I was having lunch with my mother today and she told me that last Monday she got a call from “the phone company” saying that her service was going to be disconnected because she did not sign the check she sent for the last bill. They needed to verify her information to process it. In her distress over this possibility, she forgot every thing I have told her about not giving out information over the phone. She told them her bank account number, her social security number and her mother’s maiden name. I freaked out and immediately came home to check her bank account (my name is also on the account and she gave them that information, too). The money is still there. I checked her phone account and it showed the check in question was processed on 4-10. So she has definitely been scammed and now I’m thinking it was just to get credit cards.
I called her and told her to go to the bank first thing in the morning to close the account. I called the bank customer service and asked them to freeze the account. I was told they could put a note on it that she was coming in. Then I tried to check any history on the three credit bureaus. Each time I got a message that I could not access that information online.
The thing is, she is 88 years old. She has never had a credit card. She may have had some installment accounts many years ago. She paid her mortgage off over 20 years ago. So would she even be in the credit databases? Could someone put information in the credit file that keeps me from accessing it? And if she doesn’t have credit, could someone easily get a credit card in her name? I’m furious and I’m scared. She lives on a fixed income and could not possibly pay any credit card debt these scumbags make in her name. If anyone has information that could help, I would much appreciate it.
I didn’t think about phone and utility accounts, so she would be in a database.
I called one of the credit bureaus, got an automated system that took her information and then told me I would have to mail proof of that info to them. So I don’t know if that means it’s frozen or not.
Since it’s been almost a week since this happened, I’m concerned that accounts have already been opened. I can’t believe she didn’t tell me this happened until today. She knows to always tell me if something odd happens. She said she did think it was strange but she was just happy her phone wouldn’t be cut off. :smack:
I’m so sorry this happened to your Mom. As people age they seem to become less “worldly”. They also seem to panic more easily and rush to comply with the phony problems that others create to get personal information.
I am not an attorney. But it occurs to me that you might approach one and acquire the Power of Attorney for your Mom. Even if she doesn’t need your help with daily activities (and that is debatable), it could come in handy for emergencies.
There was a front page story in the local paper a few weeks ago about a scam like this. The crooks are everywhere; they have experience, and they know how to work the scam. Most elderly people do not, and they are ripe for the picking.
In the local front page story, the crooks coached the victim how to send the money, and what to say if anyone questioned their actions or tried to help them. It worked.
That statement makes absolutely no sense. “Get you” a credit database? How does one “get” a credit database? What would one do with a credit database? What is a credit database?
Can you put that in plain English? With capital letters where appropriate?
Fortunately, she is still mentally sharp and takes care of her finances. As I said, I’m also listed on her checking account and keep an eye on what she is doing. Getting Power of Attorney is something I’ve been meaning to do.
She’s always handled scammers by referring them to me or just hanging up. This one, though, was particularly insidious since they threatened to shut off her phone immediately. The timing was perfect for them since she had written a check a couple weeks before and it sounded plausible to her that there could be a problem with it. Yes, scammers know how to work it and despite all the warnings I had given her, she fell for it.
power of attorney for both legal and medical are good to get for that age of person, sharp or not. they could have a slip and fall accident more easily at that age, it could take them away from being able to conduct all their decision making for a while.
An update - we opened a new checking account this morning but had to leave some money in the old one since she wrote some checks lately. Once those process, we can close the account. I’ll watch it every day for any fraudulent activity. I put freezes on her credit files with all three agencies. This will stop most activity going forward but there are things the thieves can do that won’t require checking with them. And most of the damage was probably done last week. Researching this all day has seriously depressed me. Now all I can do is wait for evidence and deal with it as it comes.
You’ve done everything you can, aurora maire, and good for you for being on the ball. Let us know how the story unfolds, and good luck.
FYI: There are credit-watch services, like Zendough, that will notify you immediately (email, text) if certain activity occurs regarding any credit bureau. I subscribed to this once, for $30 per month – a little pricey, but could be valuable when the time comes.
There is a service called credit sesame that is free which provides nearly the same thing, real time access to all the info in your credit report. Kinda shocking how detailed it is.
Thanks Musicat. I’ve been doing more research today about what I’ll need to do once the fraudulent activity comes to light.
I had thought about getting one of the credit watch services but according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, getting this after the theft has occurred could actually interfere with the fraud investigation by the credit bureaus. And because it sometimes takes months for information to be reported, it’s just as well to get the free report every four months. They have a huge amount of good information on their website so I assume they know what they are talking about.
I tried to file a police report tonight but the person I talked to said they can’t take one until the fraud actually happens. The ITRC said that there aren’t really rules about this so you should be persistent. I’m going to call again tomorrow on a different shift.
Be persistent. Those words come up a lot in the advice. This is going to suck big time.