Well DU. I got my letter today from the Veterans Affairs office.

[im10ashus]

F*@K! F*@K! F*@K! F*@K! F*@K! F*@K!

I didn't want to believe it.



Not sure if you can read it but it says I am F*@KED! In a word. I can only scan it as a jpeg with my limited resources here at home.

F*@K! It's like a "Dear John" letter. "Sorry about your identity theft. Gotta run now. Ciao!"

[CelticWinter]

1. My husband and son

got their letters today also.....bend over and cough is what hubby said today...

[im10ashus]

3. Yes.

Very reminiscent of our entrance exam. :-)

Thanks for the laugh!

[Steven_S]

2. We must have gotten different letters....

I got one today, read it, and I don't think it's anything to get hysterical about.

Could you possibly explain exactly how you think you're F*@KED in a word.

[im10ashus]

4. No big deal?

Your identity has been stolen and you don't think it's anything to get hysterical about? Ok. Whatever you say.

[Jon8503]

6. Agree with im10ashus - I'll probably be getting mine soon. It really

pisses me off. It appears that the public is being vigilant in trying to protect their identity. Look at all the companies that have fucked up and now the government.

We get a letter telling us to do what we have been doing all along.

They might throw in a free credit report though.

Yes im10ashus is right "we are fucked".

However, anyone who is not concerned that is their right and I would say go for it. Don't worry about it or anything. I just don't want to have to spend 10 years trying to clean up my record.

[im10ashus]

11. I was told to tell the credit bureaus to put an extra password on my file.

Whatever that means. So far, I haven't been able to get a live person on the phone.

[driver8]

15. Definitely do it.

Take it from someone who has been there. When you call, there is usually a credit fraud department that you can select. It has been my experience that these departments usually have actual people that you can speak with.

If you think that you are the victim of identity theft, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report. I have asked for several and have never had to pay for any of them.

[Steven_S]

13. My "Identity" has not been stolen..

and neither has yours.

And I think even the potential to become a problem is remote.

Name, SSAN and DOB are not enough, in and of themselves to make one hysterical.

Maybe you could explain to me what it is that I'm not getting.

[driver8]

14. You are so very wrong!!!

I had my identity stolen about 8 years ago. The assholes stole my outgoing mail and in it was a student loan payment that contained my SSN.

These guys had a fake driver's license made up with my name and birthdate on it and used my credit score to open up a few accounts.

I would not have found out about it except that I had an account at one of the businesses and they contacted me to ask why I was opening another one.

If you suspect that you are a victim of identity theft, do not waste any time -- contact the credit reporting agencies and put flags on all of your credit reports that you must be contacted at home before an account may be authorized.

[Steven_S]

16. I'm not as sanguine about it as you may think...

I monitor my accounts very frequently, use only one credit card and have more than one fraud monitoring and protection service going, and contacted the credit agencies a long time ago. Maybe an update wouldn't hurt!

I just don't think that this one incident in particular is going to amount to much, but we'll find out sooner or later.

[janx]

5. That is not acceptable.

And vets and their representatives have no business accepting it. Call your senators now!

[Jon8503]

7. I understand there are some class action lawsuits going on. N/T

[janx]

20. I hope so.

[Beaverhausen]

8. For what it's worth

my employer had files with all of our information stolen last year and so far nothing has happened with mine. Hopefully that will be the case with yours.

Be sure to get your free credit reports just to check what is going on.

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

[suffragette]

9. This sucks and they're doing jack all to help

The Washington State Attorney General is pushing harder to help vets here with this than the federal gov't is. I know, big surprise there. :sarcasm:
You might want take a look at this article and contact your AG to see if he's doing likewise.
http://www.komo1000news.com/consumertip/story.asp?ID=43615

Also, some states have laws where you can request a credit report security freeze (stronger than a fraud alert).

You can check here to find out your state laws.
http://www.pirg.org/consumer/credit/statelaws.htm

If your state doesn't have these, start pushing for them. We've been pushed enough by increasing database creation and purposefully lax laws. It's time to push back.

[phylny]

10. Well, we hit the jackpot.

Not ONLY did the government lose info on my veteran husband, but our mortgage company "regretfully" informed us that a computer which included "valuable information" about us including our names, address, social security number, and our mortgage loan account number is missing and "may have been stolen."

Oh, they delayed notifying us because law enforcement thought it might jeopardize their investigation.

Nice, hmm?

Oh, they sincerely apologize, and sports that they are, are offering us a free ONE YEAR subscription to an indentity guard service.

Because I'm sure that after a year, no one will use the info.

[im10ashus]

12. It goes beyond criminal.

And what the hell happened to the "employee" of the VA who took this information home. I would like to speak with him first.

[DemoTex]

17. I have not dealt with VA in 26 years. How will they know my address?

Oh, yes. From my American Express billing address. It's all there on the hard drive. Or was.

[unhappycamper]

19. From the letter:

In accordance with current policy, the Internal Revenue Service has agreed to forward this letter because we do not have current addresses for all affected indivuals. The IRS has not disclosed your address or any other tax information to us.


Which got me to thinking: how the fuck does the IRS know I'm a vet? It's not on my tax returns or anything.

[DemoTex]

21. Mother of my fucking dog .. now the IRS is in the fray?

This is more fucked up than Hogan's goat. Truly!


Check Six

[dsc]

22. The VA told them

They presumedly have your name and SS number. They then tell the IRS please send this letter to name SS number.

[unhappycamper]

18. If you want to read the text of that bullshit letter,

I put up a thread earlier today.


Disappointing responses....... :shrug:


on edit: to change formatting

[dsc]

23. It sounds like you all lucked out

in that the thief didn't know what s/he had. The VA should pay for credit monitoring but frankly I think you all should be OK unless the press has been reporting bs.

[im10ashus]

24. I hope you are right.

I placed an initial fraud alert on my credit file for 90 days. It's about the only recourse we have at this point.

[Coexist]

25. that sucks- I am so sorry.

Did you at least get a FAQ sheet or anything to guide you in protecting your information?

Best of luck to you.

[im10ashus]

26. Yes.

They guide you to the big 3 credit bureaus and I placed a 90-day alert on my credit file. Just in case.

[Norquist Nemesis]

27. Wondering how they're handling George W. Bush's stolen identity

What happened is a national disgrace. And all I can say is I'm sorry for you and pissed as hell!!! :grr:

[Lisa]

28. that's the ONLY case when I would be anything less than perturbed ...

... about people stealing other people's vital info.

Because anybody we get posing as * would likely be an improvement. He could be a cheating, lying con artist ... but again, that would be a step up.