Indentity theft investigation?

[JayGatsby]

Random, but has anyone here been the victim of identity theft and actually been able to get the case investigated? As far as I can tell no government agency actually will investigate an identity theft involving a victim in one location and a suspect in another (in other words, basically all cases of identity theft). I've talked to local police departments in two jurisdictions as well as the FBI. FBI referred to FTC. FTC doesn't seem to do anything (they're just now starting to deal with robocalls).

 

Don't worry, no damage to myself (financial or otherwise) so far, but definitely unnerving having someone run around with all of my personal info. No idea how they got it.

[Castanza]

Freeze your credit

[LC]

Definitely freeze your credit, also check your credit report to see if any credit lines were opened in your name. I think google as well has some analysis of your email and whether it has been hacked or part of any data breaches. That may be how your information was taken.

[Gregmal]

Ive had this happen unfortunately. Its a pain in the ass process and a total joke. But in order to file the report and have the credit agencies and banks protect you, you need to go to your local precinct a file a report. Nothing will happen. You'll give a statement. Provide the statement to the agencies who give you a "fraud victim" badge, which then puts alerts on your credit reports and ANY time in the future you apply for anything(or anyone else does) they are mandated to call you personally and verify. You're reports will also be eligible for 7 years of free freezes and unfreezing.

 

For me, some (insert a non PC word) used an old apartment mailing to open up a Verizon account and get an iPhone and iPad. I got collection calls for 6 months thinking it was a scam. Somehow I realized it wasn't and had to do the above. Good luck with all of it. Probably takes 30 hours of your time to sort out.

[longtermdave]

I reported my identity theft to the local police, who also had me file reports online with FTC and IC3. Because so much information has been stolen about me everything has to be frozen, secured, and constantly monitored. Both I and the thieves live in Texas, but in different cities. I didn't know who they were until a couple years later when I started getting emails from the Victim Notification System of the US Department of Justice telling me the progress of three people going through the court system. They went to prison for 2-5 years.

 

https://www.mytexasdaily.com/north-texas/garland-man-sentenced-to-prison-for-stealing-over-individuals-identifications/article_34835de8-b211-11e7-9fff-8f5602a51449.html

 

Because this case involved a lot of data and victims I think it got more attention than one that might be someone going through data files and ripping off individuals or small groups.  Even after these people were imprisoned and I put a fraud alert on my credit report, I've had a rental car stolen under my name, credit cards and bank accounts opened, and purchases of all kinds of things that end up at my house that I have to take time to return. It has been an unending PITA.

 

Definitely freeze your credit and put 2FA on everything important if you don't already. It may eventually get worse for you like it did for me if you don't act to secure and monitor your information. I keep records of everything that seems illegal/unusual and force outsiders to communicate with me in writing. In Texas I can record phone calls, and I do if something doesn't seem right. But mostly I ignore unknown calls and keep the voicemail. I've had threatening letters from creditors, but they back off quickly when presented with the data.

[JayGatsby]

That's disappointing to hear.

 

In this case they created a fake LLC under my name. Some merchant processor gave me the name on the application. The fake business's address is at a UPS store in Atlanta. Manager was super helpful, said she had the ID on file of the person who opened the box, and would be happy to notify the police next time he comes in or give the ID to the police. Atlanta Police were legitimately mad at me that I'd suggest they'd do that, and said it was Denver police's responsibility. Obviously Denver police said they can't go to Atlanta so it seems to be dead from there, despite doing most of the work for them. FBI said they don't look into that sort of stuff, talk to the FTC. FTC just has you fill out a form.

 

I've frozen equifax, although right now I'm trying to apply for a loan for a small business. Banks must lose a ton on this sort of stuff... you'd think they'd care a bit. Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Kramer is convincing Jerry to file a fraudulent damaged package claim, and his rationale is they just "write it off".

 

Thanks for everyone's help. Hopefully someone at the government somewhere is actually doing something!

[KJP]

That's disappointing to hear.

 

In this case they created a fake LLC under my name. Some merchant processor gave me the name on the application. The fake business's address is at a UPS store in Atlanta. Manager was super helpful, said she had the ID on file of the person who opened the box, and would be happy to notify the police next time he comes in or give the ID to the police. Atlanta Police were legitimately mad at me that I'd suggest they'd do that, and said it was Denver police's responsibility. Obviously Denver police said they can't go to Atlanta so it seems to be dead from there, despite doing most of the work for them. FBI said they don't look into that sort of stuff, talk to the FTC. FTC just has you fill out a form.

 

I've frozen equifax, although right now I'm trying to apply for a loan for a small business. Banks must lose a ton on this sort of stuff... you'd think they'd care a bit. Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Kramer is convincing Jerry to file a fraudulent damaged package claim, and his rationale is they just "write it off".

 

Thanks for everyone's help. Hopefully someone at the government somewhere is actually doing something!

 

Many District Attorney's offices in major metropolitan areas now have specialized units that focus on identity theft or the broader category of white collar crime.  Contact them directly.

 

I believe this is the relevant Fulton County unit:  https://www.atlantafultoncountyda.org/services/prosecution-units/white-collar-crime-unit/

[meiroy]

 

 

 

This:

 

https://identitytheft.gov/

 

Goodluck.

 

[JayGatsby]

Many District Attorney's offices in major metropolitan areas now have specialized units that focus on identity theft or the broader category of white collar crime.  Contact them directly.

 

I believe this is the relevant Fulton County unit:  https://www.atlantafultoncountyda.org/services/prosecution-units/white-collar-crime-unit/

Oh that looks great! Thanks. Mine was well under $100k (BofA guy on the phone said $6k if I remember right.. none of it got to me). Hopefully they'll look into it anyway. Just sucks to not be able to pursue something knowing the perpetrator is out there looking to either hit you again or hit the next person.

 

 

This:

 

https://identitytheft.gov/

 

Goodluck.

 

So far FTC is worthless. Filled that out a week ago. They're just now realizing Robocalls are more than just a nuisance.

[shhughes1116]

Random, but has anyone here been the victim of identity theft and actually been able to get the case investigated? As far as I can tell no government agency actually will investigate an identity theft involving a victim in one location and a suspect in another (in other words, basically all cases of identity theft). I've talked to local police departments in two jurisdictions as well as the FBI. FBI referred to FTC. FTC doesn't seem to do anything (they're just now starting to deal with robocalls).

 

Don't worry, no damage to myself (financial or otherwise) so far, but definitely unnerving having someone run around with all of my personal info. No idea how they got it.

 

I’ve had mixed results.

 

The first time for me, someone took out a credit card and bought $30k in jewelry, at a store about five hours from my house.  I got a statement, along with my “new credit card” and my wife was a bit confused - I think she thought I was buying jewelry for a mistress.  Interestingly enough, the jewelry store hired an investigator, who managed to find the culprit.  The local police arrested him, he had his day in court, and my understanding is that he went to jail. Early on, I asked if they wanted me to file a police report, and the investigator said it wasn’t necessary, that the police wouldn’t do s**t about it unless he put all of the evidence in their lap for them, along with the address where the could find the guy.

 

About a month later, I received another credit card from Best Buy, along with a statement showing that I purchased $6,000 in electronics.  I called Best Buy, they agreed that is was fraud, but refused to waive the credit card charge until I filed a police report.  So I filed a police report.  The police officer basically said “thanks, you shouldn’t expect to hear anything else about this case given the low dollar amount.”  Same with the Best Buy folks - Seemed like the people I talked to didn’t get a s**t, even though the store manager admitted to me that they had video footage from the day when the electronics were picked up.  Maybe they pursued it and were successful, but they didn’t tell me anything further.

 

Last experience was when I was five.  Social Security office called and asked my parents if they knew their child earned $90k in income the prior year, and $60k in income the year before that.  Obviously I had not.  Social security office told my parents to bring me down to the office to get a new social security number.  When asked about reporting this to the police, they said don’t bother, nothing will happen.