It Just Happened to Me

I didn’t think much of a phone message I received when checking my voicemails at my office last week. The other voice on the line said something to the extent that they just wanted to verify a recent purchase. It’s the holidays, so I put it into my mental to-do list and called back a day or so later.

That was my first mistake.

I have now joined the ranks of those who are victims of identity theft.

The 2011 Identity Fraud Survey Report, released by Javelin Strategy & Research reports that in 2010 the number of identity fraud victims has decreased by 28 percent which is three million fewer victims than 2009. Approximately 8.1 million adults in the United States were still victimized in 2010. I’ll be included in the 2011 statistics as of now. Hopefully I might help to keep you out of this loop.

Here’s what happened. After my phone call from an online shoe company, I later received an email from my bank telling me my account was frozen because of “uncharacteristic purchasing behavior.” Okay, a big red flag—so I started six hours and counting of phone calls to rectify my situation.

I called my bank and discovered there had been five purchases on my Schilling Media Inc. business account which included size 13 tennis shoes, cologne or perfume, a few hundred dollars in men’s sports clothes and a take-out dinner purchase. Some of the items were shipped to New York and the dinner was ordered in Toronto Canada. It was frustrating and a bit unnerving how quickly it all transpired.

Luckily, the purchases were made on my business debit account so shoes, clothing and perfume stood out like a sore thumb. If they had been made on my personal account—especially during the holidays—who knows how long the perpetrators would have had a party with my credit card.

So what did I do wrong? I did make some online purchases, yes—but when I began researching ways to prosecute—I called the local FBI office who suggested I call the Secret Service and then file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center.

When talking to the FBI agent, she told me that my perpetrator may not even have gotten my credit card online. In fact she told me she had shopped at a local mall in Virginia, and someone had taken her card info, forwarded it to another state where perpetrators had created a fake plastic card and purchased groceries—within one hour!

I figured if it happened to an FBI agent, I wasn’t doing too badly.

So, I have called my bank, my credit card has been cancelled and re-issued. As it turns out one of the orders was not shipped and stopped, but the thief still gets to enjoy some clothes, cologne and great meal. And because the rate of identity theft crime is so high, he or she may never be prosecuted.

However, with everything that has transpired, there is a great thing that happened as a result of this incidence of theft against me, I was suddenly inspired to write this article in hopes that ICTMN readers might further protect themselves and not fall prey to thieves after our credit cards.

I looked for some tips online and have added a few myself that I have learned from this experience. Happy Holidays—but just be cautious out there, a little bit of careful action on your part could save your identity.