TL;DR: Someone put 9 unauthorized transactions on my bank accounts with a total amount of ~30k USD. It taught me that protecting identity is super critical. Friends, take care of your identity if you didn't.
I have been living in US for about 6 years. Growing up in a country where all the online transactions require passwords, I didn't learn to protect my identity until I became a victim.
On Wednesday morning, I woke up at 6:30 am and started checking emails in my phone. I got emails from the bank telling me that there were several withdrawals from my accounts. This type of emails comes often, so I was not surprised. But looking into it, there were 3 transactions in my checking account and 3 transactions in my saving account that I can't recognize, and the amount were all very large (~15k in total. As a young professional, ~15k means a lot).
Most of these transactions were for paying credit cards for some people I don’t know (yes, they have the names in the transaction record). Several seconds later, I realized what just happened. I rushed to my laptop and looked up the bank’s custom service number.
I made the call and explained it. The first thing I requested was to block my accounts so no further transactions can be made. Unfortunately, custom service can’t do it and I was told to go to a branch. I filed two claims (one for saving and one for checking) through the phone. I was asked to certify that transactions were indeed unauthorized and I didn’t get any benefit from them.
It was around 7 am. The branch was not opened yet. I started searching about fraud online. I read that if the claim can be filed in time (I got different numbers from different sources: 2 days, 7 days, 90 days), I will be able to get back the money. I feel a bit released, but just a little bit.
I got to the nearest branch at exactly 9 am. After discussing with the agent in the branch, we figured that the best approach might be to open a new checking account and a new saving account. If they can make 6 unauthorized transactions in my old accounts, they can make more. We moved all the money to the new accounts. We closed the saving account right away. We didn’t close the checking account because I have a scheduled paycheck coming on Friday, and there was no time to change the payroll (it turned out to be a dangerous decision).
On Thursday morning, I got two emails from the bank. One email indicated that the overdraft protection was removed from my old checking account, and another email showed that there were 3 more unauthorized transactions in that checking account (another ~15k)! This was absolutely scary! First, how the hell they can remove the overdraft protection! They must know everything about me. Second, even my old checking account had a balance of 0, they will still be able to steal my money because the money in the new accounts can be used to pay for it. .
Again, it’s too early and the bank was not opened yet. I started to think how my identity can be leaked. 1) I started a mortgage application about a month ago, and I sent them all my information through email attachment. 2) When I applied for my current apartment, I shared my bank statements with the landlord through the email. 3) I was preparing the tax return, and I threw the draft return forms into the trash bin.
I got to the branch at exactly 9 am. I directly walked to the agent I talked to yesterday. He was talking on the phone about my case already (later he told me that he checked my account the first thing in the morning and he noticed the 3 new problematic transactions). We filed a new claim. This time, we put a “debit hold” on my problematic checking account, and the agent added a note in their system to indicate I am a victim of identity theft so their phone custom service can be more careful.
On Friday, I got my paycheck. We closed that checking account.
So, I still don’t know how my identity was leaked. Here are some things I will be doing when dealing with my identity information in the future (looking for more suggestions): 1. Don’t use email attachment to send identity information. If the email account of either side is comprised, this information can be leaked. My plan is to share it through a cloud service (such as Dropbox), and then later I can remove the files so the link in the email will become invalid. 2. I just ordered a paper shredder.
How about my money? The bank is awesome. All the money is back already.
Even though this disaster seems passed. I am worried that my identity information will be abused in the future. What else do you think I need to do?
Submitted March 12, 2017 at 03:59AM by g0ldenfortune http://ift.tt/2mz9nJL
