Dealing With Identity Thieves

[Leliel]

Well, it happens to the best of us.

At some point, it appears my account-which I use for purchasing PDFs and the like-has been hacked, and now there are a pair of very expensive robot toys that my money paid for.

Any advice? I changed my PIN and sent an email to BB&T telling them about the account activity, but any idea of where to go from here?

[Brother Oni]

Well, it happens to the best of us.

At some point, it appears my account-which I use for purchasing PDFs and the like-has been hacked, and now there are a pair of very expensive robot toys that my money paid for.

Any advice? I changed my PIN and sent an email to BB&T telling them about the account activity, but any idea of where to go from here?

Depends on how you think your account was compromised.

You've informed your bank, which is a good start and I'd also inform the site/store whether those toys were purchased from. This probably won't lead anywhere, but they may be able to give further information on who purchased them or where they were delivered to (in which case inform the police).

You may want to check your bank's policy on what happens if your account's or identity's been stolen and double check any fraud insurance you may have.

After that, I'd start on checking your computer for viruses - you say you use it for purchasing pdfs, so it's quite likely your account was compromised by your computer picking up something via the internet.

Finally keep a very close eye on your account to see if any other charges pop up.

[polity4life]

With any identity theft case, assume the worst and operate as though they obtained far more information than you thought.

Contact the credit bureaus and ask them to place a temporary fraud alert on your report. Any creditor who pulls your credit will see this fraud and, if they're following the rules, will at the very least make the fraudsters jump through some hoops to make obtain credit in your name.

It wouldn't hurt to pull a credit report and see if any inquiries have been made recently or any new credit lines have been established.

Go to your financial institution. They will have a policy and tools set for you to help you not only attempt to recover your funds but also keep what else you have safe. This often requires a police report but the policy will differ from institution to institution. They will also advise you to open a new account with new debit/credit cards to close the link between your old, compromised account and your funds.