I never thought I would have my identity stolen…..but you should know a little about me first. I shred all the credit card applications I get immediately. I keep all my sensitive documents stored in a locked box at home. I secure all online password and monetary transactions through a secure VPN connection. I change my passwords, semi-frequently. I monitor my credit, at least quarterly. I don’t give my personal information to ANYONE, well almost.
I am currently trying to lease a house and needed to fax my application to my Realtor, but she gave me the wrong fax number. The application has just about anything you need to steal an identity (SSN, address, previous address, employment, salary, truck, etc.) except for my bank account numbers. Oh but, there is an addendum in the application authorizing a credit check and available funds in all financial institutions. When she asked me where my application was and told her I faxed it, I knew immediately I may be in trouble because I kept the fax confirmation for the wrong number. Now what do I do? Send another fax to that number asking, who is this? Will you shred my info? Please don’t run up a million credit cards in my name? I tried reverse number lookups, but to no avail. Any suggestions? It looks like freecreditreport.com is about to get another customer for monthly monitoring. It is just frustrating to do everything I can to protect myself and just one number off on a fax will send me into paranoia. It just goes to show you that you can do everything possible to protect yourself, but you still might get bitten by the identity theft bug. Hey, if I sent you a lease application recently, will you shred it please?
Nobody has stolen my identity yet, and I would like to keep it that way.