I just had the freakiest phone call about half and hour ago. I'm still upset. I answered the phone and a gentlemen said I'm trying to reach Dani XXXXX. I told him that's me. He said I'm investigator XXX with XXX & Associates (I have never heard of the company). He said I'm calling about case # ? for a Honda Prelude you co-signed for in 1999 with Kevin XXX. I said who? I said I have never co-signed with anyone ever (I actually haven't). He then read off all my personal information to me..my address, my maiden name, and my social. I froze. I told him I don't know a Kevin XXX (the guy had the same last name as my maiden name) nor have I ever loaned, co-signed or even driven a Honda Prelude. He asked for my middle name (he had everything else about me so what was I going to lose). He said the middle name isn't the same one and asked if I was born in 1972 (I wasn't). He told me then he had a case of mistaken identity and had nothing to go on about this person except her full name and year of birth and was checking the database for all 50 states. In the database he had come up with my name and information. I got his name, the business, and phone # (which I called back to make sure it was legit) it apparently is. This absolutely terrifies me. Someone calls me with all personal information and I don't know who this person is or what they're going to do with it. I feel violated. I swear this weekend is getting worse and worse. Dani
Dani, go to http://www.accurint.com and check out what a company can obtain. You would be surprised. Having a few connections with friends that do collection work it's amazing yet scary. This company will allow a search, with proper credentials of course, that will yield your name, social, all known past addresses, property value, the names and ssn of your family members, oh it goes on...look at the sample on this website. Also checkout http://www.anybirthday.com and just enter your first and last name (forget the zip code) and see how many people have similar names (a weapon to use against the CRAs) and/or birthdates. Weekend will get better!!
No kidding... And my employer maintains employee records on an unprotected networked database with names, SSN, addresses, and DOBs. That's probably enough for identity theft these days. I look at my credit reports often just to be safe.
How awful. All you need is a first and last name and you can find out anything on anyone. Our so called "privacy" is a candy store for criminals. The problem is that creditors, employers, courts want your social security # for everything. Technically, only the federal government has a right to it since it was assigned to each individual to keep track of their social security payments. I try to use it as little as possible. I have even changed my driver's license # so retailers don't have access to my entire financial past. To be perfectly honest, I'm amazed that isn't a much higher case of identity fraud. Thanks for the information Kitty it was an eye opener. Dani
...AND YOU "NEED" TO GIVE SS# TO POLICE WHEN YOU WITNESS AN ACCIDENT? ...The insurance investigator calls...SS# ...Sign up for SAMS...SS# ...Go sign up for college classes...SS# ...Register to vote...SS# ...Driver's license...SS# ...Insurance for your car...SS# YES, IT IS A SORE SPOT!!!!
