What I Learned When Thieves Stole My Identity

Thankfully this has never happened to me (knock on wood). But I did have my BMW credit card compromised in 2006. It was a lousy feeling. I did feel violated, even though it was just one card and even though I was not on the hook for financial losses related to the fraud. Some of us, though, will eventually have our identities stolen wholesale — and it won’t just be a single card that is violated. It will be a nightmare that encompasses many accounts. The Sun-Sentinel’s consumer affairs reporter was recently the victim of identity theft. It can happen to anyone. From the story:The first sign that something was wrong seemed harmless: A new Dell credit card arrived in my mail one afternoon.More landed in the mailbox the next day.Macy’s. Bloomingdale’s. Crate and Barrel. Radio Shack. Then later: Visa Sony, Toys R Us and Lowe’s cards turned up.I didn’t request any of these cards. My first call to Dell revealed what I suspected.Someone had applied for a credit card using my name.I felt violated and vulnerable. Then, it hit me: I’ve become a statistic, a victim of identity theft.The rest of the story is a checklist of what happens afterward.