clavus

My Dad is a CPA. His is my accountant. His PC was just stolen. It had all my tax info on it - name, b-day, ss#, with whom I bank, my employer, etc. What do I do?

It seems like I am a prime target for identity theft (as are my wife and sons).

Obviously, I’m contacting the credit agencies and telling them to flag my account. I’m calling the banks and investment companies with whom I do business to alert them.

What else should I do? And what the fuck should my dad be doing? I mean, all his clients are in the same boat as I am, and right now dear ol’ dad doesn’t know whether to shit or go blind.

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bermuDa

holy crap... how did his computer get stolen??

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santafe5000

You would think if he were dealing with important personal info like that, he would have some pretty hard to crack password system set up. Hopefully who ever got it isn't smart enough to know how to get at the info. Sadly, you may end up having to close all your accts and get new one's, just to CYA. Good luck.

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clavus

Ya. You'd think. Just imagine my surprise when I discoverd that he didn't.

Hell, he's only a CPA and a the CFO of a bank. What would he know about protecting data?

*Clavus bangs head repeatedly on desk*

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omega2K4

There isn't much you can do. Has your father contacted the police? If so, have they found out anything?

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merkerguitars

Holy shit that is scary.....sounds like what happened to my family about 3 years ago.

Well we had this secretary..she was a nice lady and a mom of one of my friends and we've known her for years.....come into the office one day (it's in the barn of our place not in the house) and we find the office trashed, the computer missing and a bunch of boxes of paper work from the last year missing and I found a note that was typed up that said :try fixing this computer now, fucker". (well I fixed the computers for my dad's business and everytime something went wrong it was my fault according to her). Then we found out she was stealing from the company and we found some of the paper work in a field (on the way to her house of course). That took us awhile to get back on track. Hopefully your luck will be better than ours.

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Journeyman

I dunno shit about shat, but last I heard you can keep a weather eye out for the laptops MAC address popping up online, and trace the thief (or an unsuspecting buyer) from that to a physical location.

I'd suggest contacting the police if you haven't already. Usually they don't spend too much time on a <$2000 item being snagged, but the information in his comp can add up to millions in the wrong hands.

Cynthetiq

maybe your insurance broker also sells identity theft coverage... i know that allstate does..

good luck.

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ratbastid

I don't know what to say about the lost data--compared to the bind your dad's in, your pickle is fairly simple. Just keep on keeping on with contacting everyone you have an account with, and you should probably be okay. Only thing is, with your SSN, they can open new accounts in your name...

Re stolen laptops and their MAC addresses... Now that I've got a new laptop to replace the one that was stolen a month or so ago, I'm thinking about writing a little program to send the current IP address to a database server on one of my websites periodically. It can just run for as long as I own the laptop, happily logging my IP address. And then if I ever am forcibly separated from my laptop again, I'll start getting the new owner's IP address the minute he connects to the Internet.

tropple

Tell your bank and cc providers, ASAP. Have the accounts cancelled and re-issued. You need this documented ASA to avoid possible problems.

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flopflop

Seriously I have had my "identity stolen" It isn't fun.


You have already flagged your accounts which is good. You also spoke with the police, but make sure you actually file a report with them. It will come in handy if something ever happens where they try to use your, or your families info. Trust me on this, get a report filed regarding this ASAP.

The most important thing you can do is get a credit check from each of the three major credit bereaus every month for each person in your family. This will monitor anything being done in your name. If you see suspsicious items showing up on credit reports you will know much sooner, and you can begin fighting it right away. Thats also where the police report comes in handy, as it acts as the legal reference for when your identity was stolen.

Most of the time in these cases the damage to you will be greater than the rewards the "bad guys" get. They can get credit cards in your name spend on them and max them out before you even know that it happened. Most people don't find out for about a year and by then there are penalty charges interest and they are trying to take you to court or garnish your wages. Monitoring your credit report will allow you to see anything within thirty days, which is a great advantage when it comes to fighting it.

Make sure you get reports from all three of the major credit bereuas.


Although if someone stole the laptop they were probably only after the computer, and there is a good chance they will just erase everything anyways, but you cannot afford the luxory of hoping that is the case.


Another good thing you can do after you file a police report, get aTAX ID number (like they give to business) and begin to use that instead of your social security number. This protects you in the future as you can alwasy get rid of a TAX ID number, but it also helps you to know what are legitimate marks on your own Social Security Number's credit history.

clavus

Didn't know that about the Tax ID. Thanks.

Did everything else.

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Mephisto2

Can't you just get a new SS number?

I would cancel ALL credit cards and have them reissued. But I guess that doesn't stop the "thieves" from opening up new ones.

What a bummer. I've heard this is getting more and more common in the US (and around the world I guess).


Mr Mephisto

denim

I hope you prosecuted her.

maleficent

yes and no -- yes you can get a new social security number if you pleaded your case hard enough...

The problem is, your entire life is tied to that number, taxes you've paid, credit history, perhaps military history. If you got a new number, it'd be like you are starting from scratch.

One of the evening news shows did a story on why you can, but you really can't recently, and it's pretty frightening and frustrating for people who have had their identities stolen.

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merkerguitars

We are trying....still no progress...the police are really lazy around here.

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