Have YOU ever had YOUR "identity" stolen?

[NewGuy2005 53]

From Wikipedia:
Identity theft is a term used to refer to fraud that involves stealing money or getting other benefits by pretending to be someone else. The term is relatively new and is actually a misnomer, since it is not inherently possible to steal an identity, only to use it. The person whose identity is used can suffer various consequences when they are held responsible for the perpetrator's actions. In many countries specific laws make it a crime to use another person's identity for personal gain.

Have you ever had your identity stolen? I think it's a lot less common than TV leads you to believe. First hand experience only. No "It happened to my brother" stories.

[Unstable 9]

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Have you ever had your identity stolen? I think it's a lot less common than TV leads you to believe.

I agree 100%. Yes, it's happened to a few folks in these parts, but I don't think it's the national emergency that many TV commercials make it out to be. Selling Identity Insurance, $1,000 Paper shredders, et cetera. However, personally I wish I was the one to come up with Identity insurance... I'd be livin' large with a new Cessna Caravan I'd let you all jump from.... =)

=========Shaun ==========

[NWFlyer 2]

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No "It happened to my brother" stories.

But it DID happen to my brother!

But it was fairly mild - someone had set up a couple of utilities in his name and he discovered it when he moved out of a shared housing situation (where the utilities had been in the roommate's name) and tried to reestablish utilities in his own name at his new place. It was a pain in the ass to clean the mess up, but it didn't ruin his credit for life (like the dramatic types would have you believe) or even for very long - IIRC he had the whole mess straightened out within a few weeks. So while this stuff does happen and probably isn't uncommon, like most things that are hyped up in the media, the worst case scenario probably isn't happening nearly as often as anyone selling insurance would like you to be paranoid enough to believe.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[Peej 0]

David Hasslehoff stole mine, i was the original Knightrider.

In all seriousness:no, but i do make sure that i shred andy and all cc slips/ official bank documents etc that i toss out.

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[Dumpster 0]

Some how some one got ahold of my CC info and purchased a rather large Mexican calling card. The CC (Cap 1 if I recall - ) company called me and brought it to my attention, since that sort of transaction was WAY out of my normal profile. One call and it was all cleared up.

Yes I agree, these indentity insurance companies seem to prey on folks fears to a degree. I think the full-blown horror stories are a little on the rare side though.

Easy Does It

[livendive 8]

Nope.

My sister once had someone get a bunch of checks routed to her bank account. That took some doing to clear up, and the bank temporarily attached the problem to my mom's account (at the same bank) because my mom had "sponsored" my sister's account there while she was a minor.

An ex of mine ran into one credit problem after another when someone with the same exact name somehow got ahold of her SSN and used it to establish credit cards etc. She still has problems with that.

My favorite, and what has to be the best identity theft case in the world, was a friend of mine who had a young, hot (and presumably drunk) tandem jumper come into the RV in which he was hanging out and fuck him...erroneously thinking he was the guy who'd taken her on a tandem. Obviously he didn't deny it.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)