Identity theft
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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?
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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?
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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*)Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
Whatever happened to innocent-until-proven-guilty?
No credit is just as bad as bad credit. You need a credit history is all.
Jeremy Falcon A multithreaded, OpenGL-enabled application.[^]
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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
Josh Gray wrote:
Any idea what else I can do?
I haven't a clue, but I hope it all goes well.
Jeremy Falcon A multithreaded, OpenGL-enabled application.[^]
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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.
Philip Tomlinson wrote:
you shouldn't have to pay to get credit applications flagged up
You're right but they'll still try to make money out of you regardless of any personal trauma you may be going through. It's how the world works. Lovely isn't it?
Philip Tomlinson wrote:
I definitely wouldn't trust a program to keep my passwords secure
Not even if it was one you wrote yourself? Or especially not if it was one you wrote yourself?
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Philip Tomlinson wrote:
you shouldn't have to pay to get credit applications flagged up
You're right but they'll still try to make money out of you regardless of any personal trauma you may be going through. It's how the world works. Lovely isn't it?
Philip Tomlinson wrote:
I definitely wouldn't trust a program to keep my passwords secure
Not even if it was one you wrote yourself? Or especially not if it was one you wrote yourself?
Very true that this how the world works!!! I suppose people live with things like this, but it should change depending on the circumstances you're in. This poor soul has had a crime committed against him... shouldn't this become an exception for help? It's fair to say I'd trust my own programs given decent testing! But I haven't looked into (or thought) how a program like this might work, it's just something off the cuff and I'd need to put a lot of thought into it. I don't actually know how Norton's password management works to be honest; I should have a try of it before I pass it off!
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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
I arrived home on Friday to find a letter from my credit card company asking me to call them urgently. After about 5 minutes of security questions (countries I'd been to recently, account balances, payments, ALL previous addresses and employers), they informed me that someone had changed the address on my account. At first I thought, "Hey, that's me, I've just moved", but then they told me it had been changed again to an address in Crawley (south of London)... I had a call back from them later in the evening and, after more security questions, they started reeling off all the places around west London where my card had been used. Needless to say, none of them were me. The account is now frozen while I wait for a fraud form to arrive. I've been shredding everything for the last couple of years, I've get 3+ years worth of credit card statements at home and I thought I'd been pretty careful about where I use my card. This is the second time I've had a card used fraudulently. About 4 years ago the card that I only used for business (so it was all hotels and restaurants paid for with me present, never on the Web), had two transactions for an online fishing gear shop in the US - total about $600. What can you do, apart from canceling all your credit cards?
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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
brucerchapman wrote:
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
Thanks for the tip. I have a car already (drove it from Canada). So I can't get a car loan. But I'll see if I can get a personal loan of some sort.
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*)