Identity & Credit Card Theft

[Muddyboots]

The real benefit is if you make it difficult, they will move on to someone who hasn't taken steps to defend themselves. Sad but true.

 

[Big Trouble]

Yep! First, for the record, I am old fashioned and do not do online banking.....even use checks for pay utility bills.
Have had my CC number stolen three times. Twice USAA contacted me when they detected a questionable charge and once we found one on our monthly statement. In all cases they made it right and gave us new cards....A PITA when you have to contact companies that require a CC for monthly charges like our security company and Netflix.
OTOH, we had booked a hotel in Italy several months in advance and a few days before we left we got notified they had cancelled our reservation. A long distance (to Italian hotel) discovered they always did a 99cent charge to ensure the CC was valid. LOL. Several more phone calls to CC company to allow that charge, to the hotel to make sure they were OK and the trip was back on.
Point being, having an alert is a good idea and does not always indicate fraudulant issues. LOL

We used to send checks for ALL bills. Dropped all payments into local Post box. We thought Ol' fashion was the best as well. Someone over here in Ohio got ahold of the USPS master key that opened all boxes. Wife sent an $83. check to the county water dept. Thieves took it, "washed it", changed it to $4000. and cashed it with a phone app. Local bank was a great help and we did get it back…after their process of course.
Just seems as though no matter what you do these days, someone is looking to take your hard earned money away.

 

[Hugnot]

The bad guys are not stupid.

Spoofs like email addresses that appear to be real then upon opening a link spy ware & whatever gets into your machine. I am real old & have received an average of 8 per day for the last 4 months. Bad spelling on some, like Walsmart, Waldmart. Some attempt to mimic MicroSoft complete with spoofed MicroSoft logo then claim that attempts were made to hack into your machine - almost all of these received by @msn.com appear in the junk folder. Since the advent of Voice over Internet Protocol (voip) anybody with fingers, keyboard, & software can spoof telephone numbers & caller ID's. Latest ones - DIRECTV. Fake SSA calls telling me that my account was "involved in fraud". Been told that "you will die" & "go F***" (f word) off in foreign accented words.

Many of the devices we use can be hacked or infiltrated with spyware & other bad stuff - protection is deserved & needed. Some years ago, the DOJ with India LE raided a nest of these bad guys in India - lots of fake voip stuff.

This bad stuff has outpaced my old time IT abilities & I get help from young brains. I wish I could do some kind of digital hunt on them.

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