Someone stole my identity and used it to get a mobile account- help.
November 29, 2015 8:29 AM Subscribe
A few weeks ago, I got an order confirmation from Verizon for a new account, but I'm not a customer. The order showed an old address of mine, so I called Verizon, and I was told that someone had used my social security number to place the order. The representative told me that the order was pending, and she could mark it as fraudulent and have it stopped. I then took a few extra steps (police report, checking credit, credit freeze) and thought that was all I could do for now. But I just learned from someone at my old address that I got a bill for the phone line, and paperwork showing everything went through.
Verizon's fraud department isn't open today, and I'm wondering what to do. The police never followed up on the report, but I think the order confirmation I got has two useful details--the new phone number, and a contact number used to set up the account. Should I call the police before calling Verizon so they might have a chance of finding the person, or is it best to try to get the account closed asap? I actually tried calling Verizon again yesterday, and they were so spectacularly unhelpful (they couldn't find any of the old details) I asked for a supervisor, but had to leave a message and no one called back. Tomorrow will be crazy with work, so I'm not going to have a lot of time to think about this. Do I have any recourse if Verizon *doesn't* help for some reason? Would it be helpful to record the call? (I wish I had recorded the first call). I also realized that I need to let the IRS and SSA no about the stolen SSN...is there anything else I'm forgetting? Bonus question, how did I get an order confirmation email--doesn't seem like the thief would have listed my email address?
Verizon's fraud department isn't open today, and I'm wondering what to do. The police never followed up on the report, but I think the order confirmation I got has two useful details--the new phone number, and a contact number used to set up the account. Should I call the police before calling Verizon so they might have a chance of finding the person, or is it best to try to get the account closed asap? I actually tried calling Verizon again yesterday, and they were so spectacularly unhelpful (they couldn't find any of the old details) I asked for a supervisor, but had to leave a message and no one called back. Tomorrow will be crazy with work, so I'm not going to have a lot of time to think about this. Do I have any recourse if Verizon *doesn't* help for some reason? Would it be helpful to record the call? (I wish I had recorded the first call). I also realized that I need to let the IRS and SSA no about the stolen SSN...is there anything else I'm forgetting? Bonus question, how did I get an order confirmation email--doesn't seem like the thief would have listed my email address?
Response by poster: Just one other thing to add- the detectives who would work on this also won't be available until tomorrow, so I can't do anything until then. I have a tendency to forget about things if I don't do them right away, which is one reason I'm tempted to call Verizon as soon as they open tomorrow.
posted by three_red_balloons at 8:49 AM on November 29, 2015
posted by three_red_balloons at 8:49 AM on November 29, 2015
This sort of theft is the background noise of industry. File your online report, call Verizon, they will note things and eventually shut the account down. Beyond notifying them, there's not much else to do. In my (repeated) experience the police won't have the time, energy, or incentive to do more than take a report.
posted by zippy at 8:57 AM on November 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by zippy at 8:57 AM on November 29, 2015 [3 favorites]
Just one other thing to add- the detectives who would work on this also won't be available until tomorrow, so I can't do anything until then
I hate to tell you, but the detectives aren't going to actually do anything about apprehending the person who stole your identity. The report is merely for your records. By all means, call them with the info, but don't be too surprised if y you don't hear anything from them about it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:12 AM on November 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
I hate to tell you, but the detectives aren't going to actually do anything about apprehending the person who stole your identity. The report is merely for your records. By all means, call them with the info, but don't be too surprised if y you don't hear anything from them about it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:12 AM on November 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Do I have any recourse if Verizon *doesn't* help for some reason?
The best thing you can do is to put a fraud alert on your credit report (or, I forget the term, but freeze it so no credit can be issued without the account being unfrozen). While it feels like you are the victim of a crime (identity theft), the actual monetary damage will be done to Verizon, which makes them the main aggrieved party, and the dollar amounts will be so low they will write it off.
Flagging/freezing your credit will make it much less likely your id will be used, because when any business attempts to look it up in order to extend credit to some random con artist, the computer will say "denied" and the con artist will move on to the next of millions of possible identities to try.
You most likely aren't being singled out here. It is so easy to get a social security number, name, and address that will pass muster at a cell phone store, department store, etc becausetens hundreds of millions of identities have been leaked by multiple poorly secured stores, banks, and websites. I mean in recent memory there's been Anthem Blue Cross, Target, the US Office of Personnel Management, Home Depot, ...
Your identity is just one of many for sale on the black market, and while it is special to you, to thieves it is a cheap commodity. Someone in, say, Cincinnati, can go online and buy likely-good ids for their neighborhood (they want a local id because that's less likely to trip fraud alerts), maybe make a duplicate ATM card (without ever having touched yours), fill up their car a few times, maybe get a phone, and then (most of the time) that id will dry up as the fraud department flags it and they'll move on to the next.
Make your id a poorly paying out one by following the tedious steps with the credit bureaus, and you will spend a lot less time dealing with the annoyance of yet another cell phone / credit card / merchant account application.
posted by zippy at 11:37 AM on November 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
The best thing you can do is to put a fraud alert on your credit report (or, I forget the term, but freeze it so no credit can be issued without the account being unfrozen). While it feels like you are the victim of a crime (identity theft), the actual monetary damage will be done to Verizon, which makes them the main aggrieved party, and the dollar amounts will be so low they will write it off.
Flagging/freezing your credit will make it much less likely your id will be used, because when any business attempts to look it up in order to extend credit to some random con artist, the computer will say "denied" and the con artist will move on to the next of millions of possible identities to try.
You most likely aren't being singled out here. It is so easy to get a social security number, name, and address that will pass muster at a cell phone store, department store, etc because
Your identity is just one of many for sale on the black market, and while it is special to you, to thieves it is a cheap commodity. Someone in, say, Cincinnati, can go online and buy likely-good ids for their neighborhood (they want a local id because that's less likely to trip fraud alerts), maybe make a duplicate ATM card (without ever having touched yours), fill up their car a few times, maybe get a phone, and then (most of the time) that id will dry up as the fraud department flags it and they'll move on to the next.
Make your id a poorly paying out one by following the tedious steps with the credit bureaus, and you will spend a lot less time dealing with the annoyance of yet another cell phone / credit card / merchant account application.
posted by zippy at 11:37 AM on November 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
As for your personal protection, follow zippy's advice. But do file a police report. Even though it won't likely be of much, if any, direct benefit to you, it may help break up a fraud ring somewhere down the line.
Fraud rings are harder to break than individual frauds because it is harder to establish a trail. It takes more time, more evidence, and more luck for an investigator to find the pattern. They can't find it at all if no one ever files a report because there is nothing to go on.
posted by Michele in California at 1:38 PM on November 29, 2015
Fraud rings are harder to break than individual frauds because it is harder to establish a trail. It takes more time, more evidence, and more luck for an investigator to find the pattern. They can't find it at all if no one ever files a report because there is nothing to go on.
posted by Michele in California at 1:38 PM on November 29, 2015
This is easy to say and harder to do, but please don't stress too much about this. Make a few phone calls first thing in the morning (their customer service might open at 8 or earlier) and don't worry about it til then.
You have done everything you need to do to establish that this is fraudulent, but you will probably have to remind Verizon about it a few times before it totally goes away. You are not going to be on the hook for anything financially. Notifying the SSA and IRS is a good idea, as is giving an update to the police report that you've already filed (but don't expect anything to be done really). Monitor your credit from all three reporting agencies on a regular basis and make sure that there is a freeze in place with all three (they all claim to share the freeze info with the others, but I personally feel more comfortable taking the action myself).
This is super annoying but also really, really common.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 2:45 PM on November 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
You have done everything you need to do to establish that this is fraudulent, but you will probably have to remind Verizon about it a few times before it totally goes away. You are not going to be on the hook for anything financially. Notifying the SSA and IRS is a good idea, as is giving an update to the police report that you've already filed (but don't expect anything to be done really). Monitor your credit from all three reporting agencies on a regular basis and make sure that there is a freeze in place with all three (they all claim to share the freeze info with the others, but I personally feel more comfortable taking the action myself).
This is super annoying but also really, really common.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 2:45 PM on November 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I understand you're worried, but take a deep breath and resolve to deal with Verizon tomorrow.
posted by cabingirl at 8:46 AM on November 29, 2015 [1 favorite]