any advice? my grandmother gave her ss number to the "irs" over the phone.
- Thread starter sloppy joe
- Start date
The Best online firearms community in Louisiana.
Member Benefits:
Fewer Ads! Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership Discuss anti-gun legislation Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses Discover free outdoor shooting areas View up to date on firearm-related events Share photos & video with other members ...and so much more!
Member Benefits:
Put a fraud alert on her credit report.
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0275-place-fraud-alert
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0275-place-fraud-alert
Life lock or a similar service, immediately! Cancel and close every credit/debit card. Notify her bank. Notify all three credit bureaus of the data theft. If she has a substantial amount of savings, consider cashing out and put the cash in a safe deposit box. They could get their hands on an account, but not cash.
With her name, SSAN, and DOB they can easily open accounts and take out loans in her name. Been there, took years to finally get everything resolved.
With her name, SSAN, and DOB they can easily open accounts and take out loans in her name. Been there, took years to finally get everything resolved.
Place a credit freeze with each credit agency (transunion, equifax, experian). And watch all her statements each month.
You should probably be doing that anyway if she's subject to scams.
Closing every account, having an old lady horde a bunch of cash at home or in a safe deposit box is probably a bad idea.
You should probably be doing that anyway if she's subject to scams.
Closing every account, having an old lady horde a bunch of cash at home or in a safe deposit box is probably a bad idea.
Granted converting to cash is a last resort, but that's what I had to do. It all depends on how aggressive the data thieves are.
Thanks to an ex-girlfriend, when I came back from a year in Korea I discovered I had a mortgage for a new (nonexistent ) house in California. And a second mortgage on it. And a construction loan on it. And various credit cards, furniture stores, car lots, etc. It seemed I "owed" money to every bank in town. If I opened an account, they immediately sucked the money out to pay some of the "loan". I had to get the Air Force to go back to cutting me a hard check & cash it for me, couldn't cash it at a bank or they would try to take it. Like I said, took my years to get it straight.
Thanks to an ex-girlfriend, when I came back from a year in Korea I discovered I had a mortgage for a new (nonexistent ) house in California. And a second mortgage on it. And a construction loan on it. And various credit cards, furniture stores, car lots, etc. It seemed I "owed" money to every bank in town. If I opened an account, they immediately sucked the money out to pay some of the "loan". I had to get the Air Force to go back to cutting me a hard check & cash it for me, couldn't cash it at a bank or they would try to take it. Like I said, took my years to get it straight.
Gator 45/70
Well-Known Member
Cash is King!
Chaps the gobberment azz that they can't see what your spending YOUR money on!
Chaps the gobberment azz that they can't see what your spending YOUR money on!
Last edited:
Sound advice, but if you do a credit monitoring service, pay the extra money for real time monitoring across all three credit bureaus. Getting an email or phone call the day after some one applies is usually too late and the damage has already been done. There are a few companies out there that do real time 24/7/365 monitoring. I recommend and use https://www.privacyguard.com. That is who Frank Abagnale uses and since he pretty much created ID theft and is the DOJ/US Dept. of Treasury SME on all things fraud and ID theft, I use what he uses. Putting a fraud alert/freeze on your SSN with the FTC is no cost alternative, especially if you are not in the habit of opening credit accounts every other weekend.
On the other hand, according to Mr. Abagnale, everyone in the US has already had their identity stolen, so that aught to make you sleep better tonight.
As long as she didn't give out her bank account information, don't close her bank accounts or debit cards. Just notify the bank that you want special instructions added to all of her accounts to verify IDs on all transactions and to not give any information over the phone without a password you set. Your bank should be willing to do that.
Don't put all of the cash in safe boxes. Safe boxes are a royal pain in the butt in general...and adding a bunch of cash to the mix just complicates things.
I second ta2d_cop - privacyguard is a great service and would be a wise investment.
Let the banks know ASAP that someone got her SSN and possibly has other identifying information.
Don't put all of the cash in safe boxes. Safe boxes are a royal pain in the butt in general...and adding a bunch of cash to the mix just complicates things.
I second ta2d_cop - privacyguard is a great service and would be a wise investment.
Let the banks know ASAP that someone got her SSN and possibly has other identifying information.
Sound advice, but if you do a credit monitoring service, pay the extra money for real time monitoring across all three credit bureaus. Getting an email or phone call the day after some one applies is usually too late and the damage has already been done. There are a few companies out there that do real time 24/7/365 monitoring. I recommend and use https://www.privacyguard.com. That is who Frank Abagnale uses and since he pretty much created ID theft and is the DOJ/US Dept. of Treasury SME on all things fraud and ID theft, I use what he uses. Putting a fraud alert/freeze on your SSN with the FTC is no cost alternative, especially if you are not in the habit of opening credit accounts every other weekend.
On the other hand, according to Mr. Abagnale, everyone in the US has already had their identity stolen, so that aught to make you sleep better tonight.
If you put a credit freeze with each bureau, they can't open a new account without calling you. Plus it's free.
Here's some good advice on this subject.
If she is of the age where she cannot discern whether or not she should be giving out her SSN or not, one of her kids (preferably one that already has money, and is considered the most honest), needs to take all of her assets out of her name and put it in their own name. As separate traceable accounts of course. You can have multiple checking accounts and one can be solely for her financial activities and payments. If she still wants to use credit cards, get her one with a small limit. Get a full blown POA for not just financial matters, but all medical and death; and immediately notify all of her financial institution, insurances, medical services, etc., that all future correspondence goes through the heir that is in charge. Change all the insurance beneficiaries immediately to pay the heir in charge. Remember, if the family is looking out for the best interest of the mother, there shouldn't be bad blood. The heir in charge can and should use what money they need to pay any taxes and service fees they will encounter as a result of the sudden windfall of the mom's cash/asset influx.
If she has cash assets; and you cannot clearly protect them; deposit them in the checking/savings/retirement account. It is her money, so the family should have no issues with making sure she has what she needs/wants, when she wants it.
I took every penny of every asset out of my mother's name and made sure she had everything she wanted. The only money she was ever cheated out of after that, was whatever unscrupulous relatives or siblings talked her out of behind the scenes. Again, it was her money to do as she pleased; but it was safe, and I at least was able to talk to her about the soundness of giving it away. I encouraged her to spend her money on herself, but like many of the older generation, she was thrifty and afraid to run out. She never did under my watch! She lived for many years, on her own, and enjoying her money! I paid all of her bills and had every account reporting directly to me for EVERYTHING. She never got another call from any of them about any of the crap!
Another very big benefit of this takeover came after her death, some of her children had large tax burdens, and tax and monetary liens. Guess what happened when her Estate opened? No payments to any liens by the estate! There was no money left in her Estate!
The heirs that weren't financially irresponsible didn't have to split their money from the Estate to satisfy liens of other heirs.
One cautionary note! If all the kids are waiting like vultures to get her money when she passes, there is not going to be much happiness!
Oh! Get a P.O. Box too!
If she is of the age where she cannot discern whether or not she should be giving out her SSN or not, one of her kids (preferably one that already has money, and is considered the most honest), needs to take all of her assets out of her name and put it in their own name. As separate traceable accounts of course. You can have multiple checking accounts and one can be solely for her financial activities and payments. If she still wants to use credit cards, get her one with a small limit. Get a full blown POA for not just financial matters, but all medical and death; and immediately notify all of her financial institution, insurances, medical services, etc., that all future correspondence goes through the heir that is in charge. Change all the insurance beneficiaries immediately to pay the heir in charge. Remember, if the family is looking out for the best interest of the mother, there shouldn't be bad blood. The heir in charge can and should use what money they need to pay any taxes and service fees they will encounter as a result of the sudden windfall of the mom's cash/asset influx.
If she has cash assets; and you cannot clearly protect them; deposit them in the checking/savings/retirement account. It is her money, so the family should have no issues with making sure she has what she needs/wants, when she wants it.
I took every penny of every asset out of my mother's name and made sure she had everything she wanted. The only money she was ever cheated out of after that, was whatever unscrupulous relatives or siblings talked her out of behind the scenes. Again, it was her money to do as she pleased; but it was safe, and I at least was able to talk to her about the soundness of giving it away. I encouraged her to spend her money on herself, but like many of the older generation, she was thrifty and afraid to run out. She never did under my watch! She lived for many years, on her own, and enjoying her money! I paid all of her bills and had every account reporting directly to me for EVERYTHING. She never got another call from any of them about any of the crap!
Another very big benefit of this takeover came after her death, some of her children had large tax burdens, and tax and monetary liens. Guess what happened when her Estate opened? No payments to any liens by the estate! There was no money left in her Estate!
The heirs that weren't financially irresponsible didn't have to split their money from the Estate to satisfy liens of other heirs.One cautionary note! If all the kids are waiting like vultures to get her money when she passes, there is not going to be much happiness!
Oh! Get a P.O. Box too!
Last edited:
Here's some good advice on this subject.
If she is of the age where she cannot discern whether or not she should be giving out her SSN or not, one of her kids (preferably one that already has money, and is considered the most honest), needs to take all of her assets out of her name and put it in their own name. As separate traceable accounts of course. You can have multiple checking accounts and one can be solely for her financial activities and payments. If she still wants to use credit cards, get her one with a small limit. Get a full blown POA for not just financial matters, but all medical and death; and immediately notify all of her financial institution, insurances, medical services, etc., that all future correspondence goes through the heir that is in charge. Change all the insurance beneficiaries immediately to pay the heir in charge. Remember, if the family is looking out for the best interest of the mother, there shouldn't be bad blood. The heir in charge can and should use what money they need to pay any taxes and service fees they will encounter as a result of the sudden windfall of the mom's cash/asset influx.
If she has cash assets; and you cannot clearly protect them; deposit them in the checking/savings/retirement account. It is her money, so the family should have no issues with making sure she has what she needs/wants, when she wants it.
I took every penny of every asset out of my mother's name and made sure she had everything she wanted. The only money she was ever cheated out of after that, was whatever unscrupulous relatives or siblings talked her out of behind the scenes. Again, it was her money to do as she pleased; but it was safe, and I at least was able to talk to her about the soundness of giving it away. I encouraged her to spend her money on herself, but like many of the older generation, she was thrifty and afraid to run out. She never did under my watch! She lived for many years, on her own, and enjoying her money! I paid all of her bills and had every account reporting directly to me for EVERYTHING. She never got another call from any of them about any of the crap!
Another very big benefit of this takeover came after her death, some of her children had large tax burdens, and tax and monetary liens. Guess what happened when her Estate opened? No payments to any liens by the estate! There was no money left in her Estate!
One cautionary note! If all the kids are waiting like vultures to get her money when she passes, there is not going to be much happiness!
Oh! Get a P.O. Box too!
Keep in mind that POA's expire and are void upon death. Also, any account that you manage (with a POA) will be frozen unless you are listed as a joint owner on the account. Emps advice about putting everything in your own name takes out that problem, and I agree with all of the above :]
Going through something similar as we speak. Utility companies in Detroit with my information, cash service in New York had my credit card #.... It's a never ending battle that I've been fighting for years. Tried LifeLock, it hasn't caught anything of use in a long time. If they don't enter the information exactly as you have it on your profile they'll never detect it. Oh, and the fraud alerts you can just put it on one (Equifax worked) and it'll alert the others, but ONLY FOR 90 DAYS. Just FYI, hope this helps. Thanks for the recommendation to privacyguard, I'll check it out.
Have them call the local sherif or pd and file a police report with any info on the caller. Getting a copy of the police report should make it easier to file long term fraud alerts (longer than the 90 no questions asked) with the agencies.
Staff online
-
340six-Global Mod-
Members online
- Micahbarcelona
- Strick8
- sonyman74
- Fordfella
- Matthewk1114
- Jsonier820
- hotbiggun
- Latrag7
- Abby Normal
- Papercutninja
- O_R_B_1
- mforsta
- nlognion93
- miscverb
- Gravelface
- Gmac
- theway109
- cbbr
- Camoranger2006
- SgtPuddin
- Cthedon
- Mrfixit
- MilOperator
- Tonyaav
- MichaelPopulus
- Gator 45/70
- BBA
- cajunguy
- Jiggy205
- SwampyDog
- Redd508
- puritanize
- Musicmasterd12
- HogHunter1203
- sailem
- Andyroonie
- GrassRoots22
- Mel633
- alex87
- Martman300
- 340six
- jjb518
- chrishalexander
- cjnspecial
- nomadicdread
- usmc-nav
- V.Taltos
- mikelee
- Magdump
- enutees
