Ever since I have come to China, I have had issues with identity theft. There are a group of either Chinese girls or guys running around NYC pretending to be me. So far they tried to use my existing credit card accounts to buy things in Macy’s at the Queens Center Mall, Elmhurst, NY in October and November 2015. They also tried to use my credit card to pay parking tickets and for parking in NYC. They tried to buy home furniture, Coach purses, and make up. However, the Chase system was pretty good because the charges were immediately declined and I was notified.
Turns out that this band of criminals were pretty sophisticated because they used a machine to create a fake credit card with my account number and name. We don’t know if it was a boy or a girl who actually had the card because the Macy’s employee did not remember – there were a group of “Asian looking” people at the time they tried to purchase things.
Recently, the criminals have started to open accounts using my name and mailing address which is readily available on the internet because its considered public information. So the Macy’s bill showed up at my house. The account was not mine and neither were the purchases. Called Macy’s and found out that someone opened a new account in my name and mailing address but used someone else’s phone number and SSN. They made in store purchases for a Coach purse, Mac makeup, and Guess clothing. Oddly, they purchased three different lipsticks from Mac, in three different transactions, and clothing of S,M, and L sizes. So I think there were at least 3 girls there that day.
Currently, Macy’s has launched an escalated investigation without my proding because they think the usage pattern was suspicious. They have asked for my picture. I think they have the criminals on tape because they opened the account in Roosevelt Fields Mall, Long Island NY. By the time I called Macy’s the investigation was already underway. So relatively speaking, I got off lucky because at least I found out about the fraud. Unfortunately, this is a pain because now I need to call all the credit agencies to figure out how they even managed to open the account because I have my credit on lock down which means that they are not suppose to allow anyone to open an account in my name without my verification.
So just in case any of you will encounter this unfortunate situation, you need to file reports with the police station, file a report with the FTC, and then call the big three credit card companies who issue reports.
Federal Trade Commission ID Fraud website = https://www.identitytheft.gov/
Current Mood: Feeling Blase because with a billion Chinese people running around the world, it is going to be really hard to catch the Chinese people running around pretending to be me. Am I surprised at the turn of the events? Nope, just like I was not surprised at receiving fake money.
