Identity Theft

A year ago, a representative from a credit card company called me. Luckily, I picked up the phone even though the caller ID showed an 800 number. I normally ignore those calls. This representative was from a credit card company that I rarely have contact with. I have a credit card through them but never use it. I carry it around for emergency purposes only. So, when this gentleman contacted me, I was a bit confused. He had proceeded to ask me if I had used my credit card lately and if I had traveled out of state within the past two weeks. After answering "no" to both of those questions, he told me that he was contacting me to let me know that my card had been used to make some major purchases online two weeks ago. I was being contacted because my card had never been used and then suddenly the balance skyrocketed to over $2,000. It seemed suspicious to them.

After telling them that it was not me, I was told that most likely, I'd become a victim of identity theft. That had only been something that I had heard of happening to other people, but never thought that I'd be a victim of identity theft as well. The gentleman told me that I would not be held liable for the charges and told me that they would be investigating. I was then asked if I wanted to press charges. Of course I did! I wasn't going to be a victim of identity theft and let someone get away with it! I asked a bunch of questions about what had been purchased, where it was shipped to and if they would be able to find out who the thief was. All of the purchases were of office supplies or textbooks, leading me to believe that it was a college student. Even more suspicious was that the billing address was a P.O. Box. He would not reveal an address to me. Apparently, he thought that it was confidential information. Well, my credit card information had been confidential and the intruder violated that. However, I was not getting the address so I could not seek revenge for being a victim of identity theft.

I never found out if they found the individual who deemed it necessary to buy things at my expense. I hope that they did. Since then, I have become a lot more aware of identity theft. I've cancelled any credit cards that I no longer use. I check my credit report several times a year to see if there is any suspicious activity that I didn't authorize. I shred all of my mail.

Identity theft is much more common these days and criminals are getting better at it. It is easy to use someone's credit card in most department stores because the clerks don't ask for ID's. On the back of my cards, I've written "ask for ID" just in case someone is responsible enough to check. Be much more aware of things that are going on. Don't allow yourself to become a victim of identity theft.

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