Idntity Theft / Protections

[Stromper]

Some say the identity theft problem is over hyped

I assume this group is actually more active buying on line etc. so

[mycirus]

I found that when I had the 3 in 1 credit monitoring that Countrywide gave me for free cause they had a security breach that when I got new loans or credit cards I would find out from them about 4 or 5 days after. I didnt find it very timely. I guess I would have known if someone else did something eventually but to me the damage would have already been done by then.

[TheIglu]

Shop at well known online retailers.

Don't click on shit you get in emails unless you have the knowledge to know if it's legit or not. Just because the ad has their graphics/logo's/from-email-address, does not make it real.

Never had an issue. Done virtually all my shopping online for the past 10 years. Don't be an idiot.

Those identity theft programs you pay for do virtually nothing you can't do on your own for free.

Always use a credit card when ordering things online. It's their money until you pay them the check for your CC bill. You have no responsibility to pay for fraudulent charges.

[khuygie88]

Always use a credit card when ordering things online. It's their money until you pay them the check for your CC bill. You have no responsibility to pay for fraudulent charges.

To this.

Also, even if there is a convenience/less of a fee for having your bank account connected to your PayPal account, put your credit card as your source. Paypal can actually be quite difficult about refunding money, especially if your checking account has been drained.

A vendor on a homebrew forum I'm on recently had security issues, so everyone and their brother on the forum that had used that vendor in the past month or so (over 200 people, not to mention non-forum customers) had to to replace their CC. Another layer of protection is seeing if your CC company will let you generate a one time use number on their site before making purchases if you've never used a site before.

[Stromper]

Every once and a while I think I sould have one of those Walmart prepayed cards that dry up if not feed.

[dontpanic]

For my first purchase anywhere I'll use Amex. Their protection is great, and the only time I had a dispute they acted immediately. (Their customer service has been terrific, too.)

[The Snowman]

Define identity theft. I have had two card numbers intercepted and charged against. One was a standard credit card and the other a debit card.

But so far, only a couple hundred was the issue, not thousands or hundreds of thousands, like some have had.

[KB]

It's not a poll unless you include 2 options

1. WHO GIVES A FUCK

2. BEMUSED

KB

[gregp]

I have had rouge CC charges twice in the last year. It appears that my card #'s were intercepted or compromised from purchases made at Rocky Mountain ATV (a *Major* retailer). Several other folks on a Dirt Bike website were hit as well. RMATV was contacted about the issue. All purchases since then have been with the "Bill Me Later" option, which is free if you pay the entire balance right away, where they snail mail you a paper bill. No problems since.
My card company was extremely helpful in putting me at ease about it. They told us that this is happening more frequently than ever, and that there is really not a whole lot we or they can do about it.