So what are YOU doing about identity theft?

An e-mail I just got:

Protect Your Credit from Identity Theft
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Wells Fargo Select® Identity Theft Protection is offered through Wells Fargo Insurance by Trilegiant Corporation. Unlike other programs, this service offers daily monitoring of your credit file with all three credit reporting agencies, to help you detect and resolve potential fraud early. Plus, it helps guard your identity with a comprehensive set of theft protection and recovery tools:

• Provides up to $10,000 in Identity Theft Insurance1 to help cover the costs of restoring your identity, including legal fees and lost wages
• Professional fraud resolution assistance that helps make the process of recovering your identity as quick and easy as possible
• A Personal Credit Report compiled from all three major credit reporting agencies to ensure your credit is current and accurate
• Prompt notification when new accounts are opened or inquiries are made

ID theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. Protect yourself for only $12.99 a month with Wells Fargo Select Identity Theft Protection.


Um. They created the problem. WHy the fucking hell should we shell out $13/mo for something that's probably not going to work anyway? For one thing, $10k is hardly anything these days. For another, the personal credit report can be obtained for free because the reporting institutions offshored everything to India.

The only thing useful here is prompt notification. But for $13/mo? I'd rather get taken first and become a statistic of a street thief rather than a corporate thief.

On edit: Okay, "they" means the banking and IT industries in general. I'm not blaming Wells Fargo by any measure.

Once you fill out the form. :D

of ID theft. Its a long story that I won't go into. I received no help from my bank or law enforcement. When it happened, the idea of ID theft was still pretty new (early 1990s). It took me several years to get everything straightened out. I also think that you shouldn't have to pay for 'free' information. I have never been able to figure out why you can't have a free copy of your credit report, but every Tom, Dick, and Harry who has a story can get one?

and use it daily. Anything with our name on it (credit card applications, labels on magazines, old bank statements and credit card statements, anything) goes in the shredder. I've gotten our credit report every quarter for about 10 years. Carefully screen all emails. I got two emails last week from our "bank" telling me to log on and check out the maintenance section for "important" updates. It looked pretty damn official, but my paranoia got the best of me. I called my bank and they had not sent out those emails. Never put account numbers on checks. Never put credit card applications in the trash. The list goes on but an ounce of prevention is worth about $100,000 in cures.

Never ever throw anything away with your name & address on it..

same goes for empty prescription bottles.. Lots of people just toss them...peel the label off first..

When a clerk asks you for your phone number..give a fake number:)

the thieves that got my identity stole it from my hospital records :grr:

i'll just tossed one and will retrieve it and tear off the label.

good idea about telephone # too. and read somewhere about just using your initials and last name on your checks so that a crook would not know whether you sign your entire first/middle name. the woman at our credit union said a lot of id theft occurs when people order those personalized checks advertised in magazines.

my daughter's bf just got his identity stolen sunday. two of her friends have also.

while we do have a cross cut shredder, we'd like to find a place that does large lots (for accumulated papers). i should call kinko's.

roll those excess papers up, and use them for "kindling"..paper makes a mess when it burns, but it's a good way to get rid of them fast..

or if you have a backyard "firepit" ..burn them in it.:)

is perfectly adequate for shredding all those bills with personal info as well as all those credit card and loan comeons.

I use the confetti to pack Xmas presents for shipping, so nothing goes to waste.

Spammers and cons are getting a lot more sophisticated. I just forward anything I get in email requesting personal info to both my ISP and to whatever outfit they're spoofing. I know full well if they want anything from me, they'll use snail mail to tell me to come in for a face to face visit.

My Id was stolen-laid it out here before-and I have found out that at one time I was considered the suspect. Now the losses on one acct opened in my name is over $70K and there is a special task force dealing with the ring, since I had to kick up a fuss with a few lawenforcement agencies and banks. Fuck them. Let the banks take out the insurance, since they're so EAGER to open accts in my name and actually gave my real checking acct out to the criminals.

just use my common sense. I don't reply to any 'offical' e-mails, partly because of this but also because I refuse to do business with any institution that does not provide me with a real, live person to deal with. I don't have a credit card because my credit stinks, so that isn't a problem. My bills and personal bank statements are torn up and recycled. I probably could do more - I should look into a shredder for x-mas.

late paying, empty bank accounts - I pity the fool that tries!

but banks are only too happy to open accts in your name Over the telephone and send checks out to a non-mail-drop address, as long as the criminal has your name, SSN and DOB. Fake Drivers' licenses are a piece of piss for them to make up.

Then they get all the money, and you get all the headaches.

Freedom's just another word for "nothing left to lose".

You can't steal what doesnt exist!!! :-)

the person who 'stole' my identity went to the Social Security office in Orlando and said she had 'lost' her SS card. They gave her a new one with my number on it! Don't get excited, they don't do this kind of thing any more! The woman had the same name as mine which only added to the confusion. That's why if you have a common name who should always sign everything and have all your official papers with a middle initial, your middle name, something that is not easily changed.

That'll screw 'em!

I know i should but i don't