Credit
Card Identity Theft
Identity Theft--A Personal Story by Robert
B. Gamble
Robert B. Gamble is an Electrical Engineer currently
working for the U.S. Navy at The Naval Air Warfare
Center in Lakehurst. Robert also is one of the
editors of Scott Bilker's best-selling book, "Credit
Card and Debt Management." This article is
brought to you by the FREE DebtSmart® E-mail
Newsletter (http://www.debtsmart.com). Sign up
today!
Several weeks ago I received a bill from Target
Credit. I knew I did not apply for such a card,
so I called the number related to the $160 worth
of items charged and listed on the bill. They
told me the items were shipped to someone in New
York. Well, I was not about to pay for something
I did not order, or receive, and I was not about
to pay for a credit card that I did not even apply
for.
I called Target, and came to find out that someone
had signed up for the card, they had my name,
my social security number, and my address, however
the address had the wrong street number.
Needless to write, I told them to cancel the card
and I filed a fraud report. Three months later,
I am still receiving evidence that the thieves
are still trying to use the card. Target assures
me that they have canceled the card, and are not
accepting any more charges. They assure me that
their fraud department is handling it.
Thank you (Scott) for my Capital One card. Last
week, I received a call from Capital One to verify
if I truly wanted another Capital One Card. They
noticed that the new application was to some address
in West Virginia, and they wanted to confirm that
I wanted the new card.
They provided Capital One my name, and my SSN
and the new address. I told them no, and they
told me I should contact the three different credit
report companies and put a statement in that would
require the credit report companies to contact
me when any new credit cards are applied for.
Kathy (the Capital One person) gave me the phone
numbers for the three credit report companies
and suggested I call them ASAP.
As soon as I hung up, I called them. The three
companies are:
Experian (888) 397-3742
Trans Union (800) 680-7289
EquiFax, Phone # from the Credit Report - (866)
233-3780
Address:
Equifax Information Services, P.O. Box 740256,
Atlanta, GA 30374-0256
or, Could not speak to anyone
(800) 685-1111 or (800) 270-3435
or, for online help
(888) 532-0179
Fax machine number
(888) 729-0083 I was able to contact Experian
& Trans Union and speak to a live person.
They helped me file the necessary information,
and said I would receive a letter within 10 days.
EquiFax, only has an automated number which wants
to charge $39.95 a month for their protection
service.
I have not contacted the number from the credit
report that I received last month (Just by chance
I ordered a Free report which came from EquiFax).
While the credit report does not show the Target
card, or any other card I don't know about, I
still want to call and file the fraud report to
require contacting me before issuing any new cards.
I hope this helps you and your readers, and again
thanks for the Capital One card.
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