Identity Theft?

Not really "identity theft" (using your PII to fraudulently obtain money/goods/services).  Just a case of bad luck wrong number.  I see 3 options for you:

1. Tell each caller that it's a wrong number and to verify they have removed your number from their systems.
2. Block each caller so they can't call back.
3. If it gets really bad - go to your mobile provider and change your number (the most impact to you.)

Here are a couple of tips to avoid REAL identity theft...

1. Use different passwords for different sites and use combinations of letters, numbers and especially special characters like !, @, #, $, %, &, etc.
2. Change your passwords every 3-6 months.
3. Use a service like keepass to keep track of them.
4. Once a year, get a free credit report from the major 3 to look for fraudulent attempts.
5. Place freezes and report-alerts with the credit bureaus.  How often do you apply for a loan?  Not often.  You can call to release it for a know transaction.
6. Do NOT use a debit card.  The PIN is encoded on the card.  Use credit cards and an old-fashioned ATM card.  You have much more protection with credit cards than you do fighting with your bank to get money back.
7. Shred any and all documents that contain PII.  Garbage theft is real.
8. Have checks sent to your bank branch to be picked up.  Do NOT have them delivered to your house.  Mailbox theft is real.
9. Link PayPal to credit card, not bank account.
10. Check your credit card and bank statements monthly, especially for fraudulent activity.
11. A small, strange $0.05 to $1 charge on your credit card that you don't know what it's for is someone validating your number.  They have it and they're prooving it's validity to sell it.  IMMEDIATELY call and dump the card.
12. Keep important documents in a safe deposit box, not in your house in a filing cabinet where it's all to easy to find.
13. Many businesses (like Blockbuster) say they need your social security number.  They DON'T.  If they insist, 999-99-9999 works.  Make sure your doctor's offices have abandoned SSNs for identification and just use patient number.  They already should have.
14. Assume everything and everything you post on the Internet is subject to theft.
15. Protect your computer from trojan/virus/keylogger invasion.
16. Know the key pieces of PII that you should protect (especially combinations of):
1. SSN
2. date of birth
3. address
4. mother's maiden name
5. driver's license number
6. bank account numbers
7. military ID
8. medical information

Basically, PII is any information that you wouldn't want anyone else to get a hold of.

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I've been frozen.  Other than a little planning ahead if you are going to get credit, why doesn't everyone do this?

But it sounds like you can lift the freeze, online, with about three days notice, correct?

Goosedog, if nobody asked for you by name, the chances are almost nill that your identity has been "stolen".  It's pretty obvious that someone used your phone number on a pay day loan, but my bet would be that it was random.

As for true identiy theft.....it doesn't occur near as much as it once did, and now lots of things like credit card fraud, etc. get lumped in as identity theft.....they're not.

Identity theft is old school.....credit/debit card numbers is the new best game for criminals.  There is plenty of evidence that nearly 100% of credit card numbers have already been compromised (that's what the banks and credit card companies teach at fraud seminars), they just haven't been used fraudulently yet.  Keeping an eye on credit reports is a good practice.

The good news....if you want to call it that, is that no insitutions hold you responsible for fraud anymore.....they learned to pass the cost of those losses on to everyone. 

Condom??

I've once been contacted by my bank a couple of years back after a small charge went through on my Visa card - $11.

They called me asked me if I'd been to the place where it was used - checked with husband no neither of us.

I am so glad they called - we had three home loans with that bank they could have wiped us out pretty quickly.  They froze all accounts - issued new cards etc.  Yes it was inconvenient for a week but it could have been much worse.

Also be sure to let your financial organisation know if you're going somewhere new - state or overseas.  I've been caught out overseas with my credit card being seized by the retailer with a fraud alert on it! 

That's why the crime trend didn't last long....it was pretty easy to catch those folks.  The worst part about identity theft "back then" was that the credit reporting companies didn't want to wipe the bad credit that thoses crimes caused off of credit reports.....that changed too.

Now it's all about grabbing your CC number out of cyberspace and buying online with your number.  

Or, stealing your wallet or purse out of your car, and going on a spree with your credit card....ID's made on mobile terminals as they go....pretty slick stuff actually.  But the credit card companies are catching up and their security departments are doing a really good job of watching for suspicious activity.  This crime trend won't last long either.....those people are REALLY easy to catch with all the video recorded transactions and alerts.

In the end, like I said, CC companies and banks build in their expected fraud losses with fees, interest rates, etc.  We all end up paying for it, but it rarely wrecks credit anymore, and individuals almost always get the charges wiped from their card/credit.

2005 is a loooong time ago with fraud trends....they change really fast to keep ahead of the counter measures.  

My Cell Phone number is published in some church's directory.  It seems to be for a very nice lady who often brings things to pot lucks.  I've been told it has been fixed- but apparently people hold on to their directories for a LONG time :-) 

Not a big deal- all of the people who call are very nice about it.  It would be a lot less confusing if she didn't have the same name as me though.

You didn't happen to lose your wallet at my 6yo's school, did you?

My experience the last few years is that virtually everyone gets reimbursed for losses, or in the case of fraudulent charges they are taken off.  In the case of the Legos.....you make a police report, the bank or CC company takes the charge off, you go on with your life.  I've never seen it NOT happen that way these days.

Now.....if you get a call from someone who says they are with your grandson and he needs bail money, and you wire them $5000.00, you're screwed.  Yes, that's one of the latest scams....and for some reason it works ALOT.....and we NEVER catch those guys.

Nigerian 419 scam...  30 years old and STILL working to sucker money away from fools and senior citizens.  You would think after 30 years of Internet life, people would have learned, but...

I have had my CC info compromised 2 or 3 times. The first guy used it everyday to buy $50-75 worth of McDonalds. Must have had a lot of friends with him. 

Not a big deal any time it happened. The first time the bank noticed and called me, I said no I haven't been to California recently and they took care of everything.

Second time I noticed, called, very quick turnaround they removed charges, sent a new card and a statement for me to sign. No big deal.

I wouldn't pay for a service to prevent CC theft as it is already built in with most CC's. Now identity theft is obviously different. Before you go LifeLock check with your homeowners insurance, many companies are offering identity theft protection now and it is pretty cheap. 

I had my identity stolen about 15 years ago.  Company processing payroll for the company where I worked had a bad employee selling info on the side.

The true irony of it was my credit was horrible back then and they got declined on about 10 credit attempts.  I was LOLing for sure.