Legal Eagles?

[k9ophile]

Today I got an invoice in my e-mail for services rendered by a pest control company in Modesto, CA. It was addressed with a different spelling of my first name. It was a statement for money owed for a job done in Manteca, CA. I'VE NEVER HEARD OF MANTECA , let alone lived there. I'm finding it to be disconcerting . How did this company get my e-mail address and why did they not recognized the difference in spelling? This is spooky enough, but yesterday I got a call from a bank concerning a credit card charge that the bank thought was suspicious. It was for$1,499.00. Because it was pending approval, I was told the identity of the person who was seeking approval could not be identified. My card was cancelled.

Does this sound like a case of identity theft? I seldom use this particular card. I'm unsure what to do next. Call the pest control company to hear what they have to say? Report this weird activity to my local police in case it is the beginning of identity theft?

I do not have time to fuck around with this, yet I don't see any alternative if it is identity theft.

Help if you can!

ETA I tried to get my credit report and I kept getting "timed out". This does not make sense as I entered the information as fast as I could. I was even told my ZIP 5+ 4 did not match when indeed it did. I'm getting papranoid!

 

[bearmom]

I'm not a legal eagle, but have been targeted several times by jerks that use scams and identity theft to make their way, and it sounds like you are being targeted whether or not the scammer has been successful.
I'd do a few things asap, if you haven't already. Contact Equifax, Experian and Transunion and use one of the services (they have several, free, and paid) and get your credit locked. You may be inconvenienced if you need to get a loan or apply for credit yourself, but it's minor. Also get a good password manager on your computer, and use it with EVERYTHING. Takes a while to set it all up and put all necessary data in, but it will be a drop in the bucket compared to what it can take to sort out a hacked acct.

I would contact the pest control company as well. It may be that THAT is a scam, or if they are a legit business, someone may have used them, and used some of your data.

 

[k9ophile]

Thanks. I plan to contact the pest control company tomorrow. By the time I read my e-mail, they were closed. Experian was a nightmare (see above). I'll try to contact the others.

 

[DianaCox]

File a police report locally as well.

 

[k9ophile]

Yes, that's on my list as well.

 

[southernlady]

Having been a victim twice, it’s a pain in the ass to fix but critical to do it quickly to minimize damages.

Request Rejected

www.identitytheft.gov

The first thing we always did was contact our bank. And thanks to the first theft, we always have two so if one is unavailable (cards being replaced), we do have a second one.

 

[Charris]

Call and put a block on your ss number. Any credit approvals or anything they will have to call you and verify that its you and you want it. I've had my identity stolen a lot. Ugggh hate you have to be bothered.

 

[k9ophile]

Thanks, everyone for the advice. I called the pest control company. It may be just an issue of a name misspelling i.e. she said her name was "Kathy" at gmail and they sent it to "Cathy" at gmail because the our names are the same, but spelled differently. The copy of the statement I got had a check number listed, nothing to identify a credit card like the last four digits of an account.

Last night, I tried to contact one of the credit reporting agencies to get my report on-line. What a fuster--cluck. I kept getting timed out or being told that I didn't exist. I was able to get my report this morning and do not see any requests for my credit history that I don't recognize. I've imagined the local police might think I'm a stark raving paranoid lunatic. But them thinking that does not scare me as much as having my identity stolen.

I also went on-line to check my statements for my credit cards and saw no charges I didn't recognize.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

This is how my husband discovered he was an identity theft victim.

it is a MAJOR hassle, but you start with the police report...because creditors will ask for the report number. Then, everyone—including you—will be locked out and YOU will have to jump through hoops every time someone needs your credit report.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I'm not a legal eagle, but have been targeted several times by jerks that use scams and identity theft to make their way, and it sounds like you are being targeted whether or not the scammer has been successful.
I'd do a few things asap, if you haven't already. Contact Equifax, Experian and Transunion and use one of the services (they have several, free, and paid) and get your credit locked. You may be inconvenienced if you need to get a loan or apply for credit yourself, but it's minor. Also get a good password manager on your computer, and use it with EVERYTHING. Takes a while to set it all up and put all necessary data in, but it will be a drop in the bucket compared to what it can take to sort out a hacked acct.

I would contact the pest control company as well. It may be that THAT is a scam, or if they are a legit business, someone may have used them, and used some of your data.

BUT, the actual FULL lock is free, lasts close to forever, but needs a police report number. So we had to start there.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Having been a victim twice, it’s a pain in the ass to fix but critical to do it quickly to minimize damages.

Request Rejected

www.identitytheft.gov

The first thing we always did was contact our bank. And thanks to the first theft, we always have two so if one is unavailable (cards being replaced), we do have a second one.

Oh...maybe it has changed or I got it backwards...but I remember that all our reporting had to stop until a police report was filed. It was simple. Done online. But that police report number was required for some of the protections we needed.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Thanks, everyone for the advice. I called the pest control company. It may be just an issue of a name misspelling i.e. she said her name was "Kathy" at gmail and they sent it to "Cathy" at gmail because the our names are the same, but spelled differently. The copy of the statement I got had a check number listed, nothing to identify a credit card like the last four digits of an account.

Last night, I tried to contact one of the credit reporting agencies to get my report on-line. What a fuster--cluck. I kept getting timed out or being told that I didn't exist. I was able to get my report this morning and do not see any requests for my credit history that I don't recognize. I've imagined the local police might think I'm a stark raving paranoid lunatic. But them thinking that does not scare me as much as having my identity stolen.

I also went on-line to check my statements for my credit cards and saw no charges I didn't recognize.

The charges weren’t there (I think) because, so far, they have not yet gotten past the credit agencies.

 

[k9ophile]

The charges weren’t there (I think) because, so far, they have not yet gotten past the credit agencies.

That makes sense and I'll keep an eye on my accounts. It seemed like a reasonable thing to do as well as all the steps others recommended. Right now my biggest problem is time. I'm making three trips a week to Nashville for therapy that isn't available in my little town, This is an all day endeavor.

The information cited by Liz is incredibly helpful.

 

[southernlady]

Oh...maybe it has changed or I got it backwards...but I remember that all our reporting had to stop until a police report was filed. It was simple. Done online. But that police report number was required for some of the protections we needed.

We never had to call the police. I think our bank did that but I honestly don’t remember. We always started with our bank.

 

[JackieOnLine]

I also went on-line to check my statements for my credit cards and saw no charges I didn't recognize.

that has to be good! I'm glad you got some good advice and have a plan. I'd be scared if that happened to me!