Will the real "YOU" please stand up.

Identity theft is a growing problem across the country, as my wife and I learned over the last couple of years. If your identity is stolen, people can re-establish "You" in another town or part of the country. They can run up huge debts using your identity that will leave you with monumental financial problems and destroy your credit history, work history,  unable to cash checks or obtain and use credit cards or finance a home or car.  If you move swiftly you can minimize the problems. The worst thing you can do if your identity is stolen   is…nothing!  I have outlined the things we did to protect ourselves and I hope that a few readers can use the information should it happen to them. We think it helped us.

 While in Dallas, in January of 2000 my wife's purse was stolen while attending an apparel market.  The thief removed her checkbook, credit cards, driver's license and some cash earmarked as  "road trip money".  The purse was turned in to the office with only those items missing.  Due to the fact that the items stolen had identifying information about us, we treated it as an identity theft. We cancelled the credit cards right away and contacted our local bank of the theft of our checkbook and provided the check numbers.

 We contacted all the major credit reporting agencies and contacted the local reporting agencies in Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. We flagged our account and any transactions would require a password and other identifying information. We contacted the Telephone Company and password protected our account and flagged it so that long distance calls could not be made on our phone or changes to our account could not occur. I contacted the Drivers License Bureau and was informed that if things worsened, a process was in place, to allow me to change my DL#. Not an easy process but it can be done. I contacted the Post Master in Jennings and he flagged my address so that no mail would be re-routed to another address. I filed a complaint with the FTC fraud division.  I contacted the major and some minor check cashing/verification companies to flag our Drivers license number and account number. I contacted the company that prints our checks and told them not to issue any additional checks to a different address and not provide any identifying information.  Everyone was helpful and very cooperative, except the widely used Telecheck Services company.  Within 24 hours we had everything password protected, flagged or locked down. The thief could not check out a book at the library or rent a movie using our identities, nor could he obtain any personal information.  Telecheck was out there by themselves approving forged checks with impunity and despite my multiple attempts to prevent it. 

 A couple of days later the checks started rolling in to our bank. The thief had decided to use my identity instead of my wife's and created a fake Texas Drivers License ID using the Drivers License number off of the checks.  His new address was hand written on the checks. He went to a number of Malls in Dallas Texas and began writing checks. Despite my efforts to block the approval process, Telecheck and other check verification companies had approved the checks. The signature on the check had the first name and last name misspelled. By all common sense methods the checks should have never been ran through the check verification machines.  A week into the spending spree the checks began to be denied and in some cases the managers verbally approved the check purchases anyway, despite the fact that it was an out of state check with misspelled signatures and the use of a fake ID.

 He was a thoughtful and loving thief though, because he purchased shoes at a woman's shoe store and even bought her a valentines present. Nothing says "I Love You" more than giving your loved one, things bought with a forged check.

 It was learned that in most cases the thief would purchase items and then exploit the companies that had relaxed return policies. He turned the forged checks into cash.  

As the checks were returned we contacted the merchants to inform them of what happened. Most were cooperative. Some didn’t care. One major chain that didn’t care and was pursuing payment, is in the news today for going bankrupt. And guess who don’t care now!

 Merchants should not cast away standard common sense on accepting checks and rely on the check verification systems. They are helping to perpetuate the crimes of forgers.  I notice now that people do not even look at the checks anymore. They don’t care enough. They just run it through the machines.

We had acted in good faith and relentlessly attempted to reduce loss by us and by the merchants. We learned they didn’t care. We still have trouble using checks at stores that use Telecheck verification systems. It has been 2 years and they still have not corrected it. Telecheck was the only company that did not have a contingency plan to prevent fraud and forgeries by flagging accounts, and we are still fighting them today.  They were negligent and complacent and we have to live with the misery. They want payment and that is one thing they will never get from us.  We have changed our banks after 15 years of business. Things were quiet for a while and now they have found us again at our new bank.  We will probably have to move banks again.

When we try to set up accounts or finance a purchase we have to go through a barrage of verifications and passwords. We have been turned down more than once, for credit applications, because of our own security measures. I have had to leave groceries on the counters of stores because my checks wouldn’t go through and the people know me and I have done business with them for 25 years, but that doesn't matter. The machine says "not approved". Common sense is no longer used.

I shudder to think what would have happened had we not taken care of the protective details in the beginning.  They didn’t get too far this time.  There is no telling how far he could have gone. Currently we continue to fight Telecheck after 2 years and may require a lawyer to resolve it and learn what our legal recourse is.  It is a very disturbing feeling to know that someone is pretending to be you and trying to spend money that you don’t have or can't afford to spend.

We were forced to learn a few things in the process. To minimize your chances of being a victim of identity theft, it is a good idea to protect your drivers license number, social security number, date of birth and your mothers maiden name. You should never give that information out over the phone unless you initiated the call. You should not pre-print your driver's license number or social security number on your checks. If the merchants want it let them write it each time.

Today we have to go through a series of verification processes and must transact certain business from our home telephone number for verification. Imagine the inconvenience of having to go home to call a merchant on your home phone so you can conduct business. We have to provide our ID at a number of places because of the flags we put on our accounts. Our efforts to protect ourselves may have been "overkill" but its better than the alternative.

You should protect identifying information about yourself and request that your information is not provided to third parties. If your purse or wallet is stolen, you should think the worst and move quickly to secure your identity.  Document everything you do and everyone you talk to with dates and times. Today a theft or loss of your checkbook, credit cards or drivers license could result in a catastrophic financial loss if it falls into the wrong hands. People pay money for details of your identity. You have to protect it.

Things have changed.

Joe Semmes

Links to Identity Theft Information on the Web

Consumer.gov - Know Fraud
U.S. government's central website for
information about identity theft.
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse - A comprehensive site loaded with identity theft information.

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