I DID NOT MOVE… and there is a CLEAR REASON WHY
I was victimized by identity theft recently and it's taken time to resolve
I had planned to relocate to another county in California on March 1st. I tentatively arranged to rent a cargo van and hire employees who work for a commercial moving company to stop by my current home and load the vehicle with my personal belongings on the day prior to my expected move.
Those plans abruptly fell by the wayside on February 13 after I had a 4-hour phone discussion with a fraud specialist who stated that all of my credit union accounts had been compromised and unauthorized transactions totaling tens of thousands of dollars had been charged to me. Apparently, two people, either working separately or in tandem, got ahold of my credentials and began to impersonate me, paying for goods and services in Amsterdam and Abu Dhabi using Apple Pay and Google Pay.
After learning about the data breach, I left a voicemail message and emailed the property manager (let's call her Mary) in charge of the room I had planned to rent and related that I may not be able to meet the March 1st deadline to pay the first month's month.
Mary did not call back but simply emailed the following reply:
"Your messages have been received and we are sorry for you unfortunate circumstances because you cannot fulfill your obligations there is no need for any further communication."
Subsequently, I observed that Mary re-listed the unit on Zillow as available for rent as of February 15. Five days later (February 20), I left a voice message with Mary that I was no longer interested in renting the unit from her and respectfully asked that she refund half of the security deposit that I gave her. Mary ignored my request.
As hinted in the report linked below, our modern, interconnected world is a breeding ground for security breaches and identity theft.
Criminal Website Releases 2 Million Credit Card Numbers Free for the Taking.
A darkweb website known as "BidenCash" released more than 2 million credit and debit card numbers and details…
MARCH MADNESS
On March 4th I received a text message from the same fraud specialist I had spoken with earlier who warned me that one of my credit union accounts had been breached, again. This time the spurious charge from overseas amounted to $3,425. After replying that I didn't notice this charge while logged into my online banking account, he replied that it usually takes 24 hours for it to appear.
On March 5th I logged onto my online banking account with the credit union and confirmed that the suspect $3,425 transaction appeared on my statement as an increase in the amount of my credit card indebtedness.
On March 6th I was dismayed to learn that online access to my credit union accounts had been disabled. Moreover, a credit union employee told me over the phone that I could no longer withdraw or deposit funds at a different credit union than where I am a member, or use my debit or credit cards to make purchases (either online or at a store). Given that I don't even have any blank checks on hand and pay all my bills online, this revelation really put me in a bind.
The situation turned more encouraging and positive on March 7th: I received three emails from the credit union stating the financial institution was issuing provisional credits totaling more $15,000 that would offset over half of the bogus charges to my accounts. I would be uplifted further as a result of a follow-up phone call with a credit union representative, who assured me that these credits should appear on my statement in a few days and that the lock on my account should be removed in due course.
As a side note, my credit union accounts were not the only ones that were compromised by scammers. Unauthorized charges were also billed to my American Express credit card, although the total dollar amount was only a fraction of what was reflected on my credit union accounts. A steady series of phone calls to American Express enabled me to reverse and cancel those fraudulent charges.
I have been victimized by several identity theft episodes in the past, although none involved such large dollar amounts or adversely impacted my credit and financial health to the extent that this one has. While this unexpected episode has consumed so much of my time, it taught me two valuable lessons: The apartment that I had planned to rent was a poor choice and a better option is forthcoming; and I need to be more proactive in protecting my online privacy and security.
so sorry this happened to you. thank you for sharing your story and it's a reminder for me to be more vigilant in protecting my identity in this online world. wishing you the best in the search for your new home!