Identity theft

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussion' started by Phil A, Nov 9, 2010.

  1. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    Oh no, not another scam :dh:

    If anyone has your real name & date of birth then they can legally get a copy of your birth certificate.

    This opens the door to all manner of ID thefts.

    Might I suggest that members with there own name change some aspect of it, maybe drop a few years ( I feel younger already :wink: ) or change a few days so that we can still send birthday greetings even if its slightly out of sync.

    The scam that alerted this to me was someone nicking an id & then messaging everyone on their friends list saying they were stranded in spain & needed money to return home.

    What would you do if you had a message like that from a friend ?
     
  2. Marley Farley

    Marley Farley Affable Admin! Staff Member

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    There are so many ways today that they seem to be able to steel out identity it is frightening Zig.. My friend had her ID stolen from her & it took 2 yrs to sort eveything out & even now she still has problems trying to prove she is who she is....
     
  3. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Head Gardener

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    Some sensible advice there.

    I make sure I always hide my identy, even I don't know who I am!
     
  4. Dave W

    Dave W Total Gardener

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    I'd reply askiing them to phone as if they were really a close friend they'd probably have our phone number. An alternative would be a Skype call - as we'd recognise the voice.

    A few years back I had a tax demand from HMRC which turned out to be due to someone using my National Insurance Ref number. Got it sorted out without much hassle.
     
  5. Sussexgardener

    Sussexgardener Gardener

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    Changing your birthday on any online applications/forums you use is a good way to keep yourself safe. I've done this on Facebook and I have the security settings there set to their highest.

    Somehow I have aged myself though:scratch:
     
  6. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Head Gardener

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    A couple of years ago I had £1,400 taken out of an on-line savings account. Obviously an "inside job" as the bank actually notified me before I noticed it, no problem getting it back. I've had a rogue £99 debit stuck on my credit card account this year, but I spotted it and the bank sorted it.

    Identity theft and fraud is massive and the banks keep quiet about it. They can afford to, they make enough money from the mugs who borrow from them at silly rates.
     
  7. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    Luckily I don't have any friends.
     
  8. Chopper

    Chopper Do I really look like a people person?

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    What would you do if you had a message like that from a friend ?

    One of my best friends works for one of the top credit card companies, dealing with fraud and ID theft. He obviously cannot give precise details but some of the scams going on are masterminded by very clever but very dishonest people and gangs of villains.

    It is not just the money stolen from peoples accounts that causes hurt and inconvenience. There is the ripple effect on victims lives. It can be very far reaching to some, particularly the elderly and vulnerable. Very intrusive crime. One that is very tricky and complicated to deal with.

    Chopper.
     
  9. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    I've been 'done' 3 times, each time my credit card company spotted the dubious transactions and stopped the card before me. First time was about £5,500 over several transactions including the very first of a couple of quid to a middle eastern charity (apparently that was a trial test to see if they could use my card).

    I was eventually refunded although it took several months. The last two times the credit card company were much quicker and stopped my card straight after the first dodgy transaction. A gang was caught here in Guildford cloning cards at some Shell petrol stations, I only use cash as petrolstations so it wasn't them that cloned my card, the credit card company actually told me that the gangs try random numbers until one works, so it might not be from somewhere where you have used your card (mine wasn't).

    I can see that would be a problem and a worry to many people. Also if it's your only card and it gets stopped you could be left stranded especially if you are abroad (I'm coming back to Ziggy's original post here). Anyway the point I'm making is to not depend soley on a single card if you are travelling abroad.

    If a friend did message you from abroad just think - wouldn't they contact their parents or a close relative first? Why you?
     
  10. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    I received an email from a cousin, who lives abroad, saying she was in London on holiday and had been mugged and lost everything except her laptop which was in the safe at the hotel and her clothes in the hotel room. She said the hotel were allowing her to use the laptop to email and ask for money but they were hanging on to all her remaining possessions as she had no money to pay the bill.

    She asked me to do a cash transfer to an account at a solicitor so she could pay her bill and buy a ticket home. She sounded very distressed.

    There were a number of dubious things in the email although it seemed OK on the surface.

    First of all, why didn't she phone me. Secondly, why didn't she ask me to pop in to London and rescue her - only 45 minutes by train. Thirdly, If the solicitor was genuine why haven't they contacted any of the family - there is a thing called a phone book. Although the email came from her account and sent to mine she hadn't put my name at the top of her email. Although there was nothing particularly wrong with the English it wasn't quite right for someone who has a degree in English.

    The first thing I did was send the email to her husband and her sister saying that this looked like a scam. Then I did a quick research on the solicitor. The name of the company and the address in central London were correct. I tried their phone number - which didn't work and did further research to find out that the company had gone two years before. All of this only took 15 minutes.

    I then phoned West End Central police as it was in their area and they said I needed the Fraud Squad. When I phoned the Fruad Squad they said that they can't act on my call because the 'apparent' crime had occurred outside their jurisdiction - at my house because that is where the email was received. They told me that I had to phone my local Fraud police for them to ask the london Fraud Squad to investigate. My local police said they didn't have anyone that deals with fraud and didn't even know the number of the Fraud Squad :dh:. By the time they got around to investigating, some weeks later, it they found the office empty apart from a number of torn open envelopes. The office had been rented for a month - cash in advance.

    My cousin emailed me that day on her husband's email saying her address book had been hacked and that they had been getting frantic phone calls from all around the world. She said that only three people had immediately worked out it was a scam :scratch:

    I've also had a large sum of money moved from my savings account (using my passswords - which is still being investigated because even I don't know them without decoding them) but the culprits were caught in the act as I have given my bank specific instructions on the only way money gets moved.

    It's a jungle out there.
     
  11. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Head Gardener

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    I've made similar arrangements with bank where the £1,400 was taken. I've e-mailed them and said that if I ever want to take money from it (which so far I never have) I'll contact them and not do it on-line.
    Similarly with credit card transactions, I keep a mirror image of my credit card account on a rolling Excel spread sheet. This is also handy if I've bought something that goes wrong and I need to know the date of purchase. As my purchases are listed in about ten different columns, "house" "garden" "car" "meals" etc., it's fairly easy to find scrolling back. I can then dig out that particular month's receipts which I file. I also go on line and check it and my bank account a couple of times a week, just to make sure nothing "dodgy" is going on.
     
  12. Chopper

    Chopper Do I really look like a people person?

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    Have to say that your accounting system sounds complicated DR. If it works for you, great.

    However, the only thing I really enjoy about modern technology is the way in which I cn gain access to information and enjoy forums such as GC and my custom bike forums. I also do basic work using programmes like Microsoft Publisher and Adobe Photoshop.

    Things like spread sheets get too complicated and involved for my bomb damaged brain. I get frustrated with them and lose my temper. I keep my accounting as simple as it can be. I have one card to make any phone or internet purchases. I use cash money for everything else. My bank has sent me a load of gizmos to enable me to make use of internet banking. I haven't got a clue how to use any of it. I do not have a credit card and never will. Nor do I have an overdraft. If I do not have cash money, then I do not buy anything. Simples.

    I have a new mobile phone. The last one fell out of my pocket and got damaged. The guy at the phone company was regaling me with the details of all the stuff this phone can do, I stopped him dead in his tracks when I asked him if I could make phone calls and send text messages!!! By all accounts this thing has a video camera on it, I have no idea if it has, where it is or how to use it. I had to get my teenage daughter to list all my numbers for me. Had to get her to set up my new TV and DVD player. I was stunned when she plugged my phone into the TV and brought up all the pictures and text messages on to my screen. I had no idea that could be done. I bought the TV because it has a great picture and a huge screen.

    If there is a god, I hope he will protect neanderthals like me from technology. I can build a custom bike in my sleep. Strip and build a V _ Twin engine no problem at all. Ask me how to do something with a computer and I am lost. Hole in the wall machines still baffle me.

    With all this technology it is no wonder folk make mistakes and leave themselves wide open to crime.

    Chopper.:cnfs::cnfs::cnfs:
     
  13. Kandy

    Kandy Will be glad to see the sun again soon.....

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    We only use a credit card for the fact that if the company goes bust and the item is over £100 then we can hopefully get all the money back from the credit card company.We alwys pay off the bill in full every month so have only ever paid interest on a couple of rare occassions when Mr Kandy has forgotten the date when the bill was due to be paid:(

    Also we never keep large amounts of money sitting in current accounts prefering to keep any money we do have in savings in the building society or it is spent on adding value to our house in other ways for when the house prices do eventually go up and we want to downsize to a bungalow when we get to creaky to get up and down the stairs:D
     
  14. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    Seems we all do different things, I make the most of on-line banking, pay all my bills by direct debit so I don't forget and use the internet for most of my shopping. Currently I'm paying my builder by direct bank transfer when he emails me his invoice so I hardy use cheques any more. I use Microsoft Money to track everything because it works with online accounts and reconciles most of my spending automatically, it does the same as your rolling spreadsheet Doghouse but with a bit less effort. I might be a prime target for the online hackers but I reckon it saves me loads of time by not going to the bank or shops. Time I can spend more usefully in the garden or at home.
     
  15. Doghouse Riley

    Doghouse Riley Head Gardener

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    Very wise.

    I use Excel as I like to play with the "columns and colours."

    But nothing is left on my computer. I have it on a second hard drive and back it up on a memory stick and even two floppies.
     
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