More than one “you”?
Last year we had something happen to us that has never happened before . . .
We found out someone (or several others) was posing as my husband.
Someone had swiped my husband’s credit cards . . . without actually taking them!
Yes – you heard me right . . . his wallet was never stolen, however, someone was able to get the credit card info from all the cards in his wallet – even our debit card – and then make new cards for themselves.
We received a call from one of our credit card companies – saying there was some suspicious activity on our card, and asking us if we spent $xxx.xx at Safeway near D.C.?
“No.”
Later in the day . . . another CC company called . . . had we spent $xx.xx at Safeway near D.C.?
“No.”
The next day . . . another call . . . then another (yes – he had a few cards in there . . . but we really only use 1 or 2 of them).
What the heck happened? We racked our brains to try and figure out how these thieves could have gotten access to our info. The only thoughts we had was that my husband had just been on 2 trips – one to Las Vegas and one to NYC. I don’t know if someone had some sort of scanner that scanned my husband’s whole wallet . . . or what?
But what I did learn was . . . how easily it is for someone to steal info from any of us.
I guess I was still living with a teenage mentality of invincibility.
“It would never happen to me.”
Really? . . . I hope not.
Our identity theft was fairly easy to solve, and our CC companies were awesome about catching the fraudulent charges quickly, cutting off the thieves before they went even more wild at Safeway, and they did not make us liable for any of the fraudulent charges. 🙂
However, many people are not so lucky and have so much more stolen.
In researching ways to protect our identity – I came across IdentityHawk. Now, I haven’t researched many companies yet – so I’d love to know if any of you use a company, service or program to monitor or keep your identity safe?
In terms of identity theft protection – what are the important qualities in a service that you look for? And what is a good/decent price to pay for such a service? Or do I even need one?
Being the frugal mom that I am . . . you know I don’t like spending money on things I don’t really need . . . but after this incident last year – it does make me think more about identity theft and protection. Just like having health, life, car and house insurance . . . this might just bring a peace of mind to many of you who have either encountered identity theft, or those that are worried about it.
My grandmother never owned a computer, as she was terribly afraid of someone stealing her identity. The sad fact is – you don’t have to own a computer (buy things online, etc) for that to happen. I think she was so afraid, because she did have her identity stolen before.
So – How do you keep your identity safe?
As I continue my research, I’d love for you to share with me what you use (if anything). Thanks!
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