Glad I opened what I thought was just a solicitation for my business

[Fla Dem]

Picked up my mail Monday from my mail box, brought it into the house. I got 2 envelopes from the same bank that has their corporate offices in Atlanta. Usually I'll just tear in 2 without even opening what I think is a solicitation for my business and set aside to recycle . But for some reason, I opened the envelops.

Inside each was a letter thanking me for my business. One for opening a savings account and the other a checking account. The checking account letter had an initial supply of checks with my name and address and the savings account letter had an initial supply of deposit slips with my name. I did not open any accounts with this bank.

It was after 5 so I couldn't go to their local branch. Called the # on the letters. Eventually got to their fraud department, but the service was "off shore", connection was bad, and it was difficult understanding the person. I was also getting concerned that I was going further down the rabbit hole in some scam. The woman did give me a fraud claim #, but it was so difficult communicating with her, I thanked her and told her I would follow through with their local branch.

So many questions.
-How could someone open an account without my SS#,
-How could they open an account without money
-What was the point of opening an account in my name without any money.

I was at the Branch when it opened yesterday morning. Spoke with both the Customer Service rep and Branch Manager, They said this was NOT an uncommon situation.
-The scammers can open an account online without any funds.
-They may have gotten my information through any one of a number of data breaches in the last few years.
-They can use the accounts to support their request for money. (I don't understand that one.)

In any event they cancelled both accounts and told me that actually 4 accounts had been opened in my name. All now cancelled. They also advised me to call the 3 credit reporting firms; Equifax, Experian and Transunion and have them put a credit freeze on my records. So no one can get any credit info on me. Ha!

Anyway, just thought I'd share. It was pretty scary until I spoke with the bank staff. Also checked with my actual financial service to make sure nothing funky was going on with my accounts. Not sure there is anyway you can totally protect yourself. There was the big Equifax breach in 2017 and who knows, maybe that's where they got my info and are just now getting around to using it. That breach exposed the personal information of 147 million people.

I won't be throwing away junk mail in the future until I make sure there is nothing suspicious about it.
Stay safe and alert everyone.

[rzemanfl]

1. If you receive Social Security, check your online account to be sure they didn't change your

address. Someone "moved" me to California some years ago. The next step would have been to change my direct deposit.

[Fla Dem]

2. Is that true even if you have direct deposit?

[rzemanfl]

4. They were able to change my mailing address online. I think I hadn't set up an online account

and they did it "for" me. If I hadn't been home to read my snail mail they could have robbed me.

[Fla Dem]

8. We have to be on the ball all the time.

[rzemanfl]

11. Yes, we do. n/t

[AndyS]

3. I had a credit card breached. Noticed a $3.00 charge for video rental and $1 foreign transaction

fee. Called the fraud number and asked how this could happen when they need CC number, expiration date and verification code. Three point authentication!

I was told they have computers that generate random numbers in the right combination to match the three points then just let them run until they have an order accepted. Now they have so much info from data breaches that they have a head start to feed the number generators.

[Ferrets are Cool]

16. Damn, that is so scary.

[AndyS]

18. Yeah, I only use two cards and both send me a text anytime a charge is made against them.

PIA when subscriptions are charged at 4AM but worth it any way.

[Midnight Writer]

23. I've read that scammers "test" accounts with small purchases to see if they pass.

Most people probably don't read their credit card statements carefully enough to pick up an errant $1-3 charge.

If you hadn't acted promptly as you did, they may have hit you later for a bigger bite.

[AndyS]

24. I do as much commerce online and by CC because

I can check my accounts regularly and contest any charge even weeks after it was made. Pay everything down to zero every month and cash in the bonus points against the balance. The only money they make from me is what they charge the merchant. They made enough off me over 30 years which ended in Bankruptcy

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Thanks for the heads up. I swear, can't have any peace or security w/ credit cards, etc.

One point of advice is to try and concentrate use of a card to one card too, so that you can easily keep track of activity on a card, and if you must, to keep other cards active, use for one particular purchase or so, and then set aside, keeping that one particular purchase in mind FYI later.

Thanks again!

[Voltaire2]

6. the freeze should also block new accounts.

[Fla Dem]

9. Yes, that's my hope!

[mitch96]

7. Hell Wells Fargo did that years ago and got caught.

I hate that bank... They jerked me around on a loan also.. went with another bank. Smooth as silk.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/wells-fargo-settles-fake-account-scandal-for-3-billion-022420.html

m

[Fla Dem]

10. Yes I remember that. That was a very stupid move by WF. What were they thinking.

[Demobrat]

13. The lower level employees who opened the fake accounts

were under terrible pressure to open a certain number of new accounts per day or week. If they didn’t they lost their jobs. Sometimes they were not allowed to go home at night until they opened a number of new accounts by cold calling customers.

This pressure came from above.

Sometimes they begged friends and family members to allow them to open multiple accounts in their names. Sometimes they illegally accessed customer account information.

Most of the employees who did this made under $30,000/year while the managers who set the new account quotas raked in millions.

Doesn’t make the people who opened the fake accounts innocent, but it’s what happened.

[Mosby]

15. Nothing in your post is accurate.

It was a commission/incentive program called "eight is great" and it was started by a norwest executive, Carrie Tolstedt. John stumpf and others bought into it.

Carrie, John, Pam and others had to return 10s of millions of dollars in compensation because of it. Plusbrhey were all fired.

[RVN VET71]

22. Wasn't Stumpf the CEO, and wasn't he fired and fined ?

I seem to recall his being banned from the industry for life. No jail time, though. Too rich, after all. Fine was pretty heavy, though, for a change.

[IronLionZion]

12. I found this on what to do in case of fraudulent accounts

https://www.credit.com/credit-reports/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fraudulent-accounts-opened-in-my-name/
https://www.fundandgrow.com/blog/six-things-for-unauthorized-accounts

Fraud alert and monitoring is worth it. Many banks offer it for free or very cheap to their customers. They let you know if any new accounts, credit cards, loans, major transactions, changes in credit score, etc.

Scammers are getting more data on us and are more sophisticated in their scams. It can be really frustrating when you need to make a big purchase and find out your credit has been ruined from fraud that didn't affect you before so it went unnoticed.

Understanding the Criminals Behind Account Opening Fraud
https://www.accertify.com/criminals-behind-account-opening-fraud/

[The Jungle 1]

14. Bet the bank was Wells Fartgo.

America stop using banks!
Support your credit union.

[Fla Dem]

25. Nope, not this time.

[oldsoftie]

17. And remember; there's only ONE free credit report site

To get your free credit report with no strings.
Annualcreditreport.com
They wont give you your score, but you can see just about everything you've ever had for free. Funded by the govt.

[KT2000]

19. Scammers buy batches

of data from someone who has breached somewhere. They have all the info they need to open accounts etc. My bank sent an alert when someone tried to open a credit card account using an address I had 30 years ago! Someone sure paid for a bad batch!!

I now have 2 years of fraud watch due to a breach and another through a credit card.
Thanks for your advice because I tend to throw away what I think is junk mail. Here's hoping this does not turn into a big headache for you.

[murielm99]

20. We have one free year because of a credit breach.

We are going to keep them when the year is up.

Someone tried to claim unemployment benefits in my name. They took care of it.

[Fla Dem]

26. I don't think it will. Thankfully the bank sent me notification of the new accounts

Had I not received that I'm not sure what would have happened. As I mentioned in an up post, what good is a bank account with no money and I have the deposit slips and blank checks.

[LittleGirl]

21. Thanks for the heads up!

Equifax was breached and they didn’t notify the public for 6 months! The CEO and CFO should be in prison too. They monetized that breach!