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(OT) Identity Theft



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 13th 12, 01:04 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
jmcquown[_2_]
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Posts: 8,008
Default (OT) Identity Theft

Don't ask how or why but some idiot hijacked my bank check card and ordered
himself a laptop computer from WalMart. I received email confirmation from
WalMart stating my "order" is ready to be picked up. Primary pickup person,
me. Alternate pickup person, someone named William Nguyen in Westminster,
CA. I thought surely this person wouldn't be stupid enough to use my email
address... but yes, they were. No one said criminals are smart. Heh.

Just to make sure this wasn't someone's idea of a joke I checked my bank
account. Sure enough, there's a pending debit against my account for that
exact amount. I'm waiting for the bank to open so I can call and dispute
the charge.

I've already reported the card (online) lost or stolen, which f***s me up no
end since I don't carry cash. Meanwhile, I contacted WalMart. "Do not let
anyone pick up this merchandise! I didn't order it. I don't know anyone
named William Nugyen in California." I've already gotten an email back from
WalMart stating they've credited the money back to my account. (That could
take two billing cycles. Meanwhile, I've got bills to pay! Dammit.)

Now I just have to wait for the bank to open so I can get them to try to
reverse the pending transaction. Grrrrrrrrrr.

OB Cats: Persia's curled up on her crackle sack behind me, oblivious to any
of these financial worries. She got her Sunday Fancy Feast dinner last
night and is happy as can be

Jill

  #2  
Old February 13th 12, 02:24 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Magic Mood Jeep
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Posts: 928
Default (OT) Identity Theft

On 2/13/2012 7:04 AM, jmcquown wrote:
Don't ask how or why but some idiot hijacked my bank check card and
ordered himself a laptop computer from WalMart. I received email
confirmation from WalMart stating my "order" is ready to be picked up.
Primary pickup person, me. Alternate pickup person, someone named
William Nguyen in Westminster, CA. I thought surely this person
wouldn't be stupid enough to use my email address... but yes, they
were. No one said criminals are smart. Heh.

Just to make sure this wasn't someone's idea of a joke I checked my bank
account. Sure enough, there's a pending debit against my account for
that exact amount. I'm waiting for the bank to open so I can call and
dispute the charge.

I've already reported the card (online) lost or stolen, which f***s me
up no end since I don't carry cash. Meanwhile, I contacted WalMart.
"Do not let anyone pick up this merchandise! I didn't order it. I
don't know anyone named William Nugyen in California." I've already
gotten an email back from WalMart stating they've credited the money
back to my account. (That could take two billing cycles. Meanwhile,
I've got bills to pay! Dammit.)

Now I just have to wait for the bank to open so I can get them to try to
reverse the pending transaction. Grrrrrrrrrr.

OB Cats: Persia's curled up on her crackle sack behind me, oblivious to
any of these financial worries. She got her Sunday Fancy Feast dinner
last night and is happy as can be

Jill


WoW!!!! Make sure that there aren't any other "pending" charges that
you didn't make - most of the "smarter" criminals start with smaller
purchases so the owner of the account won't notice!

Glad Persia is (mostly) oblivious to your troubles! Give her some
skritchies from me, and Weeble says you should give her nose-kissies
from him!

--
^..^ This is Kitty. Copy and paste Kitty into your signature to help

her wipe out Bunny's world domination.
--
The ONE and ONLY
lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy
former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)©
email me at nalee1964 (at) comcast (dot) net
http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep
  #3  
Old February 13th 12, 03:01 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
MaryL[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,184
Default (OT) Identity Theft



"jmcquown" wrote in message ...

Don't ask how or why but some idiot hijacked my bank check card and ordered
himself a laptop computer from WalMart. I received email confirmation from
WalMart stating my "order" is ready to be picked up. Primary pickup person,
me. Alternate pickup person, someone named William Nguyen in Westminster,
CA. I thought surely this person wouldn't be stupid enough to use my email
address... but yes, they were. No one said criminals are smart. Heh.

Just to make sure this wasn't someone's idea of a joke I checked my bank
account. Sure enough, there's a pending debit against my account for that
exact amount. I'm waiting for the bank to open so I can call and dispute
the charge.

I've already reported the card (online) lost or stolen, which f***s me up no
end since I don't carry cash. Meanwhile, I contacted WalMart. "Do not let
anyone pick up this merchandise! I didn't order it. I don't know anyone
named William Nugyen in California." I've already gotten an email back from
WalMart stating they've credited the money back to my account. (That could
take two billing cycles. Meanwhile, I've got bills to pay! Dammit.)

Now I just have to wait for the bank to open so I can get them to try to
reverse the pending transaction. Grrrrrrrrrr.

OB Cats: Persia's curled up on her crackle sack behind me, oblivious to any
of these financial worries. She got her Sunday Fancy Feast dinner last
night and is happy as can be

Jill



I think I would also file a police report. They might not do anything...but
this guy sounds foolish/stupid enough to try to pick up the laptop. If so,
it would be nice to have a "welcoming committee" waiting for him.

As MMJ said, these crooks sometimes start with small purchases (*not* the
laptop) just to see if the account is active and they can get away with it,
then move on to larger purchases. I once found a charge of $2.00 on my
credit card that was a "donation" to the UN Children's Fund. That was
followed a day later by an attempt to secure round-trip air fare from
California to London. The credit card company took immediate
action--cancelled the phony charges and sent a new credit card, but it did
take more than a week to receive the new card. The card had not been out of
my hands, and the charge was made by computer by someone in still a third
location (a small third-world country)! One possible explanation is that
various stores and credit card companies have managed to lose large amounts
of our personal information, and crooks have sometimes gained access to that
information. In a different (and smaller) vein, a friend of mine found that
someone had actually had checks printed with her account number and had
passed those checks in a town she had never visited. In that case, the
final assessment was that someone working in a department store had "fed"
the information to a friend. The bank did cover the cost, but it took
awhile.

MaryL


  #4  
Old February 13th 12, 03:12 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
J J Levin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 147
Default (OT) Identity Theft


"MaryL" wrote in message
...


"jmcquown" wrote in message ...

Don't ask how or why but some idiot hijacked my bank check card and
ordered
himself a laptop computer from WalMart. I received email confirmation
from
WalMart stating my "order" is ready to be picked up. Primary pickup
person,
me. Alternate pickup person, someone named William Nguyen in Westminster,
CA. I thought surely this person wouldn't be stupid enough to use my
email
address... but yes, they were. No one said criminals are smart. Heh.

Just to make sure this wasn't someone's idea of a joke I checked my bank
account. Sure enough, there's a pending debit against my account for that
exact amount. I'm waiting for the bank to open so I can call and dispute
the charge.

I've already reported the card (online) lost or stolen, which f***s me up
no
end since I don't carry cash. Meanwhile, I contacted WalMart. "Do not
let
anyone pick up this merchandise! I didn't order it. I don't know anyone
named William Nugyen in California." I've already gotten an email back
from
WalMart stating they've credited the money back to my account. (That
could
take two billing cycles. Meanwhile, I've got bills to pay! Dammit.)

Now I just have to wait for the bank to open so I can get them to try to
reverse the pending transaction. Grrrrrrrrrr.

OB Cats: Persia's curled up on her crackle sack behind me, oblivious to
any
of these financial worries. She got her Sunday Fancy Feast dinner last
night and is happy as can be

Jill



I think I would also file a police report. They might not do
anything...but this guy sounds foolish/stupid enough to try to pick up the
laptop. If so, it would be nice to have a "welcoming committee" waiting
for him.


DO file a police report. Just to have it on record that there was an attempt
to steal from you. Credit card companies sometimes require it, from what I
understand, if there is a successful theft.

Jay








Down the road, someone may ask you to show that police report -- your bank,
your credit card company, npy you



As MMJ said, these crooks sometimes start with small purchases (*not* the
laptop) just to see if the account is active and they can get away with
it, then move on to larger purchases. I once found a charge of $2.00 on
my credit card that was a "donation" to the UN Children's Fund. That was
followed a day later by an attempt to secure round-trip air fare from
California to London. The credit card company took immediate
action--cancelled the phony charges and sent a new credit card, but it did
take more than a week to receive the new card. The card had not been out
of my hands, and the charge was made by computer by someone in still a
third location (a small third-world country)! One possible explanation is
that various stores and credit card companies have managed to lose large
amounts of our personal information, and crooks have sometimes gained
access to that information. In a different (and smaller) vein, a friend
of mine found that someone had actually had checks printed with her
account number and had passed those checks in a town she had never
visited. In that case, the final assessment was that someone working in a
department store had "fed" the information to a friend. The bank did
cover the cost, but it took awhile.

MaryL




  #5  
Old February 13th 12, 03:47 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
William Hamblen[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 245
Default (OT) Identity Theft

On 2012-02-13, jmcquown wrote:
Don't ask how or why but some idiot hijacked my bank check card and ordered
himself a laptop computer from WalMart. I received email confirmation from
WalMart stating my "order" is ready to be picked up. Primary pickup person,
me. Alternate pickup person, someone named William Nguyen in Westminster,
CA. I thought surely this person wouldn't be stupid enough to use my email
address... but yes, they were. No one said criminals are smart. Heh.

Just to make sure this wasn't someone's idea of a joke I checked my bank
account. Sure enough, there's a pending debit against my account for that
exact amount. I'm waiting for the bank to open so I can call and dispute
the charge.

I've already reported the card (online) lost or stolen, which f***s me up no
end since I don't carry cash. Meanwhile, I contacted WalMart. "Do not let
anyone pick up this merchandise! I didn't order it. I don't know anyone
named William Nugyen in California." I've already gotten an email back from
WalMart stating they've credited the money back to my account. (That could
take two billing cycles. Meanwhile, I've got bills to pay! Dammit.)

Now I just have to wait for the bank to open so I can get them to try to
reverse the pending transaction. Grrrrrrrrrr.

OB Cats: Persia's curled up on her crackle sack behind me, oblivious to any
of these financial worries. She got her Sunday Fancy Feast dinner last
night and is happy as can be

Jill


A similar thing happened to me, except someone withdrew rather a lot
of cash from a couple of ATMs and I got the call from the bank first
because of the unusual activity. The bank replaced my debit card
on the spot and I did get the money back. Apparently it is possible
to collect data wirelessly from bank ATMs and use it to create a new
ATM card, complete with PIN. I had never allowed anyone to borrow my
card and I keep my PIN only in my head. The police told me there was a
ring active. Maybe they've moved to SC. I ought to only write checks,
I guess, but the ATM is so convenient.

Bud

  #6  
Old February 13th 12, 05:15 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Cheryl[_5_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 955
Default (OT) Identity Theft

On 2012-02-13 11:17 AM, William Hamblen wrote:
On 2012-02-13, wrote:
Don't ask how or why but some idiot hijacked my bank check card and ordered
himself a laptop computer from WalMart. I received email confirmation from
WalMart stating my "order" is ready to be picked up. Primary pickup person,
me. Alternate pickup person, someone named William Nguyen in Westminster,
CA. I thought surely this person wouldn't be stupid enough to use my email
address... but yes, they were. No one said criminals are smart. Heh.

Just to make sure this wasn't someone's idea of a joke I checked my bank
account. Sure enough, there's a pending debit against my account for that
exact amount. I'm waiting for the bank to open so I can call and dispute
the charge.

I've already reported the card (online) lost or stolen, which f***s me up no
end since I don't carry cash. Meanwhile, I contacted WalMart. "Do not let
anyone pick up this merchandise! I didn't order it. I don't know anyone
named William Nugyen in California." I've already gotten an email back from
WalMart stating they've credited the money back to my account. (That could
take two billing cycles. Meanwhile, I've got bills to pay! Dammit.)

Now I just have to wait for the bank to open so I can get them to try to
reverse the pending transaction. Grrrrrrrrrr.

OB Cats: Persia's curled up on her crackle sack behind me, oblivious to any
of these financial worries. She got her Sunday Fancy Feast dinner last
night and is happy as can be

Jill


A similar thing happened to me, except someone withdrew rather a lot
of cash from a couple of ATMs and I got the call from the bank first
because of the unusual activity. The bank replaced my debit card
on the spot and I did get the money back. Apparently it is possible
to collect data wirelessly from bank ATMs and use it to create a new
ATM card, complete with PIN. I had never allowed anyone to borrow my
card and I keep my PIN only in my head. The police told me there was a
ring active. Maybe they've moved to SC. I ought to only write checks,
I guess, but the ATM is so convenient.

Bud


A lot of local businesses don't take cheques any more. I've gotten right
out of the habit of using my chequebook.

--
Cheryl
  #7  
Old February 13th 12, 06:18 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Matthew[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,287
Default (OT) Identity Theft

that named you mentioned is a named used in Nigeria scams

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Don't ask how or why but some idiot hijacked my bank check card and
ordered himself a laptop computer from WalMart. I received email
confirmation from WalMart stating my "order" is ready to be picked up.
Primary pickup person, me. Alternate pickup person, someone named William
Nguyen in Westminster, CA. I thought surely this person wouldn't be
stupid enough to use my email address... but yes, they were. No one said
criminals are smart. Heh.

Just to make sure this wasn't someone's idea of a joke I checked my bank
account. Sure enough, there's a pending debit against my account for that
exact amount. I'm waiting for the bank to open so I can call and dispute
the charge.

I've already reported the card (online) lost or stolen, which f***s me up
no end since I don't carry cash. Meanwhile, I contacted WalMart. "Do not
let anyone pick up this merchandise! I didn't order it. I don't know
anyone named William Nugyen in California." I've already gotten an email
back from WalMart stating they've credited the money back to my account.
(That could take two billing cycles. Meanwhile, I've got bills to pay!
Dammit.)

Now I just have to wait for the bank to open so I can get them to try to
reverse the pending transaction. Grrrrrrrrrr.

OB Cats: Persia's curled up on her crackle sack behind me, oblivious to
any of these financial worries. She got her Sunday Fancy Feast dinner
last night and is happy as can be

Jill



  #8  
Old February 13th 12, 06:26 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Christina Websell
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 8,983
Default (OT) Identity Theft


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Don't ask how or why but some idiot hijacked my bank check card and
ordered himself a laptop computer from WalMart. I received email
confirmation from WalMart stating my "order" is ready to be picked up.
Primary pickup person, me. Alternate pickup person, someone named William
Nguyen in Westminster, CA. I thought surely this person wouldn't be
stupid enough to use my email address... but yes, they were. No one said
criminals are smart. Heh.

Just to make sure this wasn't someone's idea of a joke I checked my bank
account. Sure enough, there's a pending debit against my account for that
exact amount. I'm waiting for the bank to open so I can call and dispute
the charge.

I've already reported the card (online) lost or stolen, which f***s me up
no end since I don't carry cash. Meanwhile, I contacted WalMart. "Do not
let anyone pick up this merchandise! I didn't order it. I don't know
anyone named William Nugyen in California." I've already gotten an email
back from WalMart stating they've credited the money back to my account.
(That could take two billing cycles. Meanwhile, I've got bills to pay!
Dammit.)

Now I just have to wait for the bank to open so I can get them to try to
reverse the pending transaction. Grrrrrrrrrr.

That's scary. At least Walmart are giving your money back. I agree that
you should involve the police. Identity theft like this is taken very
seriously here and it would be great if the boys in blue were waiting for
him when he picked his laptop up.


  #9  
Old February 13th 12, 06:34 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
Arthur Shapiro[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 185
Default (OT) Identity Theft

In article , "jmcquown" wrote:
Alternate pickup person, someone named William Nguyen in Westminster,


The Vietnamese gangs in Westminster and Garden Grove (aka Garbage Grove) are
well known here, especially for violent home invasion robberies. This is the
first I've heard of identity theft, although there's no reason (yet) to
associate it with the gangs.

Good luck - I hope it doesn't snowball.

Art, a few miles down the freeway from that area
  #10  
Old February 13th 12, 08:51 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)
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Posts: 3,800
Default (OT) Identity Theft



Cheryl wrote:


A lot of local businesses don't take cheques any more. I've gotten right
out of the habit of using my chequebook.


If they "don't take" checks (cheques) they do without my business!

 




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