Identity theft
 

Strange stuff. Someone started charging against my credit card in May. I noticed it in June, got a new card, and assumed that is that. The $500 in charges were reversed. One of the items they ordered accidentally arrived at my house. So I know their shoe size and that they have poor fashion sense.

Fast forward to two days ago, and I get a call from a credit card company which I don't use (or at least so I thought). Not only has someone received a credit card in my name, but they asked for a second card to be used in the United Arab Emirates. So the credit card company informs me that they were provided all of my (sadly correct) personal information. The crook has two other applications in the works. The bank close all accounts, but I then it sinks in that I am a victim of identity theft.

So I decide to buy my credit reports, and $40 later I learn that there is another card in use in my name. So I get that one closed down. They had charged $2500 against my name.

Apparently, you are supposed to report identity theft to the police, which I did. I was surprised that they actually took it seriously. A cop probably spent an hour with me trying to document everything. That is probably the strangest part of all this.

And then last night, I check my current credit card again (the one that was recently re-issued). And every two days, someone is charging $60 to get help from some Playstation help line. How can you be that bad at a video game? It started 15 days after I activated the new card. So somehow, they got the number within 15 days of me starting to use the new card. Or they had the number prior to my activating the card.

So I have placed a fraud notice on my credit report, but apparently that isn't a guarantee that no new credit cards will be issued in my name.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? How do I get this cycle to stop? I plan to use cash a lot more and not pay so many bills with my credit card, and it will be interesting to see if I can at least keep my new number a secret from the crooks for a few months. They clearly have all my personal information, including some way to look up my current credit card number. If I can just stop it for a while, hopefully they will move onto someone else. Ugh.

I have no help for you, but I have seen it really mess some peeps up. And fighting the IRS for when they file taxes and claim a refund before you file is a real zinger. Takes years to clean up the mess if they do ya bad. And even then you are never compensated for anything.

Contact Sony. There's a chance this person is using your card on the Sony network as well for a playstation id. If that's the case, they may be able to share the ip with the police. They recently shared the ip address of a suspected murderer and he was caught:
Murder Suspect Caught After Logging Into Victim's PlayStation Account

It's worth a try.

Best of luck; at least you've got the ball rolling now. It should get easier from here on out.

You need to freeze your credit NOW! Or, at least immediately after getting a new card from another source, say, like Wells Fargo which is a chipped RFID card like mine.

Credit Freeze and Thaw Guide | Clark Howard

Your Federal income tax records
 

Identity theft is a huge problem with the IRS.

Identity Protection: Prevention, Detection and Victim Assistance

Read this:

1.File a report with the local police.
2.File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov or the FTC Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-438-4338 or TTY 1-866-653-4261.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5027.pdf

....and if you were a client of mine I would advise you to file form 14039 (Identity theft Affidavit). ASAP See Sec.A Q-2.
Otherwise, someone else will probably file using your SSN as soon as they open the e-file window next year, and you will have to file it then.:mad:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f14039.pdf

I wish you good luck. You're gonna need it.:(

Click on the link to see current steps being taken. I read about this "Security Summit" the other day.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and words of encouragement. I really appreciate all the links. I have a lot of reading to do tonight, but hopefully I get get this turned around.