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How do you protect yourself?

By
Real Estate Agent with Weichert Realtors Appleseed Group, 2043 Richmond Ave. S.I.N.Y. 10314. office phone 718-698-9797, Appleseedhomes.com -

Anyone who reads my posts knows that I kid around sometimes.  This is not one of those times.

Yesterday I received a call from my bank saying someone tried to get information about me.  They had a lot of my personal information but my banker was smart and asked a question that only I would know.  They hung up on the banker.  I called all of my credit card companies and credit reporting agencies. 

What more can I do?  What do you do and why?  Thanks for your help.

Comments (11)

Dwayne West
Atlanta Real Estate - Canton, GA
Canton Georgia Real Estate
I am sorry to hear about that. I have really never put much thought into this. It is a bad thing that can ruin you for a long time.
Jan 26, 2008 12:10 AM
Pat Preston
Shore Realty - Nags Head, NC
Kenneth, You raise a good point. I guess one advantage of using a small town bank is the employees all know me making it hard for a scammer to get my information. But as to credit card companies, maybe those irritating automatic responses serve a purpose.
Jan 26, 2008 12:24 AM
Cindy Jones
Integrity Real Estate Group - Woodbridge, VA
Pentagon, Fort Belvoir & Quantico Real Estate News

Good for your banker for catching the call.  To bad they didn't have caller ID and report the number to the police.  Have you been shredding all of your personal information and credit card applications that come in the mail!  Make sure you do.

Jan 26, 2008 12:24 AM
Tara Colquitt
Tara Colquitt, The Credit Woman, LLC - Philadelphia, PA
Credit Counselor

Everyone in today's times should have some type of identity protection on their credit profiles. When someone tries to access your social security number, you should be notified immediately by cell phone.

However, that would not have protected you from the bank inquiry. Only an intelligent human being could ask the right question before it went any further. So, again, technology is great. But it can't replace people.

Jan 26, 2008 12:26 AM
Karel Rogers
Real Estate Staging Unlimited - Reno, NV

I had identity last year for over $100 K.  I now use LIfelock as a protector of my credit and assests.  The thieves went into the state website for corporate filing and changed all our officers and resident agent to thier names.  We would have not even found out but American Express randomly checks certain things with corporate accounts and found some activity that they investigated.  They called us and told us that our officers had changed 4 months earlier!

I called the state office asked how this could happen. They said they are a filing office and do not and are not responsible for notifying anyone of any changes . SO we now check monthly on the state site monthly to assure  that our officers have not been changed.

Within those 4 months they opend several accounts in our company name and charged over $100k for computers.

So we now are covered by Lifelock and you can find them on the web. No one can use our credit or apply anywhere without us being notified.

Hope this helps --

Jan 26, 2008 12:30 AM
Kenneth Cole
Weichert Realtors Appleseed Group, 2043 Richmond Ave. S.I.N.Y. 10314. office phone 718-698-9797, Appleseedhomes.com... - Staten Island, NY
NYS Licensed Real Estate Salesperson
Thanks a million Karel.  I'm calling them today.
Jan 26, 2008 12:38 AM
Nancy Brenner
Referral Associates of Georgia, Inc. - Roswell, GA
Roswell Georgia Real Estate Agent
Wow, Ken.  That really stinks.  I just Googled "credit profile protection" and the company that Karel uses, LifeLock, is at the top.  There are many others too.  Hope you find the rest of your accounts to be OK>
Jan 26, 2008 12:45 AM
Bill Gillhespy
16 Sunview Blvd - Fort Myers Beach, FL
Fort Myers Beach Realtor, Fort Myers Beach Agent - Homes & Condos
In our business we ofter marvel at all of the cool technology.  Sometimes the bad guys are even better than we are at using it against us !
Jan 26, 2008 12:53 AM
Gaye Granice
Robert Defalco Realty - Staten Island, NY
Associate Broker
Ken,Very Scary..Good thing the banker asked that question.  Gaye
Jan 26, 2008 12:49 PM
Gary L. Waters Broker Associate, Bucci Realty
Bucci Realty, Inc. - Melbourne, FL
Eighteen Years Experience in Brevard County
The scammers are out there every place. Good that you have a banker who knows you. That is osmething not a lot of us have anymore!
Jan 26, 2008 11:41 PM
Raj Rajpal
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage - Staten Island, NY
NMLSR448051
Ken good luck with this problem but you should definately subscribe to credit and identity protection like Life lock or most of the large banks offer it at discounted prices if you have a account with them check that out , I heve some material on Identity theft I had done a class at SIBOR on it , I will be glad to share it with you, let me know if you need it.
Jan 28, 2008 04:35 AM