Law school applications and identity theft: I am a victim
I am even more angry because I have already withdrawn my application from that school. Why is my name still in their records?
This breach affects 44,000 students. So who knows how the thief will try to profit off of our personal information.
Even worse, I haven't applied for my student loans yet and if they did do something mischievous to my credit, my chances for a student loan will be ruined. I'm checking my credit report right away.
But I just wanted to make everyone aware that this identity theft is real. And now I will strongly advise students against putting their social security number on these school applications. I was very hesitant from the beginning, but I thought, these people would protect my information. Yeah right! We have to protect ourselves.
Re: Law school applications and identity theft: I am a vict
[quote=benjaminz6]I was going through my mail and I found a letter from one of the schools that I applied to (and was accepted). It said that through an act of theft, someone stole my information, including my social security number. Apparently, someone stole a database that contained student records on a laptop.
I am even more angry because I have already withdrawn my application from that school. Why is my name still in their records?
This breach affects 44,000 students. So who knows how the thief will try to profit off of our personal information.
Even worse, I haven't applied for my student loans yet and if they did do something mischievous to my credit, my chances for a student loan will be ruined. I'm checking my credit report right away.
But I just wanted to make everyone aware that this identity theft is real. And now I will strongly advise students against putting their social security number on these school applications. I was very hesitant from the beginning, but I thought, these people would protect my information. Yeah right! We have to protect ourselves.[/quote]
It is quite weird being on both sides of this issue. Just an update, I have placed a fraud alert on my credit accounts. I just placed a fraud alert with one credit bureau and they sent it to the other 2 bureaus. So, I was quite surprised that it was so easy. And the best part about it was that is was free. So I am glad that I was able to take cre of that.
The next step that I need to take is to file a police report. This is a problem because the crime occurred in another state. So i am currently looking for ways to file a police report out of state.
Re: Law school applications and identity theft: I am a vict
[quote=benjaminz6][quote=benjaminz6]I was going through my mail and I found a letter from one of the schools that I applied to (and was accepted). It said that through an act of theft, someone stole my information, including my social security number. Apparently, someone stole a database that contained student records on a laptop.
I am even more angry because I have already withdrawn my application from that school. Why is my name still in their records?
This breach affects 44,000 students. So who knows how the thief will try to profit off of our personal information.
Even worse, I haven't applied for my student loans yet and if they did do something mischievous to my credit, my chances for a student loan will be ruined. I'm checking my credit report right away.
But I just wanted to make everyone aware that this identity theft is real. And now I will strongly advise students against putting their social security number on these school applications. I was very hesitant from the beginning, but I thought, these people would protect my information. Yeah right! We have to protect ourselves.[/quote]
It is quite weird being on both sides of this issue. Just an update, I have placed a fraud alert on my credit accounts. I just placed a fraud alert with one credit bureau and they sent it to the other 2 bureaus. So, I was quite surprised that it was so easy. And the best part about it was that is was free. So I am glad that I was able to take cre of that.
The next step that I need to take is to file a police report. This is a problem because the crime occurred in another state. So i am currently looking for ways to file a police report out of state.[/quote]
Another update. Well, I just received word from transunion that they received my fraud alert that I placed at their bureau over the weekend. I was quite surprised by the quick response that I received.
In the letter they sent me, they informed me that the fraud alert will remain on my file for 90 days and this fraud alert will be provided to anyone who receives my credit report.
Under federal law, i am also entitled to request a free copy of my credit report within the next 12 months.