Identity theft. What a nightmare

   / Identity theft. What a nightmare #11  
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER call or respond to the number in any such message or email. Contact the company in question at a number you KNOW to be true and valid. Your call to that number is likely what triggered all of this. Had you not responded to it, none of it would have happened, 30 minutes, 30 seconds or 30 days later.

When in doubt, check it out. Verify any number before replying.

So, the initial text is really the scam? It was t from ATT but from the scammer. Responding to the text caused the problem.

Now, that makes sense.

Thanks!

MoKelly
 
   / Identity theft. What a nightmare #12  
Did AT&T say what went wrong in the security process to enable this to happen? What is now being done differently to prevent it from happening again?

I don't think that responding quickly to an unsolicited text is a reasonable solution. Even though this text was valid, that sort of thing is often the first step in a phishing scam. There are also plenty of valid reasons to not respond quickly to a text, such as driving, a doctor's appointment, or not being chained to your phone.

Did your AT&T account have a security PIN or password? This should be required to make any changes to your account.
 
   / Identity theft. What a nightmare #13  
Did your AT&T account have a security PIN or password? This should be required to make any changes to your account.

We have ATT phones. We have a Username snd Password to access the account to make any changes.

They then send an email listing what was changed and saying what we should do if we didn’t make the change.

Have you ever tried to contact ATT by text? Can’t happen! By phone - can be hours.

ATT has texted us only when we reach some threshold on minutes. Like say “you are at 75% of your monthly minutes”. I am certain this is an automated message.

To think ATT has people looking at accounts for suspicious activity, and even more then someone knowing your account is being stolen, and then doing nothing about it but texting you, is rather hard to believe.

In fact, if ATT really sent the text and did zero to stop the fraud, they should have legal liability for the damages.

MoKelly
 
   / Identity theft. What a nightmare
  • Thread Starter
#14  
AT&T had sent me several emails. But, the hacker had already hacked into my email account and I was not getting any emails either.

I spent another 4 or 5 hours on the phone today with QuickBooks trying to get that straightened out. They had hacked into that too, and caused all sorts of problems. As far as I know right now, they intercepted one customer payment of $1100 that was paid with a credit card.

But, there was a pending deposit of $3400 into my bank account earlier today, when I shut down all bank access. So I may come out ahead anyway.
 
   / Identity theft. What a nightmare #16  
Well, you know where they live. Pay them a visit.
 
   / Identity theft. What a nightmare #17  
And this is why I don't fall for the "secure your account by giving us your phone number" crap. How does that secure my account? That is what the security questions and answers are for.

I assume this guy had to get or guess your pin or SS number to get the number ported? Or did he just buy a burner phone and activate it entering your number?

The last time I tried to get my number ported to a new phone I had to contact AT&T for the account number. Turns out it is nowhere on your billing and it's kept secret until you need it and ask.
 
   / Identity theft. What a nightmare #18  
Had someone file an unemployment claim using my name/SS and their address.
Just put locks on credit reports etc.
This is getting crazy.
 
   / Identity theft. What a nightmare #19  
Had someone file an unemployment claim using my name/SS and their address.
Just put locks on credit reports etc.
This is getting crazy.
Same thing also to my daughter and wife's sister.
 
   / Identity theft. What a nightmare #20  
Had someone file an unemployment claim using my name/SS and their address.
Just put locks on credit reports etc.
This is getting crazy.

Buddy of mine got his unemployment approval letter last week.
Problem is he has been retired for the last 5 years and did not file.
Apparently due to the mess our dear guv has the states unemployment in they are no longer verifying eligibility. He cant get any response from the unemployment system.
I told him to go to the county attorney and file a identity theft claim to protect himself when they do realize the error. Somebody is receiving the funds.
 

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