Don't Be a Target!

Good morning all,

I know these blogs are supposed to be informational to others in WA and not about personal experiences, etc. However some of you have been kind enough to ask about my dilemma and express concern. So, I'm relating my exerience with identiy fraud in hopes that anyone reading this can be aware of how quickly it happens and what to do to in a similar circomstance.

The day after Thanksgiving, I went on my, as usual, shopping trip to the pet store, the bank, the grocery store.I had made out a small check for cash to cover my purchases and had my list tucked away in my purse.

I left the pet store and tossed my purse and my purchases in my car and turned around to put the shopping cart in it's stack. At that moment or two, someone one opened my car door , grabbed my purse and disappeared. All my credit cards, my driver's license, my phone, my medical cards, etc. were in someone else's possession. Made a police report and started trying to minimize the damage. Even the keys to my apartment were gone. Fortunately, I had the keys to my car in my hand.

I will not bore you with all the calls I made, how many hours I spent on hold, or how many times I gave credit card companies detailed information. No matter how fast I am, she is always ahead of me. I'm sure it's a she. There are not too many men named Barbara that I know of.

She was able, with that small check I had made out that day, to rewrte it, scramble the numbers and make purchases of over $1100. I am still waiting for the bank to clear those purchases from my account.

The computer fiasco of this past weekend was due, in part, to all this activity. I am getting to the point of overeacting to any situation.

I got a call from a major retail company that wanted to know about a purchase on my account and to call a certain number to answer some questions.

I had no account with this company, so I called. A little too late, I realized that I was being hacked, all my info was going into their computers, and that they had planted a path to all my information. I closed down my computer and my phone, but they had managed to scramble the information on my computer. Dumb on my part.

Thanks to a good computer tech, all viruses are out, a new virus protection program is in and after all day Sunday, Microsoft finally got my email program up and running and best of all, I didn't lose anything!

One good tip--For those who live in the U.S.and have access to Spectrum- (Charter) they have an anti-virus program you can install free on your computer.