Identity theft - Should I file a police report?

DesiPower

Lifer
Nov 22, 2008
15,299
740
126
So I am a recent victim of identify theft, dude opened 4 store credit card accounts and got away with more than $5000. ProtectmyID alerted me and I talked to the credit card dept of the stores and got the resolution process started. Two of them suggested that I file a complaint at the local police station also. Anybody here has similar experience? should I file a police report? will it help? is it necessary?

***UPDATE**** on post #24
 
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AlienCraft

Lifer
Nov 23, 2002
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Yes, the reporting agencies will want to see it when they go to amend your report.
Document everything.
 

brainhulk

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2007
9,376
454
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i filed one when it happened to me, the bank later asked for a copy (money was removed from my checking acount).

The officer acted like a robot filing the report, saying this stuff happens every day.

Did it help catch the criminal? dont know
 

AlienCraft

Lifer
Nov 23, 2002
10,539
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like what?
Conversations with CS reps ie date , time, person contacted, topic, result.
Timeline of events leading up to discovery of theft. Copies of emails printed out.
I have read that Credit REporting Bureaus can be obstinant about making repairs without documentation.
 
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FallenHero

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2006
5,659
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Yes. Papertrail is good for you and sometimes does lead to the busts of HUGE rings of crazy ID thieves. Just had 5 get busted the other day in our town, with a shit ton of ID making equipment and credit cards galor.
 

Childs

Lifer
Jul 9, 2000
11,313
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Happened to me with check fraud. Went to police station thinking they were going to fingerprint the checks and cross reference it with the FBI DB. They barely took the damn report. I had no issues with the bank, so maybe the police report helped. In any event, it cant hurt. If one of the institutions are giving you a problem, you can reference the police report.
 

darkxshade

Lifer
Mar 31, 2001
13,749
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How does one get their identity stolen? Is it something you do or it's just random bad luck? I had unapproved charges made to my credit card last week. Amazingly, I got a text message about it from my bank saying a fraudulent charge may have been made and to confirm by calling. In the end, card cancelled immediately and received a new one days later.
 

brainhulk

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2007
9,376
454
126
every time you apply for credit, loan, etc...there are unscrupulous individuals that will take that info and sell it to thieves

mine occured 2 months 1 month after I bought a car
 

ModerateRepZero

Golden Member
Jan 12, 2006
1,572
5
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How does one get their identity stolen? Is it something you do or it's just random bad luck? I had unapproved charges made to my credit card last week. Amazingly, I got a text message about it from my bank saying a fraudulent charge may have been made and to confirm by calling. In the end, card cancelled immediately and received a new one days later.

Credit card charges can happen simply by an ATM skimmer that looks part of the ATM, or restaurant staff copying the credit card information. Identity theft iirc is harder since you need more information; ie mother's maiden name, SSN. But people post a fair amount of information on their social networking profiles or there's public information, so some of the required info isn't difficult to get.

You should definitely file a police report and also check your credit report(s). There's a pamphlet from Social Security: Identity Theft and Your SSN (spoiler: it's rare for them to reissue a new SSN if you've been compromised).
 

unokitty

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2012
3,346
1
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So I am a recent victim of identify theft, dude opened 4 store credit card accounts and got away with more than $5000. ProtectmyID alerted me and I talked to the credit card dept of the stores and got the resolution process started. Two of them suggested that I file a complaint at the local police station also. Anybody here has similar experience? should I file a police report? will it help? is it necessary?


Absolutely, file a police report! And be sure to get a copy of the report for your records.

The purpose of the police report is to protect you. (The vast majority of ID thieves are never caught.)

Without a police report, you may not be able to protect yourself from future collection efforts.

See ftc.gov.

Texas Attorney General has a good ID Theft page as well.

Uno
 
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unokitty

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2012
3,346
1
0
How does one get their identity stolen? Is it something you do or it's just random bad luck? I had unapproved charges made to my credit card last week. Amazingly, I got a text message about it from my bank saying a fraudulent charge may have been made and to confirm by calling. In the end, card cancelled immediately and received a new one days later.

Your personal data can be compromised in numerous ways. Many of these ways are beyond your control.

The ID Theft problem exists in large part because the banks and the Credit Card Companies think that it is cheaper to simply cover their losses than it is to prosecute ID Thieves.

If you're interested, you might want to look at Kevin Poulsen's new book Kingpin.

Uno
 

SearchMaster

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2002
7,791
114
106
Keep a copy of the police report on your person as well. There is a slim but real chance that defrauded merchants could get a warrant issued on you and you don't want to end up in jail for a night over this.
 

jagec

Lifer
Apr 30, 2004
24,442
6
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Yes. Papertrail is good for you and sometimes does lead to the busts of HUGE rings of crazy ID thieves. Just had 5 get busted the other day in our town, with a shit ton of ID making equipment and credit cards galor.

I hope they fell down the stairs a few times on the way to the jail cell.
 

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
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Absolutely not... who's to say it wasn't the identity thief who burned your house down...
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
The police aren't going to catch the person.

I would document everything though so you can fight the creditors like others suggested.

My wife was involved in this along with 30 other girls from her store/mall all linked to a McDonalds in the food court. The police said they don't really do anything with it and the creditors have to start the investigation. They did take the report though, her credit card company didn't need it.
 

AlienCraft

Lifer
Nov 23, 2002
10,539
0
0
Keep a copy of the police report on your person as well. There is a slim but real chance that defrauded merchants could get a warrant issued on you and you don't want to end up in jail for a night over this.
This is good advice. Cops don't care about "details" unless it's on paper, with an official marking.
 

Lemon law

Lifer
Nov 6, 2005
20,984
3
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As someone who is a victim of credit card back in 1990, Yes you should file a police report immediately if not sooner.

Because you are now playing a game under Federal law rules you don't understand. Wait too long, to protests, usually two months, and you lose all protections under Federal law. If you ask me is that logical way for our congress to protect the consumer and I would have to say from bitter experience no. But still its how our congress did it in the 1970's and 1980's in terms of writing the fair credit reporting law and other legislation.

I was larely no where in 1990 in terms of having rights, but our OP is in far better shape now that our congress has amended those laws to give better protections to those that are victims of identity theft. But our OP can't even begin restoring his rights until he files a police report. In 1990 it took me four years to restore my former flaw free credit rating, as my enemy was not really the companies the identity theft defrauded, and instead was the credit reporting agencies, powers onto themselves, that will report any bogus information as gospel truth to any of your future creditors. I had to write enough certified letter chit to play 52 card pick up in 1990, and now one police report, will finally put the fear of god into credit reporting agencies who keep reporting bogus information, as it gives you the right to sue them.

One might think the credit card industry would aggressively fight for the honest consumer and go after the identity thieves, but instead the credit card industry and all their lax rules, are far more interested in making even a fraudulent credit cards are even gooder than gold. As credit card companies they have special funds to simply write off the comparatively small losses from identity thieves rather than require the merchant to be any part of the security process.

Maybe end of rant OP, but if you don't fight for your rights, no one else will.

As maybe, even today, it may to have a horrible credit report, then when a identity thief steals your identity, they will be turned down when they try to defraud you.

As even Identity thieves can't tell the difference between you and Bill Gates. As I can still remember my shock in 1990, when I contacted credit reporting agencies and discovered I had so many credit cards I never applied for. And they were already maxed out.
 

Wyndru

Diamond Member
Apr 9, 2009
7,318
4
76
Hmm, I should suggest this to my Mom, my nephew and a few of my nephew's friends if it's not too late. Every one of them were victims in the past 2 months, and none of them were advised to file a police report, so they haven't (at least my nephew and mom didn't). I always thought the CC companies followed through on this, considering it's their money that's getting stolen. Most consumers probably don't care considering the process is so simple to get charges reversed in these cases.

I'm amazed at how many people I know got hit this year. My nephew also had 6 close friends get hit, which makes me think the instances are related somehow.
 

DesiPower

Lifer
Nov 22, 2008
15,299
740
126
Dude has some balls...

Looks like its the same dude, walked into several stores in San Diego, Norstrom, Toysrus, Walmart etc with fake ID with my name and opened credit accounts and bought big ticket items then and there. I though that was it, but then I opened my mailbox couple of days ago and guess what? he opened an account at Costco too!!!!! I received costco card and Amex cards with the mofo's picture on it!!! WOW!!! and it seems Costco and Amex people are total total dimwits, I have a freakin account with them why the fuck will I open another one???? anywho, i hope they find the SOB and chop his balls off...