FRAUD!!!! (They're trying to get me related)

Cosmo

So I went and signed up for T-Mobile yesterday at the store, and after giving him my SSN the fellow told me "We already have you SSN in the system. You are already an existing customer." I wasn't, and had never been with T-Mobile. My wife ended up putting the account in her name with her as the primary, and we got our phones.Today I called the good folks at T-Mobile and I explained to them the stuation and they told me that YES there was a T-Mobile account that had been attempted to be activated in November 2006. These are the things that raise a red flag to me:- The SSN used is mine.- The first name on the account is my wifes. I don't recognize the last name.- The attempt was made in Philly, at 18th & Diamond (cue "real heads know the deal icon...")I talked to the people at the T-Mobile fraud department and the dude was like "I see this several times a day, it's bound to have just been a mistake." I don't buy it. Now T-Mobile is handling my shit to make it straight but I don't know what else is out there, what else may have been attempted or whatever. Shit is crazy and I'm dumb paranoid right now.Do you folks think this is a legitimate attempt at fraud against me? And if so, who should I call or where should I turn to?

Delay

that's foul, dude. good luck.

Cosmo

Sounds like someone's trying to defraud me, right?

Jonny_Paycheck

yes. South Philly Gizzan Kill Defraud At Will!

Delay

i bet there's a consumer protection agency or something that can help you get to the bottom of this.

Cosmo

So who do I talk to?

Brian

freecreditreport.com or some shit to see if any other shit popped off on your ssn

DB_Cooper

Sounds like someone's trying to defraud me, right?

Could be. Or, someone could have messed up a digit in their SSN on their application, and the name thing is a coincidence. I'd check your credit report and see if there are any unpaid credit card bills or the like that weren't yours. If not, you're probably OK.

Mr. Casual

So who do I talk to?

Dude... I had an issue where I would get calls from people speaking spanish, then when I asked if they had the right number it was my cell number.. Someone cloned my phone.. Shit pisses me off!

day

Sounds like someone's trying to defraud me, right?

Could be. Or, someone could have messed up a digit in their SSN on their application, and the name thing is a coincidence.

That would be nice, but nah. Cosmo's wife's name isn't exactly common and I'm sure even less so in the spot he's talking about.

Cosmo, I don't know who to call, but call someone cause you know fools will try a gang of things until they find one that works.

DOR

Get a credit report done (They may be free, but even if it isn't, its a great thing to have)...

erewhon

Do you folks think this is a legitimate attempt at fraud against me?

legitimate fraud = oxymoron

but for real, that shit is .

PABLO

Starting in college I developed a fear of giving out my SSN, this thread reminds me why.
Do everything suggested above, if somebody got a list with your # there's no reason why they wouldn't try some other shit as well.
Best of luck.

CousinLarry

Put an alert on you credit report with the big three (experian, trans union, & equifax) it is free and they will look out for odd stuff popping up. Also get a credit report. Everyone in the US can get a free report once a year. Dispute anything that doesn't look right. My fiance has an account under her name and SS with Philly Gas works. At least you don't have to deal with them.

prof_rockwell

maybe it's this dude

Hotsauce84

- The attempt was made in Philly, at 18th & Diamond (cue "real heads know the deal icon...")

Controller_7

Cosmo, you should get a credit check for sure. You are allowed a free credit check once a year if you suspect fraud. If you think something may be suspicious with your credit or SSN then they will run the credit check for free. I'm not talking about through some site that claims they will do it for free, making you enroll in a program. One of the major companies should have a link for you to do it. There are 3 main credit companies (experian, equifax, and Transunion). Basically all credit checks and credit applications go through one of those places. You can do it online and it will run the check for all 3 places. you'll find out if anyone has any cards out in your name. It will also show anytime you've ever had a credit card and what they rate you as. It's worth doing it.

I had all my money taken out of my bank account a few years ago and I ran the check to be safe. It helps give you some piece of mind.

Edit:
oops. cousin larry beat me to it.

I reccomend doing it though. You can also get them to prevent companies from sending you unsolicited credit applications.

cantescapebreaks

C7 and Larry are correct. Go to freecreditreport.com; this is the only legit site that???ll get you a free copy of your report without having to sign up for any bs credit monitoring for a fee (like annualcreditreport.com). You get one free report from each of the major repositories a year; I recommend requesting one from each every 4 months. You can also request free monitoring but make sure you keep your current phone number updated with them as you will need to be contacted any time anyone runs your credit. I can???t tell you how many people lapse on doing that and then get annoyed that I need them to fix it before we can move forward on a loan.

Kaushik

In addition to the above mentioned, you could try contacting your bank, credit card companies, and anyone else who might have your SS# and alert them that you suspect identity theft. They will check your account and let you know if any unexpected transactions have taken place... good luck, ID theft sucks. Luckily most companies are really good about working with you to resolve any issues.

twoply

Go to freecreditreport.com; this is the only legit site that???ll get you a free copy of your report without having to sign up for any bs credit monitoring

Um, this is copied directly from the signup page:

Payment Information
When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring. If you don't cancel your membership within the 30-day trial period, you will be billed $12.95 for each month that you continue your membership. If you are not satisfied, you can cancel at any time to discontinue the membership and stop the monthly billing; however, you will not be eligible for a pro-rated refund of your current month's paid membership fee.

volumen

That employee said he see's it several times a day because cell phone fraud is very common. I would look into at every angle, starting with the credit report. T-Mobile isn't going to help because they would have to admit their company is tricked into fraud on a daily basis. Another tip is to start useing a credit cards and not your debit card. Just be sure you pay it off every month and don't rack up interest payments. Credit Cards usually act pretty fast when their is fraud and usually don't hold it against you. If your debit gets ganked your bank will put the responsibility on you and not credit the money back into your account until their 2 weeks of paperwork is complete. This can really screw you.

bull_ox

Go to freecreditreport.com; this is the only legit site that???ll get you a free copy of your report without having to sign up for any bs credit monitoring

Um, this is copied directly from the signup page:

Payment Information
When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring. If you don't cancel your membership within the 30-day trial period, you will be billed $12.95 for each month that you continue your membership. If you are not satisfied, you can cancel at any time to discontinue the membership and stop the monthly billing; however, you will not be eligible for a pro-rated refund of your current month's paid membership fee.

I can't remember which one I used (which was free) but it looks like annualcreditreport.com is the one.....

BTW Cos, a few years back a friend of mine found out there were two cell accts started w/his number in AZ (we're in NC), he called the company up and presumably they straightened it out... as far as I know there was no other fraud. So def get your credit checked but you might be alright.

kicks79

Sounds mad shady. My friend got taken for several hundred dollars on her credit card. The people who did it used her card on an Israeli gambling site. Thats what tipped the bank off. They rang her and asked if she used the card and she hadn't so they froze it and she got her money back. We were so suprised that the bank was actuall proactive on this for once. We're still not sure how they got her card details.

meatyogre

seen a thing on the news the other day about these phony credit card slide machines that thieves can place over the ones at gas stations/atms etc and jack your info. Also secret cameras to steal your pin number and shit. BEWARE

Rockadelic

A common scam is for the sales people at these wireless companies to draw up bogus sales, collect the commission, and move on to the next job.

If you haven't been contacted by a collection agency or received a bill over 6 months I'd suspect the above.

Free credit report is a good idea though.

Controller_7

yeah, don't do one of the credit checks that requires any sort of sign up. One of those 3 credit companies will have a link somewhere. I can't remember. It's not like a gimmic, like sign up for this and we'll help you. It's more of a "we take this shit seriously" and you can do it for free, no fucking around kind of thing. Just make sure you do it from one of the three credit agencies and you'll be good.

Raystar

- The attempt was made in Philly, at 18th & Diamond (cue "real heads know the deal icon...")

Wow, yall have no idea! Now that area is THE GREAT NORTH PHILLY.

day

I just opened a collection notice for $522.57 for a phone someone put in my name.

Fuck.

MTK

I've actually worked in the fraud industry for a while now, like 3 years or so... 2 1/2 years for a 3rd party processor for banks (leg work type cats) and the last few months for a large online travel site (dooooooot coommmmmmmmm) ask to speak with their finance/transaction processing/risk mgmt/whatever the verbiage is department and see how you can rectify the account that was fraudulent so it doesn't go on a credit report. They can clear accounts like that so don't let some knuckle dragging call center heffer tell you otherwise. Speak directly to the aforementioned departments, ask to get a direct line to them so you dont have to go through cust service each time and be persistent. Eventually they will be so tired of you cutting into their lazy time they will have no choice but to set you straight.

I work down the road from the T-mobile headquarters which is like 7 4 story buildings linked together with these huge ass walkways suspended from 2nd or 3rd floor

The complex is on some SS shit