Bless your heart Adriene! I will say a prayer for you and I completely understand your rage! I am printing out what you suggested to protect myself! Thanks!

OMG! I'm so sorry for you. To learn more about preventing identity theft read The Art of the Theft by Frank Abagnale (the guy that Catch Me If You Can was based on). He goes into detail about preventing fraud. I'm reading it now and it's amazing to know what criminals can do.

You never know if you have already been a victim! You could have false info on your credit report and not know it! I know it is scary to think that but everyone should check their credit reports every year to make sure the info is legit.

I was SO afraid to check mine because I had heard stories about people finding credit cards they had not opened and loans, etc. that were false. But I checked mine a few months ago and I felt so much better after I did and found out that it was just fine!

So check out your credit! It will even list past credit cards and their status. For instance, my car was stolen last year with my credit card statement and info inside! I cancelled that card pronto, and that was reflected on my credit report to keep me safe!

I went to MyFico.com to get my report from the main 3 agencies and it didn't cost that much at all. DO IT!


As for what happened to you though adduncan, that sucks big time and I am super sorry. At least the police caught them and you have documented proof that you are not irresponsible with your money, someone else was!

I would be plenty mad, too!! I hope everyone will heed the tips you gave out. Lots of useful info.

I have read The Art of the Steal and highly recommend it. It should be required reading! This is a book that you should keep since it is full of useful hints and resources. I saw the movie and read the book it was based on.

adduncan, I am sorry to hear about your sister-in-law and that you were a victim of ID theft. I am glad that the woman was caught and I hope justice get served swiftly.

http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/eek2.gif http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/confangry.gif

Adrienne, I'm so very sorry about your sister in law. I am also sorry about the identity theft you're suffering through. Good luck getting everything straightened out and I hope that criminal gets what she deserves.