พี่ไทยวูแมนฝากโพสต์ถึง K. แม่แอนดรูว์
ไปโพสต์ห้อยท้ายไว้ที่ทู้นั้น แต่ทู้เก่าตกไปแล้ว เลยมาโพสต์ใหม่ค่ะ

Your Social Security Number and Identity Theft Prevention

"K. แม่แอนดรูว์, last night, I read your post concerning your friend has obtained your SSN. Having been an identity theft victim for over 2 years, I do not think one should take it lightly.

When your friend asked for your SSN, she might have already had a plan in mind. It is not my wish to unduly concern you. Nor I intend to create a distrust towards your friend. A detective and an ex-agent with whom I dealt informed me that anyone can be a suspect including your spouse and siblings. My intent here is to inform you of what can and may happen; and how to stop it.

There are a lot your friend can do with your SSN: as simple as opens a bank or a credit card account. In your case, the damage has yet proved true, however, some precaution measures deem necessary:

1. Change all the passwords of your accounts i.e. bank, credit card, investment and retirement-saving accounts. Inform them that somebody has your SSN, it’s imperative to change your passwords and discard the use of your mother’s maiden name to something different. This is vital; it will prevent any body from tabbing into your accounts. This January, an individual who has my SSN attempted to transfer $18,000 from my credit card account, but to no avail because he was unable to give the correct password. The credit card company immediately cancelled my account. Last year alone, he made 4 attempts in a combined amount of $ 50,000 without any success because I swiftly changed the password when I had encountered ID-theft the first time. I then periodically change my passwords.

How he attained my account numbers is still a mystery. A detective suspects that
he can acquire a lot of information from my SSN.

To create passwords, do not use any obvious ones i.e. your spouse, children, pets’ names, or your birth date. In you case, I assume your friend might have already known your family. Adopt a system that makes it easy to remember. For example, use your loved ones ‘ names for the obvious reason, easy to remember, but increment or decrement each alphabet. For example, your spouse’s name,
“Tom”, is converted to “Upn”. This is just one of many techniques you may apply.

2. Obtain your credit reports from major Consumer Credit Bureaus: Equifax (1-800-525-6285), Experian (1-888-397-3745) and Transunion (1-800-888-4213). If you are a resident of CO, MD and other 3 states (I do not remember the rest), you are entitled to a free report annually. You may visit their websites instead.

Check thoroughly and dispute instantaneously if an unfamiliar item is found. Last month, one of my accounts has been renewed and the address has been changed to an address in Georgia. I never live in Georgia! I immediately disputed and requested them be clear off my recorded. Of course, I have to prove my innocence first.

3. Do not give your SSN to any body! If asked and insisted when deal with commercial entities, politely refuse and insist of using other security verification method. I did this many times, most likely they will oblige. My colleague, who is also a victim, tells every body when is pressured to give his “My lawyer said it’s not necessary to give SSN to do deal with this kind of business”. You may use his line.

4. Call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT to take your name off the credit card pre-approval list, to eliminate an opportunity for your friend to open one with your identity.

5. To minimize opportunity for ID-theft and for manageability, close all the credit card and store credit accounts that you barely use. Keep it to bare minimum. I had only one left, yet it was still sabotaged. I decidedly to go credit card free for now.

6. Tactfully inform your friend of your SSN activities being under watch. Should it be exploited, you will have to give the police names, including hers, of who know your SSN. This hopefully will deter her from committing any malicious act.

Steps above are preventative measures I urge you to take – whether or not your friend will exploit your SSN- before you fall into a victim like me. I do not want to see anyone else to encounter what I have to endure; it is very unpleasant, indeed.

Becoming an ID-theft victim is an ordeal no one ever wants to face. It is a stressful and frustrating experience not to mention painstakingly time consuming. It can lower your FICO score and most importantly ruin your credit history. For example, last spring I almost did not get a mortgage loan when refinanced my house. My credit history showed outstanding balances with credit unions in Ohio and North Carolina. I never have business with these entities, let alone live in these states. It turned out an unknown individual had opened checking accounts using my identity and over withdrew the money. I was also threatened for lawsuits if the due amount was not paid by the specified period. Fortunately, I was able to prove them my innocence.

It is still a mystery how my SSN is out there; I am very cautious in giving out important personal information. As of now, law enforcements are unable to pin down the felons (the detective believes there is more than one criminal involved). I had to take several counter actions to be exonerated from the liability of the amount incurred.

Good luck."