Social security Insecurity, yikes

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Hien

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These kind of incidents are dangerous, and we only hear about big companies, not counting zillions small companies out there.:(
1) There should be a law to forbid companies to store social security number if the person do not get the job or no longer working for the company.
2) There should be a law to demand companies to erase your credit card number etc after the exchange date for the good is over.
There is no need for collecting this kind of personal tracking for information (they go overboard to do this) you can learn the trend of demand for certain good by just inventory number, that should be enough
(One of the orchid seller asking my credit card number again everytime I buy, He said that because he made it a policy to destroy the number when the transaction is done, that made me feel better)

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/28/news/companies/gap/?postversion=2007092817
 
Well, I'm glad I never applied there, however I shopped there a lot, and had several of their credit cards in the past (all closed now but where is my social information? Has IT been destroyed?)

I may be making a phone call on Monday. Being the victim of ID theft through an inside job at my cell phone company, I am in complete agreement with you, Hien.

At work, we have a "vault" where we store the information, but I am not convinced that it is the best method and frankly would recommend that, once the transaction goes through, we figure out how to destroy the credit card information instead of holding onto it in a secure place.
 
Last October/November, I bought some shoes at TJ Maxx. I didn't think anything of it at the time because I don't regularly shop there. I think it was a month or so later that I went to buy gas and I swiped my card and the pump didn't authorize. I figured my magnetic strip had gone bad. I went on to my next stop and tried to buy some things for a party and the gal told me my card wasn't accepted. I recall telling her there is no way I could be over my limit and asked her what was wrong and she tried to whisper that the card was declined. How embarrassing with people in line behind me and I only have one credit card so I had to leave everything I was trying to buy behind.

I went online and checked my balance and made sure my last payment had been received and it had. Everything looked good yet my card was being declined. I went back out to get gas again and my card wouldn't authorize the pump. TJMaxx had contated the authorities and the authorities had contacted all of the providers of people affected and the cards were shut down. TJMaxx never contacted me those schmucks. And CitiBank never contacted me by mail or e-mail... those even bigger schmucks so I got to be humiliated in a line of people while some clerk whispered my card was declined like I was a deadbeat bill payer or something. To top it off, when I called CitiBank to figure out what was going on, I was told my card had been canceled with no explanation because of "security". Took me quite a few phone calls to get to the root of it.

I got hit up many years ago and only caught that I had issues when I received a SS notification on my 40th birthday regarding status. Somebody was receiving SSDI benefits under my name and had been for a few years and it wasn't me. The SSDI checks were being direct deposited into an account in Detroit MI. This occurred several years after I was hit for identity theft. They must pass out what they get amongst "friends". Professional licenses were issued back then under an individual's SS number. Presumably, that's how I got hit. Had to retain an attorney who concentrated in this area to clean up that mess and it took a few years and cost thousands of dollars.

Check the credit bureaus at least once a year and don't forget to check with the SS Admin every once in a while too. The time to find out somebody else is/has been receiving your benefits is not on your 40th birthday or worse yet, when you want to begin receiving SS or need to apply for SSDI benefits.
 
In response to the above - I had a VERY different response from my credit card companies. Discover had notified me and we shut the thief down within 20 minutues. Citicard provided a person who I can still call to this day, 2 years later, and he'll help me figure out a problem, like an address change.

Tip : make sure your address and phone numbers are always currant with your credit cards and the bureaus. They need to be able to reach you if something is happening. Moving four times last year, that has been the most important thing to know and check up on.
 
That happened in the past 12 months. It is my understainding it was the Feds who contacted the credit card companies and shut down the accounts. Should have been TJMaxx upon discovery and they should have followed up with written contact. TJMaxx seemed to be busy creating videos for the buying public... damage control.

All of my contact information was correct. What I found interesting is that they were more concerned with all the people who had returned items to TJMaxx. I got to thinking about that and realized that if you return an item anywhere these days, they generally ask for our DL#, full name, address, and phone number. Egads. I rarely return anything I buy but I have over the course of the years. I must admit I wouldn't return anything in favor of eating the cost these days or simply passing the purchase on to someone who could use it. Last thing in the world I want is personal information and a credit card number out there to be plucked for returning an item for credit or an exchange.

What really concerns me is all these employers who only accept applications online. Never considered the implications of this common practice since I'm not looking for employment and never had to apply online for the job I held. This affects our children though so now I will have to be on my toes checking any information. I am thankful to Hien for mentioning this and already discussed it with my husband.

I don't use my CitiBank card any longer. It will expire and I will close out the account. I've had better luck with Chase and back over ten years ago it was that company that called me on the phone about a purchase at a gas station in Detroit that alerted me to there existing a potential problem. They denied the transaction but things sort of snowballed from there. They also called me on my cell phone this summer to verify a transaction when I made my first purchase out of state while vacationing. I love this company.
 

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