TSR Sharing your infomation!

[Fainiel]

*phew!*   Well, not *phew* in the sense that I still seem to have a virus, but *phew* in the sense it didn't come from them! Very apt name for a virus though isn't it!

[Arghyle]

There was an interresting news item on tv just now (in Holland).
About how in the USA, identity theft has become a more lucrative business than drugs trafficking and dealing.

This sounds like one of those "don't take a bath because you might DROWN!!111" local news stories. Do you have a link?

Banks in the U.S. take identity theft very seriously. It's still a big problem, but basically if you watch your credit card bills and report anything suspicious, you're not going to have your life ruined. Normally the worst that happens is a $50 charge, and even that's getting pretty rare. My father's credit card was stolen recently; he reported it the next day (though he should have done so immediately), and someone had already rung up over $2000 worth of charges on it. The charges were canceled and he was sent a new card. It took one phone call that lasted 10 minutes, most of it on hold.

If you publish something, presto, your name's online in JSTOR, Google Scholar, and myriad library sites throughout the world. If you want to be really "safe", don't use credit cards. Or get married. Or have kids, especially if you're a woman. Or go outside. And never, EVER get in a car.

I think Thomas and Steve are probably happy everyone knows they release customer information. That'll make people a lot more scared to go against TSR, after all. Since they're con artists, the morality of it doesn't enter into the equation. Like all con artists, they figure their "customers" are all a bunch of saps who deserve what's coming to them anyway.

Agreed - articles I've published are extremely easy to find and are under my maiden name, which we don't typically check regularly with the credit check companies.  It's extremely hard to stay anonymous anymore.  I have tried for months to get a public listing of my address taken off the internet with no results.  Outside of my little world, I'm no one - but my info springs up on various searches through past work/life experience.  Very frustrating when you enjoy seclusion, and the semi-anonymity of internet forums.  I don't think it's shocking that this is the latest crime wave in America.  This has been the case for years now, and credit card companies are offering more secure options for tracking your card usage (at a price, of course). 

Agreed too - it won't ruin your life, but you have to resolve to keep on top of your finances & information.  I think especially when so many people found duplicate SSN's being used during this year's election. 

You've hit it on the head there too - they WANT people to know they do these things.  It gives them the "power" so to speak.

TSR IS viral.  Epic win for sure. 

[Anouk]

Any time you buy online your info is stored somewhere, temporarily or for a longer period of time. Anything stored can be stolen. Also, there are ofcourse phishing scams, trojans and the like. And, ofcourse there are websites that needlessly ask for alot of personal info and have shitty security. In Holland, banks are not obliged to even tell their customer data has been stolen. The government is now moving on to making this mandatory.

In Holland, id theft and the copying of credit and debit cards is rampant, because it's super hard to track and the victims are always 100% compensated.

Someone using someone elses identity and credit card is hard to track. You have a low chance of being caught, a low chance of getting hurt, and you can easily make the items you buy disappear. It is more attractive than drug dealing at the least.
Even you can go to a certain Russian website and buy some dude's credit card info for 5 bucks and go all out.

For those who can speak Dutch : http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=8260776

As for the info about drugs and id theft, I should send them an email and ask where they got this info. It may be in the credits but I doubt it.

[SBNao]

Another place to be wary of people using your identity is in the case of people using your SSN to work, in the US.  When you get your annual Social Security Statement in the mail...you know, that paper booklet that tells you how much you've made over your lifetime and how much money you're estimated to get if you retire, become disabled....you should actually CHECK that and make sure the numbers are correct.  You have no idea how many people have others working on their number...or have wages they've made not show up on their statment.

And remember kiddies, if it isn't showing up, you're not getting credit for it. And if it's showing up and you didn't make it, you'd better report so you don't get hit with any possible tax liability from the IRS.

[Skoria_Bay]

I had the state government where I live try to hold up my state income tax refund because of THEIR error. They mistyped in my SSN for someone else's in their datebase and said I owed taxes to a county I've never lived in. Fortunately a phone call straightened it out and the state admitted their error, but still that is pretty scary. And too, I  have a very unique (in the US anyway) maiden name. But the internet was not really around when I got married so anything I've done is probably all under my legal name.

And yes, it is good to have  your credit monitored in the US, I had something happen (data was "misplaced") and I have a free year of credit monitoring paid for by the company. I get an email once a month that tells me if anything has changed on my credit report. Thankfully nothing has.

[Anyerfillag]

Its most definitely epic win - if I can grab a hold of any screenshits of them discussing the idea of doing torjans and then melding it with a screenshot of that site, I'll be doing a Simsecret

[calalily]

Its most definitely epic win - if I can grab a hold of any screenshits of them discussing the idea of doing torjans and then melding it with a screenshot of that site, I'll be doing a Simsecret

Please do one with your messed up fingers. Those were funny spelling mistakes. 

[jssimone]

I'm unlurking to share my identity theft story. Our local high school had its student db hacked a couple years ago & someone stole all my daughter's personal information. This person used her name to open utilities (gas, water, heat, ect. in 5 different cities), cell phone accounts (4), credit cards(10), bank accounts (which had $5000 + in post dated checks) ect. Since she was a minor, no one was monitoring her credit report & she definitely wasn't opening credit cards, so there was no clue this was going on. It all blew up when she tried to get a college loan.

I will say that Visa/Mastercard/Discover have been very helpful in clearing up the accounts opened in her name. It's the collection agencies for all the utilities/bank accounts that have made life hell. I've been fighting with them for almost 8 months with no resolution and my daughter's credit rating is about as bad as it can get. The people that did the hacking didn't just run up credit card debts, they really did take on the identities of the people whose personal information they were able to steal. It's been a living nightmare for my daughter.

So on that note, I hope TSR goes straight down for sharing personal information. It's a very selfish, very childish, very dangerous way to get "revenge".

[Zazazu]

Theft protection with a max liability of $50 is the rule rather than the exception in the US. My parents had a card stolen and $13k charged at Home Depot. They were only liable for $50.

Home Depot? The criminals were redecorating their bathroom, or adding a deck to their house? I should probably not be amused by this.

When I worked retail, people used to get mad at me because I asked for photo ID when they used a credit card. So dumb.

Possibly a deck. Apparently, there were massive quantities of wood involved.

[Skoria_Bay]

I'm unlurking to share my identity theft story. Our local high school had its student db hacked a couple years ago & someone stole all my daughter's personal information. This person used her name to open utilities (gas, water, heat, ect. in 5 different cities), cell phone accounts (4), credit cards(10), bank accounts (which had $5000 + in post dated checks) ect. Since she was a minor, no one was monitoring her credit report & she definitely wasn't opening credit cards, so there was no clue this was going on. It all blew up when she tried to get a college loan.

I will say that Visa/Mastercard/Discover have been very helpful in clearing up the accounts opened in her name. It's the collection agencies for all the utilities/bank accounts that have made life hell. I've been fighting with them for almost 8 months with no resolution and my daughter's credit rating is about as bad as it can get. The people that did the hacking didn't just run up credit card debts, they really did take on the identities of the people whose personal information they were able to steal. It's been a living nightmare for my daughter.

So on that note, I hope TSR goes straight down for sharing personal information. It's a very selfish, very childish, very dangerous way to get "revenge".

I've also heard of dishonest parents stealing their children's identities to do the same thing.  I'm saying you are one, but anyone who would do that to their own child....

I hope TSR rots for what they have done.

[keirra]

I'm unlurking to share my identity theft story. Our local high school had its student db hacked a couple years ago & someone stole all my daughter's personal information. This person used her name to open utilities (gas, water, heat, ect. in 5 different cities), cell phone accounts (4), credit cards(10), bank accounts (which had $5000 + in post dated checks) ect. Since she was a minor, no one was monitoring her credit report & she definitely wasn't opening credit cards, so there was no clue this was going on. It all blew up when she tried to get a college loan.

I will say that Visa/Mastercard/Discover have been very helpful in clearing up the accounts opened in her name. It's the collection agencies for all the utilities/bank accounts that have made life hell. I've been fighting with them for almost 8 months with no resolution and my daughter's credit rating is about as bad as it can get. The people that did the hacking didn't just run up credit card debts, they really did take on the identities of the people whose personal information they were able to steal. It's been a living nightmare for my daughter.

So on that note, I hope TSR goes straight down for sharing personal information. It's a very selfish, very childish, very dangerous way to get "revenge".

I've also heard of dishonest parents stealing their children's identities to do the same thing.  I'm saying you are one, but anyone who would do that to their own child....

I hope TSR rots for what they have done.

Ooops you forgot the "not". 

[neriana]

I've also heard of dishonest parents stealing their children's identities to do the same thing.  I'm saying you are one, but anyone who would do that to their own child....

You know all the Halloween candy scares, and the idea that you can't give kids apples because they won't eat them because they may have razorblades or something in them? The only poisoned Halloween candy/razorblades in apples stories that have been proven true have been when their own parents killed the kids by those methods. In at least one case, for the life insurance.

Collection agencies in the U.S. are shamefully under-regulated. Once one's on your back, for whatever reason, they'll be there for a very long time, and very possibly sic others on you by selling your debt even after you've actually paid it. Also, good luck getting them to stop calling you if your number once belonged to someone else. We don't answer our phone any more because of the constant calls from machines for a person with an extremely silly name.

[deelink]

I hate telemarketers, I am so rude to them, and sometimes I feel guilty for it because I know it's their job. But surely the idiots upstairs in their offices know that it's a waste of TIME! There are no results!
There was a recent article about people being incredibly annoyed at telemarketers that they did not go to their companies especifically due to the massive barrage of phonecalls. It's considered harassment in many Australian homes.

I was expecting a call yesterday, so when the phone rang I answered and the telemarketer on the other side was whining why I left their phone service. I swear it's like having an ex call, begging for you to come back. Pathetic.
What's even more pathetic, is that I left said company 5 years ago. And I hate HATE when they whimper things like "We have much better deals now, we can match your current provider. Who is it? And how much are you paying?" Um, fuck off and die now. kthanxbie. As if I am going to say anything! It's none of their business! Plus this company owns all the other companies, so they are just seeing how much dollar they can squeeze out of the public. It's so sick. 

[neriana]

We're on a "do not call" list in the U.S. for telemarketers, and it is working. No more calls offering us aluminum siding, weatherproofing, satellite dishes, bathroom remodeling... oh, we live in an apartment. Charities are still allowed to call us, but they're usually not terribly pushy, and there's always a human being on the other end of the line, unlike the machines trying to sell you stuff.

[Paden]

I used to answer those calls for my dad. I'd string them along and right when they'd ask how many windows there were in the building, I'd say, "Oh, I don't want them for the whole building, just MY apartment. The rest of them can buy their own!" I usually got hung up on for that. The best thing about that? My dad owned his home and was falling out of his armchair laughing as I played the silly shopper role to the hilt.