Potential identity theft AND cannot verify identities at Equifax and Experian

[Safire]

I think the point is, if your data was kept at someplace like a friend or relative's house, and they had other stuff taken like TVs, jewelry, etc, it was a run-of-the-mill thief who probably doesn't really even know what to do with your papers.

But if it was a service of some sort that stores papers for a lot of people, and it was all those records stolen, likely it was someone who was looking for this kind of information to steal identities.

Either way it's good to be careful, but it's the latter that I'd really be super concerned about, to the point where I'd already be looking at all the steps you need to take to recover your identify, and maybe starting to take action. If it's the former, I'd watch and see.

We have no idea which case yours is. That's your business if you don't want to say, but with less information comes less useful answers.

It's just that I wanted to protect my privacy, but to answer your question, it is a business that deals with people's personal information and so has a ton of paperwork on clients. That's why I am so worried.

I absolutely would still have worried if it had just been a break-in at any place where I stored my personal information, and my file was taken among everything else but this bothers me 100x worse. It was even more of a sucker punch when the cops refused to make a report because I just have no "proof" my id was stolen... yet. It's almost like they want you to become a victim first and THEN they'll step in and take a complaint.

I am probably just going through a particularly tough time when everything seems to be going wrong for me. Quite frankly, I don't check my credit report obsessively. I guard my info as much as possible such as by not giving people access to my bank a/cs, keeping a low limit on my credit card etc, checking my credit once a year, etc. I just became completely paranoid when one thing led to another and it seemed like everything was coming apart.

In any case, I've made a written request to all bureaus to freeze my credit report. I am not in the market for any big ticket items so there's no reason for me not to freeze my report and make it darned hard for the thief to get a dime out of me. I called my brokerage and told them to not allow any outgoing transfers. I am calling the bank tomorrow to see what my options are there. Don't know if there's anything else I should be doing but hopefully these steps suffice.

 

[Safire]

UPDATE: Equifax online shows my report as frozen, but I received a letter at my home address wanting to further "verify" my ID. What the what?

Not a peep from Experian, though. The wheels turn very very slowly indeed!

 

[RobbieB]

I guess it was a letter asking you to further verify your ID. What the what?

 

[Safire]

I guess it was a letter asking you to further verify your ID. What the what?

Exactly my point. The documents I submitted with my freeze request must have been enough because they did freeze my credit report. So what documents other than copies of my SSN card and DMV license (required to request a freeze) do they need? My birth certificate and the birth certificates of five generations prior?

 

[Sunset]

Exactly my point. The documents I submitted with my freeze request must have been enough because they did freeze my credit report. ...

And do you have a PIN number to use to unfreeze the report for a short time. A temporary unfreeze when you want to apply for a credit card ?

 

[RobbieB]

Exactly my point. The documents I submitted with my freeze request must have been enough because they did freeze my credit report. So what documents other than copies of my SSN card and DMV license (required to request a freeze) do they need? My birth certificate and the birth certificates of five generations prior?

I would send whatever the letter requested.

 

[Safire]

And do you have a PIN number to use to unfreeze the report for a short time. A temporary unfreeze when you want to apply for a credit card ?

Nope. Equifax, apparently, no longer requires a PIN to unfreeze credit reports. This was told to me by a customer service rep when I called in to inquire about whether they had received my materials or not. Granted, her English was hard to understand due to her accent (looks like their customer service reps are overseas) but I was able to access my a/c online and do see the freeze.

I just don't understand what else they need from me, unless the rep was plain wrong about not needing a PIN to unfreeze anymore or they froze my a/c anyway, because they felt that the copy of my driver's license and of my SSN card was not enough proof.