Identity Theft

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o hai guyz

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Jan 15, 2010
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I got a notification from PayPal that someone tried to open a "PayPal Credit" credit line in my name. They said they denied it because they saw I already had a PayPal account and extensive history with them so it seemed strange that suddenly I'd need their credit. I was not the one who applied for it, so they are basically saying that a scammer had my information (name, address, SS) and tried to open it in my name.

They recommended I call Equifax to check if there was anything else on there, so I did, and it was fine. Equifax recommended putting either a "90 day fraud alert" on my account (makes it so the company running your credit has to call you before they do it) (and you have to renew the alerts every 90 days), or a "security freeze" (makes it so nobody can open lines of credit in your name or even access your credit score unless you call Equifax to lift the freeze the day you want to open it). The alerts are free, the freeze is $10 plus $10 per lift.

Equifax also said that there were no other applications on my account aside from the PayPal Credit scammer, so it seems like the person probably thought they had faulty info and discarded it.

I don't really use credit for anything, I have 1 credit card that I use for marketing, and then a car loan through my bank, and that's it. I pay for pretty much everything with cash, my house is already paid off, and as far as I know I won't be needing any loans any time soon. The only reason I even use a credit card instead of a debit is for the points, and the only reason I have a car loan is because I got it years ago and assumed I'd just invest the cash instead and as long as it pulled more than the loan's 2% interest rate I'd be winning. So basically I don't really use my credit for anything, I've opened a total of 2 lines of credit in the past 5 years.

Have any of you been in this situation, and what would you recommend? Based on what they told me, it sounds like the security freeze would be a safe bet. I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to credit/loans/etc so was hoping someone could offer some advice. Should I opt for the security freeze, or should I just leave it? If my info is already out there, and I DON'T freeze my account, am I screwed?
 


Just do the freeze. It's not a big deal to lift if you do find yourself in need of applying for credit.

Other option would be paying for a monitoring service, so you'll at least know if someone starts applying for credit again.
 
Bare in mind different lenders use different reference agencies so you might need to contact them all individually. Not heard of a freeze before (I don't think we have them over here) but that sounds like it would be the easiest/cheapest option provided you're not juggling card offers etc.
 
plot twist: paypal failed to meet it's quarterly revenue targets and is hustling it's own members to make up the difference
 
I keep mine locked and only unfreeze it when I know I will be taking out additional credit.

They use to charge you to lock and unlock it. I know in NY it was free because of state consumer protections laws.
 
jonbird said:
Bare in mind different lenders use different reference agencies so you might need to contact them all individually.
Click to expand...

Oh, so Equifax can't just freeze my entire credit so nobody can access it? Would be kind of annoying having to pay multiple agencies for freezes, and then calling all of them when I need it lifted, and repeating that.
 
Scary stuff - I watch my credit like a hawk because identity theft is going through the roof (fastest growing crime in the World) and people that do a lot of business on the Internet are particularly vulnerable. I pay for credit monitoring with multiple agencies - I get an alert anytime anything changes and I'm covered by ID theft insurance from each agency. I know a guy who served hard time for bank card skimming... I asked him one day how easily he could steal my identity and his answer freaked me out... it's not hard and you can minimize your exposure but never 100% prevent it.
 
o hai guyz said:
Oh, so Equifax can't just freeze my entire credit so nobody can access it? Would be kind of annoying having to pay multiple agencies for freezes, and then calling all of them when I need it lifted, and repeating that.
Click to expand...

Just googled it for you. Seems you need to freeze with:


On the plus side; it seems like a one-off fee, and should you need a new card or loan down the line you can just ask the lender which CRA/bureau they check against and unfreeze/refreeze that specific one. On this side of the pond you're looking at a recurring monthly fee just to monitor your credit file, no freeze available, so it could be worse.. :)

EDIT: & I'm sure you all know this, being internet heads and all, but it's best practise to use a credit card - not your debit card - for purchases. Means that in the event your card or deets get cloned they can't clean out your bank account and you're protected as a consumer (chargebacks etc.)
 
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i get fraudulent paypal "notices" on an almost daily basis. watch yourself.
 
Thanks for the replies. Something weird is going on, a few weeks ago someone tried to charge a purchase to my debit card (I even posted a thread on here about it on March 15), and now someone is trying to open a line of credit in my name. Luckily nothing important happened, I submitted a fraud report with my bank for the debit card for the 45 bucks they spent, but that's not a big deal either way. But I've gone my entire life with no issues and then suddenly within the timespan of a month and a half both of these things happen.

The only place that has BOTH that card info AND my ss# is the bank. Do you think we can conclude that there is a rogue employee at the bank?
 
o hai guyz said:
The only place that has BOTH that card info AND my ss# is the bank. Do you think we can conclude that there is a rogue employee at the bank?
Click to expand...

Actually there can be lots of ways to know your credit card numbers and hacking email that is associated with your bank account might be the reason of these 2 fraud atttempts.

The best way to solve it may be
- changing your email password
- changing email under your bank account
- issuing a new credit/debit card with your bank and cancelling the old one

In short - change all details you can change and see what happens.
 
Alright, so as of today:

- I have no debit cards linked to any of my bank accounts (aside from 1 tiny spending account).
- I have text and email notifications set up for any purchase/withdrawal/transfer on all of my bank accounts.
- I have a security freeze on my credit with all 3 agencies (Transunion, Experian, Equifax).

Am I basically locked down now, or is there anything else I should do?
 
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