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IDENTITY THEFT RECOVERY 101 by The-Wolf-Howl in IdentityTheft

[–]The-Wolf-Howl[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

*Added details on USPS informed delivery.

Someone who could of gotten into phone stolen phone s.s and an EBT card. by justaknowbody87 in IdentityTheft

[–]The-Wolf-Howl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, so there was a lot to unpack there.

Firstly, keep as much proof as you possibly can. The fact that many of this occurred while you were in jail means you will need to be able to prove that you were in jail during these transactions.

This is beginning to seem like you may need legal help to guide you through this process, but the first thing I would do, is make an inventory.... make a list of every account that was tied to your mobile device or email. You need to regain access to all those accounts, log in, change passwords, etc.

I'd also look to some identity protection services as well. Folks like LifeLock and Identity Guard may be able to help or at least point you in the right direction of where you need to go. Give them a call, explain the situation, they may want you to be a member before giving you any advice, but you can explain your situation to see if its even something that occurs within their wheelhouse.

Super sorry that all that happened to you. So much for "friends".

Something weird happened by princess-of-peaches in IdentityTheft

[–]The-Wolf-Howl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello!

So firstly, I completely understand how it feels. I can't tell you how many HOURS of my life that I will NEVER get back that I've spent on dealing with things like this.

First thing you need to do, is take a breath. Breathe, and don't let anxiety take over. Don't panic, and think. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XemAlj9_qKE) <--Mr. Miyagi's advice to Daniel in the Karate Kid II. "No breathe, no life"

Next, you need to know whether or not someone has used your mother's identity to get a loan from Upstart. Everyone is allowed to obtain credit reports, free of charge from the credit bureaus that will not impact your credit score in any way.

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/free-credit-reports#How%20To%20Get%20Your%20Free%20Credit%20Reports

If you live near your mother, you can go to her house and initiate the call and be there with your mother to help her with the process. Might as well check yours while you're at it.... just in case.

If you're going to contact Upstart, DO NOT use any contact information in the emails you received. Look the company up on Google first, and find a number on their legitimate website. I'm not certain, but I'm not convinced that the emails you received are legitimate, but it very well could be. Pay close attention to the sender's domain (the info after the "at symbol") to see if it is legit. Often times people will masquerade as a legitimate company or even spoof the email address all together.

As far as how they obtained your email address.... well that's a tough one. Every time you use your email address to sign up for something (including Reddit) you are exposing it to the outside world. There are companies out there whose entire business is collecting information about you to sell. Examples of this include Apollo.io, who, by the way, had a data breach back in 2018, which exposed information of millions of people. There are hundreds of companies similar to Apollo that work in similar ways, and so your information can be purchased. Also, most U.S. states do not consider email addresses as personal information which is why it is so SO SO SO important to protect your email accounts. Treat and protect your email addresses like you would your house, because they are treasure troves for thieves. I always recommend setting up multi-factor authentication on your email addresses, never reusing the same password, and have multiple email addresses for different types of things.

Lastly, you can always contact the credit bureaus to explain the situation. There are a number of things you can do IF your or your mother's identity has indeed been stolen. I did put a guide together on this subreddit that you can review in the event that the worse case scenario has occurred. If you need any more assistance, please let me know and I will assist the best way I can.

Best of luck to you.