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Identity
Theft Reflecting
back on the events that have happened during the past year I
must say that 2005 has been a stressful
year in the McSloy household. For some reason Murphy’s
Law made several visits. I hope Murphy has left and 2006 will be
better. One
incident that comes to mind I thought “would never happen to
me,” but it did. I am a victim of identity theft. Hopefully my
story will help others to be cautious in revealing personal
information on the internet, phone or anywhere for that matter. I
received a call from a collection agency, the gentleman saying
“we have a problem.” His next statement was a shock,
“someone purchased a cell phone using your Social Insurance
Number and birth date and has defaulted in paying nearly
$1,300". He went on to identify the person involved, asking
if I knew him. I had never heard of this man. He commented that
the man lived in Toronto and with me being in London, he doubted
that there was any of a link between us. After
the initial shock, I asked what I should do. I had heard of this
happening, but to happen to me - never. The collection agent
read my Social Insurance Number and birth date explaining that
when he went into Equifax to check the Credit Bureau report, it
was my information that came up. Now I had to take care of
business, notifying my bank, Equifax and TransUnion Canada
(credit reporting agencies), Phone Busters (an agency that
collects data and helps victims of identity theft) and making a
visit to the Fraud Department at the police station to file a
theft report. As
a result of this I have found out how easy it is for someone to
get your information. I have never given my SIN number to anyone
other than Revenue Canada, my employer and bank and yet this
happened. From now on I will never put a piece of paper in the
garbage unless it is shredded into little pieces and I will
probably look over my shoulder when I make a financial
transaction.
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Don’t
let this happen to you! For more information contact Phone
Busters at 1-888-495-8501 or visit