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How does identity theft work?

Y

yoda291

Diamond Member
It seems to me that identity theft nowadays is a fairly traceable, hard to implement, hard to get away with crime. I mean, getting the info is one thing, actually finding a "safe" way of using it seems very risky IMO.

So how does the whole thing work? Seems like robbing a bank is a better idea to me.
 
I would imagine its very easy....we had a big problem with people opening up in-store credit cards using fake id's...I wont give specifics on how they did it, but it was very clever...the guys ended up buying about 15 grand worth of electronics from 3 different stores before we caught on...if they hadn't got carried away they would have gotten away with it....getting people personal info is way too easy...especially if you go into a store and apply for credit/cell phone/ home phone...anything that you have to give personal info out...the people that work there could do some serious damage if they want to
 
i dunno ask John, my spouse, who lives on 15th wave street in birmingham. The street doesn't exist. Neither does his number. And he's not my spouse link & link
 
Originally posted by: Skoorb
i dunno ask John, my spouse, who lives on 15th wave street in birmingham. The street doesn't exist. Neither does his number. And he's not my spouse link & link
Click to expand...

awwe...skoorby's got a boyfriend :heart:
 
Originally posted by: rudeguy5757
Originally posted by: Skoorb
i dunno ask John, my spouse, who lives on 15th wave street in birmingham. The street doesn't exist. Neither does his number. And he's not my spouse link & link
Click to expand...

awwe...skoorby's got a boyfriend :heart:
Click to expand...
Yes and apparently it's clear who's the bitch in this relationship.

 
give me your credit card number. I'll spend lots of your money. Then you'll know how identitfy theft works.
 
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: rudeguy5757
Originally posted by: Skoorb
i dunno ask John, my spouse, who lives on 15th wave street in birmingham. The street doesn't exist. Neither does his number. And he's not my spouse link & link
Click to expand...

awwe...skoorby's got a boyfriend :heart:
Click to expand...
Yes and apparently it's clear who's the bitch in this relationship.
Click to expand...

wonder how mrsskoorb feels about your tawdry relations...

😀

That is some funny sh|t
 
- Someone steals your wallet with your drivers license, social security card, and credit cards. If you don't cancel your cards on time, they have a spending spree in your honor. Even if you do, they open credit in your name, get a new drivers license in your name (edit: but with their photo), and steal your life. Bye bye credit.
- You foolishly put your outgoing mail in an unlocked mailbox for pickup. Thieves steal your mail, including bills you were paying by check. They change the "Pay to the Order of" part on your check to their name (usually a faked name, see above) and cash the check. You lose the money and your mortgage doesn't get paid. Bye bye credit.
 
Originally posted by: Vic
- Someone steals your wallet with your drivers license, social security card, and credit cards. If you don't cancel your cards on time, they have a spending spree in your honor. Even if you do, they open credit in your name, get a new drivers license in your name (edit: but with their photo), and steal your life. Bye bye credit.
- You foolishly put your outgoing mail in an unlocked mailbox for pickup. Thieves steal your mail, including bills you were paying by check. They change the "Pay to the Order of" part on your check to their name (usually a faked name, see above) and cash the check. You lose the money and your mortgage doesn't get paid. Bye bye credit.
Click to expand...

sounds like you know an awful lot about this....I thought that you couldn't cash a check with a futzed up pay to order of line. Also, it doesn't look like return on investment of time is that good. Most people don't pay out a lot monthly on their bills...a few hundred at most usually.
 
A friend had this happen to them. Someone at his work had the same first and last name as him, so this other person just got his SS number and started signing up for Credit Cards, and renting an apartment all under my friend's identity. They had the FBI looking for this person and I believe the person was eventually caught, but it was tough for these people to get back on their feet.
 
some pathetic drug addicts stole some of mrs. spamela's checks, then proceeded to empty her bank account.

although the people responsible were caught (by us with the help of a cashier)
and put in jail, we're still dealing with the repercussions 2 years later.

it's only by luck that they were caught & didn't keep getting away with forging checks.

i imagine stolen/forged credit cards could be worse.
 
The problem with identity theft that I don't like is the fact that once someone uses identity, it's very hard to fix, assuming the fact that you can fix your credit record in the first place.
 
Originally posted by: yoda291
sounds like you know an awful lot about this....I thought that you couldn't cash a check with a futzed up pay to order of line. Also, it doesn't look like return on investment of time is that good. Most people don't pay out a lot monthly on their bills...a few hundred at most usually.
Click to expand...
In addition to seeing news specials on this 😉, I work in the finance industry and a seminar on identity theft was a requirement for my continuing education.
For changing the "Pay to" on checks, they use special chemicals that remove the pen ink while leaving the check ink alone and unblemished.
And return is very good for these evil thieves. I will not go into details, but let's just say that most people pay a lot more on their monthly bills than you think.
 
Originally posted by: omega2
The problem with identity theft that I don't like is the fact that once someone uses identity, it's very hard to fix, assuming the fact that you can fix your credit record in the first place.
Click to expand...
something better needs to be in place. Based on my crap today I expect not to hear anything else about this issue again BUT can I really be sure? I now have to put a fraud alert on all agencies and in some cases people still can get credit and the lender skips that alert (I read about that in a couple of places) and then I have to keep a fairly close eye on my reports - which costs money in Alabama. Then, even if nobody else does open new credit with my SSN I still could theoretically get a nasty slew of inquiries all over my report so I'd be constantly having to dispute them and that would ding my credit until they're off.

So now I get to check on all three reports from each bureau, then pony up $70/year just to keep an eye on equifax (hope lenders use only the other two agencies
rolleye.gif
, and have this silly alert thing! And nothing even really happened to me. I'm sure that if that discover card had of been approved I'd be up sh*t creek by now.
 
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