...those visa/MC courtesy checks you get..

I'm a flamin........
-+In case you don't think those cash visa/mc courtesty checks that come to you
in the mail can be used by someone else,
think again.
Our mail was stolen over Thanksgiving...
two days worth. We assume in there were
a set of those blank checks one gets from all the visa/mc companies.
Got our bill today....two checks used for about
$275.00. About two years ago, we told our visa outfits, that we did not want to be sent any of those. B of A told us that they couldn't be used...
We are supposed to be getting copies of these checks. I'll post more if it is interesting..
like who cashed those. A <img border="0" alt="[santa]" title="" src="graemlins/santa.gif" /> Christmas.

A kid down the road by the name of A.G. Huffman did the same with ours last year.

Believe it or not, the ThriftyMart here in town took not one but two of them. He did it to a bunch of folks in the area.

He also stole blank checks from a number of folks (both from residences and check orders in the mail) and passed several thusand dollars worth of them ... even got away with it in this small town!

But even though he's got a record a mile long of this sort of stuff and he was caught red-handed (he even had one of our CC statements under his mattress), all these charges from a bunch of mail thefts and forgeries were dropped if he plead guilty to breaking into the local Elks Club and stealing booze.

Something else he did that some of you might want to keep in mind: he filled out a number of pre-approved CC applications and even got some of those to go through!

As I cleaned up the mess from this, I did learn that there's a number you can call that will at least get these stopped from coming for six months. If you don't want a new CC, it might be something to think about!

Yeah the same thing happened to my daughter. $5000 on her card. took months to get the charges off, and her credit report is still screwed up She and the neighbors finally got one of those neighborhood lock boxes, and haven't had any trouble since. KOW
Merry Christmas:santa:

Well we also were told to call the credit reporting bureaus and have them put a fraud alert on our accounts so that if someone attempts to open an account in our name, we are called first at home.

Something everyone should have in their home - a shreader. All that CC stuff should be shreaded and then thrown out, including old checks which can be "washed" and reused. Doesn't help the mail thefts of course but protects you on the garbage side.

Ah Yes, "identity thieft." Having been in mortgage lending for the past 35 years we see it come up on credit reports more often than you'd think. Usually fairly easy to spot if your paying more than an ounce of attention.

If you get wind of a problem contact ALL THREE of the national credit Beu's asap and advise. You'll have to give it to them in writing, but it does put everyone on alert.

But credit cards, ah yes credit cards. The mail solicitations are an invitation to desaster. Also, NEVER, EVER, NEVER EVER have any checks, financial documents, etc., list your Tax ID (Soc. Security) number. With this, someone with a bit of immagination, can have a great time at your "expense."

And they will.
:>(

Mail theft is a federal crime. I am surprised the local authority didn't want to prosecute that one...even for a minor. Those federal prosecutions look good on their resume when they want to run for a judgeship later in life.