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Identity theft. Help Please!

htownclone

htownclone

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2007
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So I got a call from Wells Fargo last week telling me that someone had hacked into my online account and attempted to transfer all of my money out of my account and into another account. (They were probably really disappointed when they saw the balance.:wink:)

So this means they had my soc. security # and now have all my information. I have called the big 3 credit bureau's and put a fraud alert on them. What bothers me is that it really does nothing to prevent someone from still using my credit. They told me if I want to freeze my credit to completely 100% prevent someone from using it, I'd have to pay $14 to freeze and $14 to unfreeze it every time I needed to use it. Seemingly a nice way for them to make money.

I've heard by law they are supposed to do it for free, but the process is extremely lengthy and you have to file a police report, etc. I've been on the phone with automated messages all weekend and only once was able to talk to a real person. Of course he was foreign and I couldn't understand a damn word he said and he eventually hung up the phone on me. He was from TransUnion.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them, or know exactly the process to go through?

It is so hard to find any of that info on their websites cause the credit bureau's themselves don't want you to freeze it cause they make money from giving out your information.

HELP PLEASE!
 
htownclone said:
So I got a call from Wells Fargo last week telling me that someone had hacked into my online account and attempted to transfer all of my money out of my account and into another account. (They were probably really disappointed when they saw the balance.:wink:)

So this means they had my soc. security # and now have all my information. I have called the big 3 credit bureau's and put a fraud alert on them. What bothers me is that it really does nothing to prevent someone from still using my credit. They told me if I want to freeze my credit to completely 100% prevent someone from using it, I'd have to pay $14 to freeze and $14 to unfreeze it every time I needed to use it. Seemingly a nice way for them to make money.

I've heard by law they are supposed to do it for free, but the process is extremely lengthy and you have to file a police report, etc. I've been on the phone with automated messages all weekend and only once was able to talk to a real person. Of course he was foreign and I couldn't understand a damn word he said and he eventually hung up the phone on me. He was from TransUnion.

Has anyone ever had this happen to them, or know exactly the process to go through?

It is so hard to find any of that info on their websites cause the credit bureau's themselves don't want you to freeze it cause they make money from giving out your information.

HELP PLEASE!
Click to expand...

Just curious how this could have happened. If they have your username/password combination they can access your on-line account without your SSN. That might not have been compromised. Do you use a wireless router? Do you have the security settings all set as high as possible? Is the router WPA or WEP? WEP is essentially worthless if someone is determined to get your info.
 
Cyclone90 said:
Just curious how this could have happened. If they have your username/password combination they can access your on-line account without your SSN. That might not have been compromised. Do you use a wireless router? Do you have the security settings all set as high as possible? Is the router WPA or WEP? WEP is essentially worthless if someone is determined to get your info.
Click to expand...

That's true - but even if they could see the traffic to his bank, as long as he's on a secure page they shouldn't be able to crack that - unless he got phished and gave them everything that they need.

If they have his SSN and other information, he might have had someone else leak his data - maybe not even Wells Fargo, but someone else he's dealt with.
 
i thought lifelock was a hoax and they actually dont do anything
 
Cyclone90 said:
Just curious how this could have happened. If they have your username/password combination they can access your on-line account without your SSN. That might not have been compromised. Do you use a wireless router? Do you have the security settings all set as high as possible? Is the router WPA or WEP? WEP is essentially worthless if someone is determined to get your info.
Click to expand...

I think it's set on WEP, but with a password to use it. My username on wells fargo was my social security number.
 
We were victims last week. Luckily our credit card company calls right away if we're making purchases at places that aren't central iowa.
 
htownclone said:
I think it's set on WEP, but with a password to use it. My username on wells fargo was my social security number.
Click to expand...

Ouch. There's a double whammy there. I would switch your wireless router to WPA ASAP. WEP encryption is broken and is no longer secure. Could be somebody driving around the neighborhood looking for open networks, or in a worst case scenario one of your neighbors.

Secondly, never ever ever use your SSN as your username. If Wells makes you do this they flunk IT security. I would think it would be configurable and you could switch it to something else. If somebody really wanted to hack your data, they could now have your SSN because of using WEP. Use of your SSN should be minimized at much as possibly on either hard copies or on-line transactions.

Hope everything works out. That's certainly not fun.
 
TykeClone said:
That's true - but even if they could see the traffic to his bank, as long as he's on a secure page they shouldn't be able to crack that - unless he got phished and gave them everything that they need.

If they have his SSN and other information, he might have had someone else leak his data - maybe not even Wells Fargo, but someone else he's dealt with.
Click to expand...

Right. My bad. https: shouldn't allow that to happen.

cycloneworld said:
My WF username was my social too...I just changed it a few weeks ago. Why that is the "name" they give you is beyond stupid...
Click to expand...

Now, if the hacker grabbed your SSN from some other non-secure on-line traffic, knows that Wells default username is your SSN, and got your password too, then it might happen.

I just seems like more than a coincidence that the hacker knew your Wells user/pass combo.
 
Cyclone90 said:
Ouch. There's a double whammy there. I would switch your wireless router to WPA ASAP. WEP encryption is broken and is no longer secure. Could be somebody driving around the neighborhood looking for open networks, or in a worst case scenario one of your neighbors.

Secondly, never ever ever use your SSN as your username. If Wells makes you do this they flunk IT security. I would think it would be configurable and you could switch it to something else. If somebody really wanted to hack your data, they could now have your SSN because of using WEP. Use of your SSN should be minimized at much as possibly on either hard copies or on-line transactions.

Hope everything works out. That's certainly not fun.
Click to expand...

Wells Fargo does it by default. I guess I assumed since that was what they gave me I wasn't worried about it, cause I don't use it for anything else at all. I just hate not knowing how the heck it happened. Wells Fargo wouldn't tell me how either. They wouldn't tell me a thing, which pisses me off beyond belief.
 
WPA is better than WEP, but it's not very secure either. WF uses SSL so it's fine. Usually this is a deal where you got hit by a phishing scam.
 
sounds like a phishing scam too... keystroke tracker. Do you have any Anti-Spy ware software?

SpyBot from downloads.com is a start.

-keep
 
htownclone said:
Wells Fargo does it by default. I guess I assumed since that was what they gave me I wasn't worried about it, cause I don't use it for anything else at all. I just hate not knowing how the heck it happened. Wells Fargo wouldn't tell me how either. They wouldn't tell me a thing, which pisses me off beyond belief.
Click to expand...
There is nothing for them to tell you. WF didn't get hacked. They don't know if you gave your login away freely on a phishing scam, maybe you use the same password on a bunch of sites, you could have used an insecure computer somewhere,or maybe you have some spyware on your computer. The person logging in as you doesn't tell WF how they got your info. They'd have to be caught to find out how.
 
htownclone said:
Wells Fargo does it by default. I guess I assumed since that was what they gave me I wasn't worried about it, cause I don't use it for anything else at all. I just hate not knowing how the heck it happened. Wells Fargo wouldn't tell me how either. They wouldn't tell me a thing, which pisses me off beyond belief.
Click to expand...

Maybe this is why there were not giving you too many answers.

Stolen Wells Fargo Access Codes Threaten 7,000 - Security/Vulnerabilities - DarkReading

Sounds like the chances of this being the problem were slim, but still a possibility. Phishing does seem more likely however.
 
Last edited:
happened to me - except it was my ex wife. It is just the start of a long road to recovery. My credit score went to to katmandu and I am still trying to recover from it. She got nothing from it from what I know. I got a whole hell of alot of heartache. Seems its easier to steal an Identity and use it then to explain who you are and try to fix it
 
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