nearly as bad as what you've been through but pretty awful nonetheless.
Josh Gray wrote:
Any idea what else I can do?
I think you've got most of it covered, has the flat got an alarm system/burglar proofing/etc? How'd your gf take it?
kulazfuk wrote:
I was robbed of my mobile by two men at knife point yesterday - not nearly as bad as what you've been through but pretty awful nonetheless.
Geez thats no good. Glad you're ok
kulazfuk wrote:
How'd your gf take it?
She was very upset at the time as we were sleeping when it happened. She's fine now and its just reinforced by feeling thats she's one tough chick
System.IO.Path.IsPathRooted() does not behave as I would expect
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I was once a new-resident of the US. It doesn't take long to 'get credit'. Just borrow a small amount of money ($2-3,000) for something like a very cheap car. Pay it back over a period of 3/4 months (based on your affordability, of course!). After two payments, someone will give you a $500 credit card. Get one of those. Max it out on stuff and pay it down a couple of times. Hey presto! Instant credit! You'll be flooded with credit cards in the post now :-) I understand the reluctance to give new residents credit - I mean, if you're new in the country, how is a credit provider going to know that you are going to stick around. Not many debts can be chased across national borders.
Bruce Chapman iFinity.com.au - Websites and Software Development Plithy remark available in Beta 2
Right, when you know about this, a little patience, and this is ok. But for someone new to the US it is not necessarily easy to know that. Hope this discussion will save Nishant time. :)
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Their simple gimmick is to keep you on CONTINUOUS fraud alert - when the 90-day limit expires, they set the alerts again. Fraud-alert-inflation, but the guarantee sounds good to me !
pg--az
I was speaking to one of our banks today and they offer a similar service. You call one number and they cancel everything you have registered with them, credit cards, phones, calling cards etc etc and they cover any fraud losses. Im waiting for them to send me the product disclosure document
System.IO.Path.IsPathRooted() does not behave as I would expect
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Christian Graus wrote:
The system is designed to give credit, not limit it.
That has not been my experience so far. As someone new to the States, I have been automatically categorized as a potential bad credit guy. Whatever happened to innocent-until-proven-guilty? :-(
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)They tried to export it to... no wait, that's the lounge.
Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Velopers, Develprs, Developers!
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP
Linkify!|Fold With Us! -
Josh Gray wrote:
mobile that was stolen that lists all the calls they made
yeah, that sucks .. even if you can ring everybody and say 'my xxx has been stolen' seems like you still dont get a whole lot of protection. We use Blackberry(s) here at work - one advantage they have, is that should I lose it/it be stolen anywhere in the world, a reverse charge call to our comms team and they send it a self-destruct signal - yep, you read that right - it erases the sim card AND the operating system and renders it a useless piece of plastic ... 'g'
Garth J Lancaster wrote:
they send it a self-destruct signal - yep, you read that right it erases the sim card AND the operating system and renders it a useless piece of plastic ...
If Sony made it, that would have a completely different meaning. :-D
I'd love to help, but unfortunatley I have prior commitments monitoring the length of my grass. :Andrew Bleakley:
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kulazfuk wrote:
I was robbed of my mobile by two men at knife point yesterday - not nearly as bad as what you've been through but pretty awful nonetheless.
Geez thats no good. Glad you're ok
kulazfuk wrote:
How'd your gf take it?
She was very upset at the time as we were sleeping when it happened. She's fine now and its just reinforced by feeling thats she's one tough chick
System.IO.Path.IsPathRooted() does not behave as I would expect
We were lucky enough to be burgled (twice) before identity theft was an issue. The second time, the thief came into the bedroom where we were sleeping. Why? Because all our keys, papers, money, etc., were there. It was scary, but my wife woke up and I chased him away. The only loss was a camcorder and 25 euros (oh, and all the break-in damage to two very expensive window frames). We were the only house in the street without a burglar alarm (animals). Needless to say, we now have one ("pet friendly").
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I was just thinking about this today. If someone has your name, address, and date of birth - that's all it takes? Wtf! I don't think a more insecure system could have been invented! The system needs to be changed!
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. (*Sample chapter available online*)Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
I was just thinking about this today. If someone has your name, address, and date of birth - that's all it takes? Wtf! I don't think a more insecure system could have been invented! The system needs to be changed!
At least, in Brazil, that's all it takes. But there's more: if the company who gave credit cannot prove in court that they actually gave credit to you, you won't need to pay any debt. Moreover, they are forced to pay you in double what they billed you. So, this way, only the company giving credit is taking risks, and they should be careful. If they aren't, they lose money. It's a hassle, but at least you won't lose any money.
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About a month ago our flat was broken into. My wallet was stolen with my drivers licence, credit cards and other bits and my girld friends purse with the same things, her birth certificate and an expired passport. She got a phone call from GE consumer finance today as someone had attempted to obtain credit in her name using the stolen identification. I've contacted the credit reference authority here and paid $80 for each of us to have our files flagged so that we will recieve an email every time a company attempts to obtain our credit details. The whole situation has got me a bit worried. Any idea what else I can do?
System.IO.Path.IsPathRooted() does not behave as I would expect
That's really worrying... surely if a crime like this has been committed, you shouldn't have to pay to get credit applications flagged up. This is something the authorities should do for you out of duty, being a tax payer and all. The principle of it sucks I think! What else could you do... well, I think you've done all you can, which is to make sure nobody attempts to use your identity for credit applications. Is there any way that they might have your bank account details? If so, close your account immediately! Who knows how much could be transferred out of your account. Another thing that worries me is password security on the Internet. I have a sort of format with mine that's easy to remember, and it involves a random password too. What I'm really worried about is some administrator who has access to login details (and security/trust is going to be different at the countless websites that my details are on) figuring out password formats and hacking my other accounts. This is conceding that I'm not going to have a random password for every single user account I have online because how can you manage this securely? I've heard Norton's Internet Security has some sort of password management module... but I definitely wouldn't trust a program to keep my passwords secure... my brain can do that more securely! Any thoughts? Good luck with foiling your perpetrator.
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We were lucky enough to be burgled (twice) before identity theft was an issue. The second time, the thief came into the bedroom where we were sleeping. Why? Because all our keys, papers, money, etc., were there. It was scary, but my wife woke up and I chased him away. The only loss was a camcorder and 25 euros (oh, and all the break-in damage to two very expensive window frames). We were the only house in the street without a burglar alarm (animals). Needless to say, we now have one ("pet friendly").
JDL-EPM wrote:
We were lucky enough to be burgled (twice) before identity theft was an issue
Oops! Where do you live? Have you considered remote surveillance, or moving somewhere else?