3 Year Old's Identity Stolen to Buy Porn
The little girl isn't a signer on the account, but the bank cashed the check for $29.95 made out to a porn company in her name.
"Somebody took money from me, somebody took my account number, somebody used my daughter's name for porn," the mother says.
According to the Colorado Banker's Association, "any company you send a check to has enough information to steal from you... Online bill pay isn't any safer because criminals have been known to hack into computers."
That's a serious statement from a bank representative. I can't help but wonder if it was translated correctly? She went on to note that many checks were being cashed for small amounts, which doesn't send a red flag to banks.
Consumers often overlook these smaller transactions, or "microcharges," which are fraudulent charges ranging from 20 cents to $10. The victims of this particular scam would see the fictional merchant's name and toll-free number on their debit or credit card statements. If they called to dispute a charge, the phone numbers would be disconnected or go straight to voicemail. Many frustrated consumers don't even bother to dispute the charges.
This scam can often be fixed by paying attention to your statements and refuting charges within a specified time frame. You have up to 60 days, at most, depending on the nature of the card. Check with your bank.
McAfee Identity Protection includes proactive identity surveillance to monitor subscribers' credit and personal information and access to live fraud resolution agents who can help subscribers work through the process of resolving identity theft issues. For additional tips, please visit http://www.counteridentitytheft.com
Robert Siciliano is a McAfee Consultant and Identity Theft Expert. See him discussing child identity theft on NBC Boston (Disclosures)
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