Lana Gautier
Hello! I am Lana! This site is a result of my own experience with this crime.
In 2001, my bank account was charged about $300 and $500 for the goods I did not buy. I closed all of my accounts and opened the new ones. Then, I started getting strange calls shortly after asking me for my personal information. I had to change my number. It stopped and I didn’t think about it again.
At the beginning of 2006, I applied for a job, which required a very thorough criminal background check. Once my results came back, the hiring manager started asking me all kinds of questions. “Do you go by any other name?” “Do you have two different residences?” “Do you have another job?” “Are you really a man?” Okay, I made up this last questions. Of course, my answers were “No” to all of the above. I couldn’t understand why the manager was asking me all these questions. I understood why she was asking them when I got a copy of my background check.
As it turns out, I was also listed as a male living in Mesa, AZ since 2002. I have been living in CA since I got to this country! My first reaction was panic, then it turned into anger, then I felt helpless and defenseless, then I got scared, then I got upset and teary. Why would someone do something like that? Well, because they can. Also, as I have discovered later, someone locally, literally 15 miles away, was living it up at my expense.
I called the Social Security Administration, they weren’t much of help, but they did give me a phone number for the Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Unit. I was told that most likely the person using my SS# was using it for employment purposes. But the FTC really did not do anything else. I thought that, if they have the name and the address, they could do something. But no, they did not. What FTC does is collects these cases for statistical purposes. The affidavit that you fill out through FTC is very handy, though, at the time when you have to prove that you have been a victim of Identity Theft. Anyhow, I thought that I did not have to do anything else. I actually thought that I have filed a report with an FBI Identity Theft Unit. Don’t ask why, because I don’t know why I thought that for the longest time. I did not know I had to put a Fraud alert with the Credit Bureaus. I did not know I should have called my credit card companies to alert them. I thought, since I am not using any of my credit cards, I am fine. Well, almost two years later, I started getting collection notices, statements with outrages balances, all sorts of weird phone calls, etc. Trying to prove that you do not owe that much has been a challenge, but this is a different story and I will talk about it on a blog dedicated just to that subject.
It has not been easy dealing with it, but let me tell you, if you do everything right, it is not the end of the world! You eventually will clear up your name; it just takes a long time, a lot of patience and nerves. Identity Theft and Identity Fraud could happen to anybody! It is the fastest growing crime in the United States. The best way to protect yourself from it is the knowledge. This is why I wanted to create this site.
*Please keep in mind that the information provided on this site is for informational and entertainment purposes and never should be thought of as a legal advice. This website is a result of my personal experience with Identity Theft and many hours of research and self education. Please consult a lawyer if and when you need legal advice and representation.*
