Header Promotion
Yesterday, a villain came to our house. Not in a car, or from the sky, or even on foot. The villain came into our home on a bill for a service that almost everyone has.
The original service billed us for a third party. Who knew a third party could have a service we've actually requested bill us for something we haven't? The third party offers a service they clearly cannot provide. The villain stole my identity to purchase this service and have us billed for it. My husband suggested it's as if he called a business and told them to bill Mr. X for the Whatevers. The original service never questioned, never even got in touch with us. They just put the charge on our bill, and the third party clearly never checked out the information they took because it was easy to prove their customer is not me.
I'm pretty peeved at everyone who took part in this mess. But the other thing I discovered, through doing the due diligence Mr. Third Party didn't bother to do was that the charge was fairly nominal (yes, I am lucky there, for sure!), but the villain received a gift card for a thousand dollars in groceries.
Maybe the villain is out there, enjoying $1,000 in cheap wine at my expense. Could easily be. Even though I'm infuriated at him/her for stealing from me, I could imagine a single parent sitting in a barren room, working the computer while his/her hungry child cries behind her/him. Suddenly, he/she sees this gift card for a bunch of grocery money. And beside the computer are printouts of every job he/she has diligently applied for.
Maybe I need to put my villain in a public library because if she/he has a computer I want him/her to pawn it before he/she steals from me.
Do you try to explain the inexplicable, the indefensible?
I think we do it every time we present our characters with an insurmountable conflict. Maybe the difference between a villain and a hero is the choice the character makes. Maybe our understanding--our empathy--rouses as we feel her desperation.
Anna Adams
A Conflict of Interest, SuperRomance, 11, 2009; Her Reason to Stay, SuperRomance, 6/2008
http://www.annaadams.net
You are very luck! Identity
You are very luck! Identity theif is so easy to do and so hard for the victim to undo. I had someone several months ago trying to sign my name on some very important documents. They were caught, very quickly thankfully.
You are so right!
I was really lucky (as long as this person didn't manage to do any further damage we haven't discovered yet). I'm so glad your situation turned out well. Isn't it annoying to have someone else do this? Aaarggh!
Anna Adams
A Conflict of Interest, SuperRomance, 11, 2009; Her Reason to Stay, SuperRomance, 6/2008
http://www.annaadams.net
Identity Theft
Until it happens to you, you have no idea how big a hassle it can be. I had this problem about 18 months ago and I was lucky the bank reimbursed me for the money taken from my bank account but then I had to change accounts and cancel everything. I had to file a police report to help the bank get their money back from their insurance I guess, anyway the police just write down what happened and you never hear a thing from them. I actually don't think they do anything. Then I had to put a hold on my credit so nobody could charge anything to me. It was a nightmare. I hope I never have to go through that again.
Linda Henderson
Linda,
What a nightmare. I feel so bad for you.
And I'm still so angry--in our case, a reputable business made it incredibly easy for this to happen, and then their attitude was pretty much "Tough luck."
The nerve of some criminal just waltzing into your life and trying to take your good name and your reputation, not to mention your earnings. I hope it never happens to either of us again.
Anna Adams
A Conflict of Interest, SuperRomance, 11, 2009; Her Reason to Stay, SuperRomance, 6/2008
http://www.annaadams.net
Seriousreader as it happens
Seriousreader as it happens I use to work for a Sheriff's office. I can't speak for all law enforcement agencies but the one I worked for really wasn't equipped to handle Identity Theft. They would basicly just file a "incident report" and wait for the bank or someone to contact them about getting a copy of the report. That is unless the victim knew who stole their identity (which is very rare).
Anna, identity theft
is growing. I live in fear of it. My niece had thousands charged on her credit card and she was a basket case. Luckily they didn't have to pay for it, but it still was a difficult, scary time. With the economy the way it is, I'm afraid it will get worse.
Hugs, and I hope you have it all cleared up.
Linda
Linda Warren
2009 RITA® Finalist TEXAS HEIR
www.lindawarren.net
The Belles of Texas, a trilogy, starting this summer
Caitlyn's Prize - SuperRomance July 2009
Madison's Children - SuperRomance Oct 2009
Skylar's Outlaw -SuperRomance Jan 2010
Sheryl
Sounds as if you had an interesting job. I can see that law enforcement wouldn't be equipped to handle the problem unless there's a unit set up for that, but I can't believe another company makes it so easy for criminals to do such a thing.
I never even thought of how it would feel to have someone you know do this. That would kind of quadruple the "feeling violated" factor, wouldn't it? :-(
Anna Adams
A Conflict of Interest, SuperRomance, 11, 2009; Her Reason to Stay, SuperRomance, 6/2008
http://www.annaadams.net
Linda,
I feel horrible for your niece. We know ours was a minor thing, sort of. And I fear you're right about the bad economy and the desperation of people willing to do it. I just don't want to help someone out with the ruination of my identity.
Hope you're well! That is such a nice cover you have there! They're all kind of gorgeous lately, aren't they? :-)
Anna Adams
A Conflict of Interest, SuperRomance, 11, 2009; Her Reason to Stay, SuperRomance, 6/2008
http://www.annaadams.net