I received an email from Ebay to indicating that my account had been suspended. the link brough to the Ebay web site and asked that I put my information in again to activate my Ebay account. Unfortuantely, without thinking I gave them a whole ****load of personal information that I regret.

It turns out it wasn't from Ebay at all! I contacted the 3 credit bureau's, etc. But damn, that was was very convincing!

Does anyone know if you can change your driver license number?

I received an email from Ebay to indicating that my account had been suspended. the link brough to the Ebay web site and asked that I put my information in again to activate my Ebay account. Unfortuantely, without thinking I gave them a whole ****load of personal information that I regret.

It turns out it wasn't from Ebay at all! I contacted the 3 credit bureau's, etc. But damn, that was was very convincing!

Does anyone know if you can change your driver license number?

How many times have I said EBay is saturated with fraud? Shame on you for replying to an email requesting personal information.

My Bad! I just can't believe I fell for it! Phuk!

that s*cks man sorry to hear it.

as for the drivers license number change? I don't believe so. It is the nearest thing to a National ID card we have I don't think they will allow you to change the number. I'd call the DMV and ask when you get a few hrs you can kill on the phone..

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by kacyk:
I received an email from Ebay to indicating that my account had been suspended. the link brough to the Ebay web site and asked that I put my information in again to activate my Ebay account. Unfortuantely, without thinking I gave them a whole ****load of personal information that I regret.

It turns out it wasn't from Ebay at all! I contacted the 3 credit bureau's, etc. But damn, that was was very convincing!

Does anyone know if you can change your driver license number? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry to hear about this. The State of Washington's DL info web site is:

http://www.dol.wa.gov/ds/dl.htm

There is a section that says:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Identity Theft
Should you become a victim of identity theft the Department offers a few services to help our customers. You may also want to visit the Federal Trade Commission's internet site for ways to protect yourself.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Which takes you to a link that says:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I have been a victim of identity fraud. Does DOL provide any services to help with this issue?

The Department of Licensing suggests you immediately contact your local law enforcement to report your identity theft. They may assign you a case number that can be referenced as you attempt to clear your identity.

In addition, please reference the following link for specific issues relating to DOL services: http://www.dol.wa.gov/ds/dsifaq.htm

You may also want to visit the FTC web site "ID Theft, When Bad Things Happen To Your Good Name", to find out what you can do to deter identity theft.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

And finally:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">What if my DL or ID card is misplaced, lost, or stolen?

Immediately obtain a replacement at your local Licensing Services Office
Note: Unless fraudulent activity is detected within DOL, DSI will not place a flag, alert, or comment on your record, nor cancel or void your DL or ID card.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'd call them anyway at (360) 902-3900 and see what they say. Also, they recommend contacting the FTC, so it's worth a shot.

You might also want to see if you can file a police report just to get it on the record that this happened.

Best of luck.

kacyk,
Sorry to hear this. These phishing attacks are very convincing.

What did you do when you contacted the credit bureaus? Did you place a "fraud alert" on your "account?"

I ask because we did this when my wife's purse was stolen from her office at work. It temporarily gave us some peace of mind, but unlike they suggested, these alerts were not lifted after 6 months and this created problems.

While these alerts were in place, it was impossible for us to get credit in her name for things like store shopping cards and some other stuff. For instance, those deals where you apply for a new store card to get the 12-month-no-payment style credit all had to be done in my name. In theory the are supposed to simply see the "fraud alert" when applying and ask for more thorough proof of identity. But it seemed that the credit application systems and/or the employees were too stupid to follow this procedure.

We ultimately had to make some very lengthy phone calls with the credit bureaus and some other information clearing house company (Credit Account Services if I recall) to restore things to normal after about a year and a half.

So if you place a "fraud alert" on your identity, be prepared to run into all sorts of trouble getting new credit and/or use your wife as a sole credit holder.


For everybody's sake, and hopefully obvious in retrospect:

no organization worth anything will contact you asking you for information totally out of context

BTW, do Washington state DL's use social security number in them? If so, I think there's a federal statute giving you leverage to demand that they reassign you a new ID not using your SSN.

Sorry to hear it happened. Never click on those links! I do look at where the link goes just out of curiosity though. You can always tell it is a fraud because of the domain or IP that the link points to. They get pretty creative with the domains though. If you even think it is valid, simple go directly to the website or call the company. Don't use the link in the phishing email.

Check this out:
A while ago I received a bogus email from what looked like ebay. I opened the email and it asked me to become a power seller. I never clicked the link because I knew it could be a scam. I did however leave the email open and went to ebay directly by typeing in http://www.ebay.com
Those f'nnnn bastards were able to watch me type my password in and hi-jacked my ebay account . They listed a quad and a Horse Trailer for sale with a buy it now price. Every link on the bogus auctions, when clicked, brought up an email to their email address.
Fortunatly, I contacted ebay and they removed the auctions right away.
Any email message from ebay is also located under "messages" in your "my ebay" so never ever open any emails from ebay.

Thanks all. I've been making calls all morning. Hate this stuff!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by NJ H2:
Check this out:
A while ago I received a bogus email from what looked like ebay. I opened the email and it asked me to become a power seller. I never clicked the link because I knew it could be a scam. I did however leave the email open and went to ebay directly by typeing in http://www.ebay.com
Those f'nnnn bastards were able to watch me type my password in and hi-jacked my ebay account . They listed a quad and a Horse Trailer for sale with a buy it now price. Every link on the bogus auctions, when clicked, brought up an email to their email address.
Fortunatly, I contacted ebay and they removed the auctions right away.
Any email message from ebay is also located under "messages" in your "my ebay" so never ever open any emails from ebay. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

NJ H2,
What email client and web browser were you using?

WA DL's don't use the SS#.

Sorry to hear that Kacyk. I haven't gotten any of those emails but have heard about them on Clark Howard.... Good luck!

Originally posted by Klaus:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The Department of Licensing suggests you immediately contact your local law enforcement to report your identity theft. They may assign you a case number that can be referenced as you attempt to clear your identity. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not an option. File the police report -- you'll need the case number when dealing with your new creditors when and if your identity is used.

I went through this last year. We had a workman in our home doing odd jobs. My old military ID and other service-related mementos were framed and hanging in our home. The military ID has my SSN on it.

Today that framed collection is in the closet, everything that's personal and thrown away is shredded and our mailbox locks. Scumbags are everywhere.

Sorry to read you're dealing with this.

Hey Kacyk, check your PM. I know someone that handles ID theft and internet fraud in WA state.

Thanks again everyone. I did go to the police this morning and they will not issue me a case # since nothing has happened (in their opinion). Essentially I need proof that someone has actually tried to purchase goods in my name before a case will be assigned.

Currently I have fraud alerts with all three bureaus and have purchased a package through Equifax to monitor my credit. It even alerts my cell phone when my credit cards exceed a certain level.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by kacyk:
...
Essentially I need proof that someone has actually tried to purchase goods in my name before a case will be assigned.

... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's a shame. A lot of law enforcement still is not computer savvy. They'll do a police report if a wallet or purse is stolen, but not if some supposedly nebulous information is taken via software.

If you really wanted to press the issue, you could snapshot your browsing history and it would contain the URLs that you posted info to. While that won't contain all the data that was given away, it's as good as a witness's statement that something of value was taken and it's actual material evidence (albeit falsifiable) about the incident unlike a simple verbal statement...that is if the LEOs new anything about computers.

Kacyk--You could be overlooking something here. Contact the IRS. Why? Someone stole my sisters id and opened a business using her ssn. The income from that business is reported under her ssn(used to get the employer id #) and now she must prove the income and the employment taxes are not hers. What a pain. There is some procedure at the IRS to report id theft but you must do it before the income is reported or the burden is on you to disprove that you earned the money. Good luck!

BTW, the same frauds send out emails like that from Paypal. So don't click on that link either.

Stacy

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by kacyk:
I did go to the police this morning and they will not issue me a case # since nothing has happened (in their opinion). Essentially I need proof that someone has actually tried to purchase goods in my name before a case will be assigned. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm no lawyer but this might be worth looking at. http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2...1888-S2.SL.htm