So last month I began dealing with a small identity theft. I use one particular Citibank Mastercard for most of our purchases, a Citibank Simplicity Cash Rewards Card. But I’ve kept open other cards I’ve tried for backup purposes. One such card was a Citibank Driver’s Edge.
I hadn’t used it since last year but it’s a good backup card in case I max out our regular card. I check all balanced weekly when I reconcile our spending with our credit cards. I discovered there was $500 in itunes charges and $100 in online computer parts orders.
I immediately called Citibank who then cancelled the card and began an investigative dispute. They were very helpful and completely supportive of the identity theft. I’m not sure what happened because the card was sitting in our file cabinet, not used for a year.
I then discovered 2 more charges I had not made on my American Express Costco Card. This time I’ve used the card everytime we shop at Costco. But it had been in my wallet the entire time, and I was unsure how the number could have been used like the Driver’s Edge Card. I called and cancelled the card and again the credit card company began an investigation into the charges and were very helpful.
I then pulled my credit reports from all 3 companies and found nothing opened recently. I called the companies and asked that a fraud alert be put on my account. Which meant if anyone tried to open an account up they would alert me before continuing.
I am unsure exactly what happened. The people who used my credit card did not open up other accounts. And they made the charges all on the same day 10/24/08 for both credit cards. Then no more charges, like a one time deal so they wouldn’t be caught. I have to wonder if somewhere I’ve used my card copied the information and sold it?
I can’t imagine if I had used a debit card what hell it would have been to get back the cash. Any suggestions on what else to do? Or what might have happened?
6 responses so far ↓
1 fitwallet // Dec 8, 2008 at 10:23 am
That’s really scary! I wonder how it happened? And yeah, I use my debit card all the time and I do worry about it. I should probably swap that out for one of the credit cards and just keep careful tabs on the balance to be sure I pay off everything I charge.
2 No Debt Plan // Dec 8, 2008 at 2:31 pm
At least you caught it relatively early. Sucks though. Good luck cleaning it up
3 dogatemyfinances // Dec 8, 2008 at 6:42 pm
This is one of my fears with the Yodlee aggregator (also serving Fidelity and BoA). If they could get to your Yodlee, they could get to all your account statements. :/
4 Tim // Dec 9, 2008 at 5:35 pm
if it was online purchases, my guess is that the people were using card number generation software. if you used a public computer to access your account or to buy something, then that could also be another way for someone to get the information, by using a key tracking software. or, someone could have mistakenly inputted their wrong credit card number, if the charges are one off things. any rate, it is a good lesson to ensure you actively monitor all your accounts, even if you do not use them. good post.
5 Dave // Dec 10, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I would consider doing a credit freeze, rather than just a fraud alert. As a victim of ID theft, it should be free (if you have a police report). If not, it is really not that expensive (maybe $5-10 per bureau). A fraud alert relies on the customer service rep to stop the application process and call you. A freeze is much more effective, because you have to initiate any new accounts by issuing a temporary thaw.
Clark Howard’s website about credit freezes:
http://clarkhoward.com/topics/credit_freeze_states.html
6 LivingAlmostLarge // Dec 10, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Nope I don’t use public computers except for emails and writing the blog! Oh and reading news. Usually when i’m travelling. But otherwise it’s work and home.
Before I know my account information was sold by someone working for Sprint. I tracked that much though they didn’t want to admit employees were selling the information.
Perhaps I’ll call back and do a credit freeze.
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