Identity Theft... Stinks (What to Do to Fix It)

Bass and I recently discovered that we were the victims of identity theft. Grr.

I received a letter from a bank saying they were so glad I was now a customer. Hmm...I didn't remember opening any accounts with a bank from three states away, so red flags went up immediately. We called to check into the situation and pretty quickly realized that it was fraudulent. (If you want to count how many times I use the word fraudulent in this post, we're now up to 2.) ;)
We told this bank that it wasn't us opening the account, and they marked it as fraud and said they'd look into it.
As we waited to hear back, we didn't really think too much about it, until another bank called. This is where the whole can o' worms was opened and got dumped on our heads. Bank #2 was going to open an account but said not all of the info was lining up, so they tracked down our phone number to call to confirm.

To sum up: someone/someones had gotten our names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers and had been opening or trying to open accounts online at various banks all across the country. They were using false addresses (except bank #1 since that letter got mailed to our home) and other false info. At some of the banks, they only created online profiles and never actually opened any accounts. A few banks, they actually got checking accounts set up.

When I asked one of the customer service reps to help fill in the blanks, she explained that these folks don't want the checks or the debit cards... what they want are the bank account numbers. They then use those numbers to hack into the system and start shuffling money around to various accounts before finally getting it into "their" account and withdrawing it. I also asked how on earth they got our info since we're pretty picky about privacy, especially our SSNs. She said a company or institution probably got hacked at some point which is how they got our SSNs. These scammers then try to piece together as much info as they can to create a profile that they then start using.

Fortunately (the silver lining and God's hand of protection), they don't have any of our passwords or personal banking info, so we haven't experienced any financial loss at this point. I think we caught it soon enough that, hopefully, our info won't be used to cause anyone else financial harm either. It's just lots and lots of hours of time and lots and lots of paperwork to sort through and resolve it.

I hope and pray none of you ever have to go through this, but I did want to write a post with all the info I have come across to prevent and respond to identity theft in case someone out there needs it and feels as overwhelmed as we did.

(This is just me, friend to friend, sharing with you. This post is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should consult with your own lawyer if you need legal advice or services and follow up with the proper authorities if you suspect you are a victim of identity theft or fraud.)

How to avoid identity theft and fraud in the first place: 
I thought we were good about protecting our identity and never thought we'd be victims in this type of crime. We're internet savvy.... Bass is an IT guy, for Pete's sake. I have tape over my webcam and hate even taping mailing envelopes shut because I'm afraid my fingerprints will transfer. lol (Paranoid much, right??) :) Honestly though, we shred our stuff, we pay cash for most of our expenses, we don't open email links, etc. Here are other things we were doing or could have done (from this site): 

• Don't leave mail in your mailbox overnight or on weekends
• Deposit outgoing mail in U.S.P.S. collection boxes
• Don't leave your purse and/or wallets in unattended vehicles
• Shred unwanted documents that contain personal information
• Put your trash out on the day that it is collected
• Report lost or stolen credit cards to the issuer immediately
• Destroy expired/old credit cards and drivers licenses
• Memorize your Social Security number and passwords.
• Don't list your Social Security number on your checks
• Check your financial statements for accuracy
• Match credit card receipts against monthly bills
• Review your consumer credit report annually
• ALWAYS safeguard birth certificates, credit history reports, and any statements that contain personal information

Other things you can do to protect yourself -
* Consider subscribing to an online identity protection services (like LifeLock or Experian's option)
* Install firewalls (anti-spyware) and virus-protection software on your computer
* Don't respond to unsolicited requests for personal information
* Watch your wallet and purse when in public
* Don't give out passwords or pin numbers
* Cancel and then destroy unused credit cards
* Only shop on secure websites (https://___)
* Don't use personal info on public computers
* Use complex passwords with a combination of letters (lower & upper case, numbers, and symbols)
* Preemptively put a freeze on your ChexSystems profile and/or credit reports

And the biggest one... don't use your Social Security number unless you absolutely have to (ie employment, taxes, credit). Just write "refused" on the forms. If the company/institution tries to identify you in their system using your SSN, even the last four digits, take your business elsewhere. Legally, they're not allowed to use your full SSN as account/profile identification anyway.

A few other sites I found with helpful info:
consumer.gov
identitytheftkiller.com
cbsnews.com

So if you find yourself in our boat and you think you are a victim or definitely know you are a victim of identity theft or fraud, #1 I am so sorry. :( #2 Here's what they recommend doing:
It's a toss-up as to what to do first, honestly. It kind of depends on how you first discover the issue. The first 3 things on this list could be done in any order.
 
How to recover from and resolve identity theft or fraud:
#1 and so, so important...start keeping track of everything you do. Dates of when you discover the fraud, from where, who you call, who you talk to, what steps you're taking. Get as much info from each place as you possibly can. (But be warned that banks probably will tell you zippo even though it's your info on the account. lol) A detailed, itemized, every single thing, with the date type of list. 

* Order your credit report (from Experian (currently under the reports & scores tab), TransUnion (currently under the credit report assistance tab) or Equifax (under the credit report assistance tab). You get one copy free per year from each of them. So you could stagger the orders and get a different one every four months, thereby getting three per year. But we found out that not every institution reports to all three companies so our reports were not consistent between the three reporting agencies. So you might just want to get a copy from each if you discover fraudulent activity.

* Order your consumer score report from ChexSystems (under "reports" choose "request your consumer score"). While the big three above deal with credit items (credit cards, loans, mortgages, etc), ChexSystems is a similar type reporting agency for your consumer items (checking accounts, savings accounts, deposit products). A lot of banks now use this to help prevent fraudulent accounts being opened. A lot, not 'all' as we discovered. :(

* Once you have your reports in-hand, hopefully they're in perfect shape with zero fraud! Hopefully. :) If not, your next step is to file a police report with your local police department. Carefully make note of any information that is incorrect or wasn't initiated by you. (Addresses, employment info, open accounts, closed accounts, inquiries (hard or soft).) If the fraud didn't occur in the state in which you live, the police report is more of a formality for the other reports you will need to file. Their hands are kind of tied if it's an out-of-state crime. Your local police might have a specific form for you to fill out, or you can just type up a timeline of what happened and give it them. Get the police report number, the officer's name, and a copy of the actual report (or a verification of it if they won't give you the actual report.) You'll need multiple copies.

The next big thing to do will be to place fraud alerts and security freezes on your credit and consumer profiles. Make sure you have a copy (either via postal mail or printed from online) of your credit and consumer reports before you place the alerts. (Fraud or security alerts require fraudulent activity to have occurred. A freeze does not necessarily require fraud to have happened for you to use it. Review each site's info to understand the difference. Keep in mind, too, that freezes lock your own self out too. So no applying for that Kohl's card to "save 15% today". You will have the option to unfreeze your credit or consumer profiles at any time, but there is a delay between unfreezing and using.)

* File an identity theft report with the FTC
* Place a security freeze at Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
* Place an initial 90-day fraud alert at Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
* Place a security freeze at ChexSystems.
* Place an initial 90-day fraud alert at ChexSystems.


Once you have your initial alerts and freezes placed, be sure to continue to answer phone calls from unknown numbers (it might be a bank confirming the freeze or alert with you) and open and check all of your mail. Even if it looks like junk. :)




The initial alerts and freezes should help stem the tide of fraudulent activity. But you're not done quite yet. After you get the police report and finalize your FTC report, you need to go back to the credit agencies and ChexSystems to dispute any fraudulent items. You want to dispute anything that shouldn't be there, because it can affect your credit score negatively.

* Dispute credit report items at Experian
* Dispute credit report items at TransUnion
* Dispute credit report items at Equifax
* Dispute consumer score items at ChexSystems

Resolved disputes should be acknowledged by mail. (We heard back from Experian within days.)

Then you can get an extended 7-year security alert placed on your profile.
You will need copies of all sorts of stuff (photo ID, utility bill with current address, Social Security card, FTC report, police report, notarized affidavit, etc.) Check each agencies requirements for what to include and mail in.

* Extended alert form for Experian
* Extended alert form for TransUnion
* Extended alert form for Equifax
* Extended alert form for ChexSystems

You'll also want to utilize identitytheft.gov's plan to help you draft letters and print items to send to any affected banks/institutions/agencies. Other than maybe contacting the SSA if your situation warrants it, I think that's about it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy, right?
I hope that helps someone out there....well, actually I hope this was a big waste of time because no one else ever has to deal with something like this. :D
Be safe, y'all!

A Week in Washington DC with Kids Part 3

I respectfully ask that you not pin pictures of my children to Pinterest. Thank you!

The Gutenberg Bible in the Library of Congress

A Week in Washington DC with Kids Part 1 and Part 2

Our last two days were as busy as the first part of the week.
Here's what we did on Thursday and Friday:
Thursday:
We started our day at the Capitol Building. After having to throw away most of our lunch, we got through security and downstairs to get tour tickets. They have timed tour tickets for each day that you can get once you're there. As we got to the tour start area, I kind of scoped it out and picked a line with a tour guide that looked friendly. Best pick ever. He was from Scotland and had the best accent. His tour was really good, funny and informative, but honestly, he could have been reading the phone book and would have been great.

The rotunda is under construction but still open at this point.

Andrew; He looks angry but was just telling his story intensely. :)

From the Capitol, I had planned to go to the Supreme Court but found that there's an underground walking tunnel to the Library of Congress. Since it was cold and drizzly outside, we headed to the Library next.

The architecture is fabulous in there.

Our name is in the mosaic ceiling.

And we got to see Thomas Jefferson's library.

They have tours in the library; we just didn't have time to wait for one, and it was extremely crowded.
Supreme Court was next. There's a short film about the court that's worth watching. We didn't spend a whole lot of time here.

We ate lunch at Pete's Diner on 2nd Street. It wasn't good. The people were super friendly, but the food was only so-so and the tables were sticky. :)
We were able to get the metro from that side of the city and head to the National Gallery of Art.

An installation made of paper in the gift shop

 

There are so many paintings and sculptures to look at here. You could spend days there and still not absorb it all. Rooms full of Monet, and Picasso, and Singer Sargent. It's almost overwhelming. But very, very cool to see, in person, within touching distance, paintings that we've read about and studied and copied.
We left and headed to the Air and Space Museum.

The kids have done the Air and Space Museum before and I really wanted to spend time in the American History Museum, so we didn't spend too much time in here. We stuck to the exhibits that fit best with what we studied this year: History of Flight, Space Race, etc.

It was hard to tear them away, but I really wanted to get to the Museum of American History. We walked over and then stood in line forever to get in. They had bag checks and metal detectors, but were taking forever to get people through. It was not well done at all.
We did one exhibit (war in history)...

George Washington's uniform

...we came out of the exhibit, started to head to another. A security guard hollered, "You can't go that way.... You can't go that way, sir." Um, okay. We asked why not and he said they were closed.
What?!?!
So what happened was, I had originally planned this day's activities to be on Wednesday but switched it to Thursday because of the weather forecast. The museum was open late on Wednesday, not on Thursday.
If security had been less ridiculous, we could have had a little more time; if I had remembered the hours, we could have had more time. To make it worse, the staff was really rude to all the visitors as they were closing down. Seriously, so rude. I was really disappointed.

We had planned to eat dinner at their cafe since it was recommended online, but went to plan B because they closed 2 hours earlier than we expected. We ended up eating at the Silver Diner in Falls Church (super yummy!)

 

Notes and Tips for the Capitol Building area:
*You cannot take food or drink into the Capitol Building. Seriously, nothing. They'll make you throw it out. So if you pack your lunch, go later in the day. Or, you can get through security in the Library of Congress building and then take the underground walking tunnel into the Capitol. They didn't do a bag search coming in from that direction. (You can also put food in your pockets if you're desperate. Unless you set off the metal detector you can get a granola bar in. Just sayin'. :) )
*Wear good shoes.
*Get in Andrew's tour at the Capitol building. :D
* Do NOT try to squeeze in 3 Smithsonian museums into one afternoon.
* Eat at the Silver Diner; do not eat at Pete's Diner. :)

My original Thursday itinerary was:
U.S. Capitol and Visitor Center
Supreme Court
Library of Congress
Lunch and the Taft, Grant, and Garfield Memorials
National Gallery of Art
National Air and Space Museum
Dinner and American History Museum
Hotel

On Friday, we:
did not have to get up super early to catch the hotel shuttle to the closest metro stop! We got up, packed up, checked out, and headed to George Washington's home, Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon was the other attraction included in our tour bus package deal.
It's really beautiful there. I felt badly that the country pressured George into a second presidential term when he really just wanted to retire.

We did the house tour. They had park rangers stationed in each room. They'd talk and give info on that area of the house and then send you on to the next area. It was a fast tour because it was such a crowded day.

 After the house tour, we explored the grounds, the outbuildings, and the gardens.

View of the Potomac from the back lawn

We took the horse ride (free) down at the "farm", and then took the shuttle back to the Visitors Center for lunch.

 We saw George and Martha's grave site

and spent time with "Lady" Washington.

She was an amazing interpreter. She talked for 3 hours, in character as Martha. No scripts, no speeches. Just answering questions as if she were Martha herself. Someone asked how she met George, and she dimpled and blushed and smiled and told the story. She looked like she was actually in love with the man! She asked where people were from and when someone responded, "Pittsburgh", she replied, "Ah yes, George was in that area where the 3 rivers converge. He'll be glad to know that people are settling near the fort of Pitt." lol I want to be her when I grow up.

We saw all that we could and then headed out, stopping at Georgetown Cupcakes in Bethesda on our way home.

Fastest $13 we've ever eaten! So good!

Notes and Tips for the Mount Vernon:
*Lunch at the food court was very expensive. Pack if you can.
*Wear good shoes. The property is quite large and has rough terrain.
*Do sit and talk with Lady Washington if you can.

And that's it! It was a crazy busy week with a lot crammed in! We have money left on our metro cards so we're planning to go back for a few day trips to catch what we missed this time around.

A Week in Washington DC with Kids Part 2

I respectfully ask that you not pin pictures of my children to Pinterest. Thank you!

A Week in Washington DC with Kids Part 1 and Part 3

For Part 2, I'll tell you what our Tuesday and Wednesday looked like.
Here's what we did:
Tuesday:
Because it opens so early, we started at the White House Visitors Center.
Our hotel offered a shuttle to the closest metro station. From there we were able to stay on that line and get off as close as we could to the WHVC.
We found out quickly that in DC, the escalators are two-laned. If you want to stand and ride the escalator, stay to the right because the people rushing to catch a train and running past you on the left. Wait, you say, escalators aren't that wide. Yes, you are correct. :) Stay to the right. lol
After we figured that out, we were able to get ourselves to the visitor center easily. They have a short 14 minute film that features former First Families talking about what it was like to live in the White House.
(I didn't start planning our trip until we were about 4 weeks out, so I missed out on the opportunity to get tickets for a tour inside the White House itself. We had so much planned that I'm not sure it's a bad thing that it didn't happen. It would have taken some serious rearranging to fit it in. Perhaps next time. :) )

I'm thinking photography wasn't allowed because none of us have pics from the visitors center. :)

The metro tunnels creep me out. This is no time to panic!!

Next up, we navigated the metro system again and headed to the International Spy Museum. We were able to get a package deal from our tour bus that included discount tickets to the museum. It was money well spent.

Hanging on like James Bond

Playing it cool like Bond

James Bond's Aston Martin --- um, Love!

I'd look good in that car. Right? ;)

The museum had a lot of Bond exhibits but there was so much more. The history of spying, a mission for visitors to try, spy gadgets, interactive stations for kids... If you want to read and see everything (lots of short videos), give yourself 3-4 hours.

After the Spy Museum, we ate next door at the super crowded Shake Shack. It was okay; not the best cheeseburger I've ever had, but it filled us up.

We went to the National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum next. We made it there a few minutes after a tour had started, but we were allowed to join in. The docent walked us through all of the presidential portraits on display. She had lots of little anecdotes about the paintings so we stayed for the whole thing even though our time was limited.

Our PA prez - James Buchanan rocking the faux hawk

One of my fav portraits, George W Bush; He was the only president to be painted w/o wearing a suitcoat and tie. It was a great likeness and very warm and welcoming portrait.

There were other exhibits but we breezed through the rest of the 2nd floor and then headed out for sake of time. Looking back, I probably should have had us go down to the American Origins exhibit on the 1st floor.
Speaking of skipping things, we were also going to walk by Ford's Theatre (another place I couldn't get tickets to. It's free to see but you have to get a timed entry ticket. They were booked up for the days we were there.) Since we were tired and the theater was in a different direction from the next thing, we didn't bother. And we didn't get to the NGA Sculpture Garden. It was too late in the evening by the time we finished at The National Archives.

After the National Gallery of Art, we headed to the Archives. Good thing. We had to wait about 45 minutes to get in to the gallery to see the Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. It was so crowded, we didn't get to see the entire Constitution. And no, they didn't film National Treasure inside. We asked. :)

No pictures inside.

That was it for the day. The Spy Museum and Portrait Gallery need quite a bit of time, plus the travel (walking and metro) in between sites.

Notes and Tips for the White House area:
*Other than tickets for the Spy Museum, everything today was free.
*Wear good shoes.
*Reserve White House and Ford's Theatre tickets as early as you possibly can.
 *Do the National Portrait Gallery tour.
* Do NOT go to DC during spring break. It was so crowded everywhere we went that it took time away from enjoying the exhibits because we were waiting in line or rushed through.
*Stand on the right; move on the left. ;)

My original Tuesday itinerary (in case you're planning and want to do things in a way that makes sense geographically) was:
White House Visitors Center
National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum
Lunch
International Spy Museum
walk by Ford's Theater
National Archives
National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden
Dinner back at the hotel (we had sandwiches and lunch food that we had brought with us.)


On Wednesday, we:
Had the worst day ever because I picked the worst tour bus company ever.
I thought CitySights DC was a great deal online. They had 3 tour loops that you could do, hop on and hop off, plus a package deal for the Spy Museum and Mount Vernon.
I should have read the reviews. It was so bad, I wrote reviews and posted them online.
You can read one here.

Soprano and I huddled down between the seats of the upper deck of our tour bus and freezing to death.

Because the bus tour was so terrible, we didn't spend much time seeing the sights.
The plan was to do the yellow loop (Arlington) and then the purple loop (Embassy Row, Georgetown), then come back and do the red loop (Monuments, National Mall) and get off to see all of the monuments and memorials.
We didn't get to the purple loop at all. But did see some of the monuments and ate our packed lunch at the Washington Monument visitor center (and use the restrooms! lol).

Washington Monument from the W.M. Visitor Center area

WWII Memorial; We saw this 11 years ago just being finished. The fountains weren't operational at that point. It's really pretty.

WWII Memorial

My shutterbugs

The Lincoln Memorial

Looking down the mall

Vietnam Memorial -- this was much more meaningful having just studied it the week before our trip

A park ranger getting a rubbing of a name

When a bus finally showed up (grr! see my Trip Advisor review), we rode part of the red loop over to Union Station. We went next door to the National Postal Museum. (Bass having worked in a mail industry position for 10 years really wanted to do this one.) It was one of the best, most family friendly museums we went to on our trip.

 

After the museum, we ate dinner at Union Station.

The Roman soldier statues covered with shield for modesty's sake. ;)

Um... crazy! It was so busy! But there were lots of places to eat and fun shops to browse through.

And it was super easy to get the metro there and head back to our hotel to collapse. :)

Notes and Tips for the White House area:
*Other than tickets for the bus tour, everything today was free.
*Wear good shoes. The memorials and monuments are not close to each other.
*Do NOT, seriously DO NOT, no matter what other reviews say, DO NOT take a tour via CitySights DC. Pick Big Bus, pick Old Town Trolley, pick anything else.
* DO go to the Postal Museum and give yourself a couple hours.

My original Wednesday itinerary was:
DC CitySights tour purple loop (starting at the Lincoln Memorial)
DC CitySights tour yellow loop
DC CitySights tour red loop (getting off at Jefferson Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, and the Washington Monument)
National Postal Museum
Dinner at Union Station
Hotel