Identity Theft...

Yesterday was somewhat terrifying. I am in the process of getting my degree in Humane Leadership at Duquesne University. As Mark likes to say, the hardest part of going to college is trying to find a way to pay for it. I have some student loans (Stafford and the such), but I still needed a little more. So I got on line and started looking for grants and scholarships that would help me out. This was not to beneficial, but on Duquesne's website I found a company that worked with my college and gave out loans.

I had been working with them for almost four weeks. They needed verification that I lived in the house I say I live in - why? I have no friggin' idea, but thats what they needed. I live about thirty miles from anywhere I could fax anything and I figured that if I had my insurance company fax them a copy of my homeowners insurance that would be good enough, right? My name. My address. That should be fine - NO!!! They couldn't take a COPY of the insurance even though it was coming from the company itself. They said they needed a copy of a utility bill, pay stub (although I had my PO box on them) or something else that I could make up, but not the item from the actual company supplying my service!

I did not know that this was not sufficient paperwork since each time I got a call from them (five to be exact) the person on the other end of the line would tell me that the paperwork I supplied was fine. No problem. You get the money. Great now I can finally register for my classes - Again NO! The loan still has not gone through. I call and they tell me they are still waiting for my address verification. I would go over everything once again and they would say that it was OK then I would get a call from the loan company saying "We need your address verification".

On Tuesday November 29th, Jessica calls me and tells me that she needs my address verification - again! Finally I get so upset that I decide to send them copies of everything I could possibly think of - deed to the house, loan approval information, anything that had my name and address on it. Remember that the person called me and stated that she was from the loan company I was working with. I tell her what I am sending and she said that that should be fine. I once again tell her how pissed I am, but she calms me down and gives me a fax number that I could fax all my information directly to her and she would be sure that she got it going. I think, no prob and take the new fax number down.

I faxed the information on a Wednesday and on Thursday I get a call from some guy telling me that he received all the information and I was good to go. I asked when the college should get the information he said it should be no later than the next day - Friday. I call and email my counselor so I can get my classes set up for Spring. On Saturday I get a call from my counselor telling me that the financial aid department still had not gotten the loan - Shit!!!

Monday I called the loan company and talked to a very unhappy person who could care less of the problems I seem to be having. What happened to customer service in America? I remember when I worked retail. The people I had to deal with were never nice, but I never... I digress and I will save for a later post. I told her I talked to Jessica and she helped me out. She then told me that they didn't have a Jessica that works there. I thought well maybe in a different office - Nope. This was there only office, this nice unhappy lady told me.

I gave her the fax number and she told me that they do not have any number that matched it. I later found out that the fax number was a New York number, not California. At this time my heart starts to pump and I can only think - now some stranger has all of our information - both Mark and me. All I could think was someone was in the process of buying a new Plasma TV or new car. They were getting arrested and gave them my name and information. They decided to eat at that nice restaurant that I always wanted to and couldn't afford. I kept thinking of the friends episode where Manana (Monica) had her identity stolen and all the wonderful things that her new "identity person" was doing. Was this going to be me?

Well here are some pointers to follow if you think your identity is being compromised.

1. Call the Federal Trade Commission at ONCE! This should be the first thing even if it turns out that you were mistaken. They will take a report and give you a code number that you can follow up with later if you get more information.
2. Call anyone of the three credit reporters and put a Fraud Alert on your name. You will only need to contact one. The one you contact will send your information to the other two. This is alert is good for 90 days and you will be able to get a "free" credit report. You will want to do this to make sure that nothing was/is happening on you name. Look for new accounts being opened or even inquiries. If you see anything report back to the FTC and then call your local police.
3. If something does happen and you find that your identity was stolen, check out "How To Get Through Having Your Identity Stolen". This is a great website and explains what happens from someone who had their identity taken.

I did find out that Jessica works in the New York branch. The very unhappy woman I talked to in the morning had no idea that they had a New York branch. She didn't think that her ignorance would toss Mark and me into a nice little panic. Thanks. My blood pressure needed a little test. Today everything should be cleared up since I talked with Linda, the supervisor, and she has taken it into her own hands.