Identity Theft

[momofmeg]

Wow, thanks for putting reality into my head right before my cruise...I sometime just dont think of things like this and it's a good reminder. I'm wondering though, what kind of personal information are you talking about? As far as I can see, I only have a screen name on here, no personal information and I dont' ever tell anyone one where I live except the state. How could anyone "find" someone that way? Why be worried if that is the situation? Unless you are saying others give out way more information once they meet in person? I'll remember to be careful, thanks!

 

You should be safe enough. If you have been on these boards alot like me and other of the regulars-you would know what I am referring to- (alot more personal info is given then that from "friends" posting to each other) otherwise there is no reason to worry.

[Sky Sweet]

I think some people are just so lonely they are looking for friends anywhere.

 

That is so true. There are some people who are so lonely that they post every mundane detail of their life such as what they bought at the grocery store, what they ate for breakfast, every household chore, etc. It appears that people who are that lonely are willing to risk making themselves vulnerable to identity theft.

[gumtech]

Speaking of identity theft.. My extended family (sisters and parents) took a cruise in the summer of 2004 and all five of us (daughters) have had our credit card number stolen in some way or another during the past year and a half. Not the credit card, but just the number. Sounds too coincidental to me that it happened to be the credit card number that each of us used for the cruise. Someone made credit cards from our numbers. Someone must have hacked into their computer system, or they have/had a dishonest employee. From now on, I am calling up my credit card company after the cruise, and getting a different number, or cancelling the card altogether.

[momofmeg]

Speaking of identity theft.. My extended family (sisters and parents) took a cruise in the summer of 2004 and all five of us (daughters) have had our credit card number stolen in some way or another during the past year and a half. Not the credit card, but just the number. Sounds too coincidental to me that it happened to be the credit card number that each of us used for the cruise. Someone made credit cards from our numbers. Someone must have hacked into their computer system, or they have/had a dishonest employee. From now on, I am calling up my credit card company after the cruise, and getting a different number, or cancelling the card altogether.

 

You can put down cash if you want intead of a credit card#-the last night they either refund you or tell you you owe more. I myself think that is a good idea-it is not only safer but makes you stick within the budget you set for yourself.

 

Did you report this to the cruiseline? they need to check out their employees.

 

So sad the way things are-around here it has been in the news that someone is going around schools and stealing credit cards out of teachers purses when they are out of the classroom.

[Sky Sweet]

When you receive an E-mail,that is circulating the net, about a new identity theft scam, do you accept that information at face value, or check it out on snopes.com?

[momofmeg]

When you receive an E-mail,that is circulating the net, about a new identity theft scam, do you accept that information at face value, or check it out on snopes.com?

 

I hate all those terror stories that people pass around. I have e-mailed several riends and family NOT to send that garbage to me. I think we should all be smart but I do not need e-mails saying someone is using a camera phone watching me key in my ID at good ole Walmart.

 

I suppose it is possible and could be true-but I think if we use good sense and caution-well I guess it can still happen but we still have to live and buy groceries don't we? I AM NOT going to stress about it-got worse things to stress about.

 

I know the one urban legend about the woman where someone jumped in her car while she was pumping gas and the gas station attendant saw it and called her in-well that was an urban legend and it was told at scopes.com-those kind of e-mails are the worst kind that I do not want to hear. I hate those that make you terrified for your life worse then the stupid identy theft ones. My daughter is really scaredy as it is and she does not need to read that kind of cr^&**p.

[Sky Sweet]

I hate all those terror stories that people pass around. I have e-mailed several riends and family NOT to send that garbage to me. I think we should all be smart but I do not need e-mails saying someone is using a camera phone watching me key in my ID at good ole Walmart.

 

I suppose it is possible and could be true-but I think if we use good sense and caution-well I guess it can still happen but we still have to live and buy groceries don't we? I AM NOT going to stress about it-got worse things to stress about.

 

I know the one urban legend about the woman where someone jumped in her car while she was pumping gas and the gas station attendant saw it and called her in-well that was an urban legend and it was told at scopes.com-those kind of e-mails are the worst kind that I do not want to hear. I hate those that make you terrified for your life worse then the stupid identy theft ones. My daughter is really scaredy as it is and she does not need to read that kind of cr^&**p.

 

I agree with you. When I check out "true stories" that I receive in an E-mail, whether it be about a supposed scam, an unusual event, "facts" about life around 1500, etc, on scopes.com, I discover that most of what is circulating the net in that fashion is just an urban legend. In fact I now delete that type of E-mail without even reading it.

[momofmeg]

I agree with you. When I check out "true stories" that I receive in an E-mail, whether it be about a supposed scam, an unusual event, "facts" about life around 1500, etc, on scopes.com, I discover that most of what is circulating the net in that fashion is just an urban legend. In fact I now delete that type of E-mail without even reading it.

 

That is what I do also-sometimes though I have read a few lines before I realize.But I have complained to friends so much that they do not send that to me often except for one of my sisters-who seems to be afraid and terrified of EVERYTHING.

 

But at least she sends them to my private e-mail and not the family one where my Meg might read them.

[westernmom]

Thanks for the reminders on here. I too am one of those people who don't think much of these kinds of things. Heck, I will start talking to people in the grocery store line and invite them over!

 

Coming from very small communities where you know everything there is to know about each other, it's hard to get away from that mentality.

 

It's so sad to think our world has come to the point where you need to be so darn cautious of everyone.