Last week, a rude awakening intruded on my idyllic life here in Geezerville. I handed my Visa card to a local business and was told that the card was rejected and that I was to call my Visa bank. When I called, I was told that my account had been shut down due to suspicious activity. I asked for particulars and the Visa rep told me that my address had been changed to "305 3rd Avenue — Radford, VA 24141." I have never been to Radford, VA in my life. Not only that, but the fraudulent "Neil Sapper" charged an item for $1300+ from a vendor unknown to me. Now, I am dancing with Visa for the details of the fraud; the report is in the mail (supposedly). I have placed a Fraud Alert in my credit files maintained by TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. See Jane Grieg's advice below. I have contacted detectives in both the Georgetown, TX and Radford, VA police departments. Visa shut down the vulnerable account and issued a new card for the changed account. The mystery is how in hell did some creep get my Visa card number? I shred everything containing my Visa account number. I did order something over the phone from Bag'n Baggage and I gave my Visa number to the sales rep on the other end. That transaction took place just before this little dance began in early June. Hmmmm. What if the Bag'n Baggage sales rep lives in Radford, VA? If this is (fair & balanced) paranoia, so be it.
[x Austin Fishwrap]
Here's a report: Get your credit history in one location
by Jane Greig
Dear readers, Texans can finally benefit from the recent amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, which requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide consumers with a free credit report copy (upon request) every 12 months. The three nationwide reporting companies (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) have set up one central location to order. Visit annualcreditreport.com, call (877) 322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
Copyright © 2005 The Austin American-Statesman
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Ouch! Identity Theft Hurts!
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