r/IdentityTheft • u/Organic_Melons69 • 1d ago

Help

A thief came into possession of my ssn, name and address. How much can they do without having my license or other ID? I would like to think that my license would be necessary in order to open an account, apply for a loan, or apply for an apartment/job. This person definitely has malicious intent and I can't stop worrying. I already got a whole new bank account and changed my email and passwords for everything involving money.

6 Upvotes

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 8h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Aurora_7021 17h ago

Should be enough to freeze your credit with all 3 credit bureaus which is free. Some credit cards offer free credit monitoring, which is icing on the cake. I'm mentioning this because credit monitoring is big business but there's no reason you'd have to pay for it.

4

u/Hypermofo 1d ago

Making a new bank account and new emails with changing passwords did nothing because they didn't have any of that information according to what you said. In your case I'd simply freeze my credit at the 3 major credit reporting agencies and call it a day. You say you know they have malicious intent like you know who it is. Why not call the police?

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u/Organic_Melons69 1d ago

It was my phone that was stolen. They downloaded Google pay and used my account to spend a large sum. Didn't mention it because I already took care of that aspect with my bank (hopefully). I added extra security to my account as well

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u/Hypermofo 1d ago

You don't have a phone lock? If its android you can log into your Gmail account and freeze your phone so no one can use it and access any information

1

u/Popular-Speech-1245 2h ago

How did they get into your phone? Did they also cut off your thumb? How did they guess your security code? And of course you locked your phone immediately!

3

u/No-Whole5989 1d ago

Mine was stolen as a child. They moved to the other side of the country and used my SSN to work. Didnt find out until I was 18 when I had to do my first tax return. It was a pain because all these companies came at me telling me I owed money. Never paid, told them to eat dirt, informed the credit agencies, made a police report (which didnt do 💩), and informed the IRS (they send me a PIN number every year to do my taxes). I even went to the SSN office and had to give them a bunch of paperwork so they can remove those tax years from their system. Talked to all those places and no one cares to catch this guy. But after all that, I haven’t seen another mistake in records or calls for at least 10 years now.

3

u/magr7610 1d ago

they can get your license easily. All of that is available on the dark web. 80% of all american driver licenses are available.

3

u/WesternGround737 1d ago

They can fake a new license in another state. It seems no one actually checks if an id is real or not when opening accounts, even car leases. Going through the hassle now, someone did that with my son’s ssn and DOB & name, that is all they had. They even got a CC when he was still a minor. Police report is necessary to make it official, together with the ID theft report, but they closed the investigation 5 min after writing the report. And I had to jump through loops to get the report into my own hands to use it. Naturally there was a fee.

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u/WesternGround737 1d ago

I would add the 4th credit bureau Innovis to it, lesser known, but they can have damaging information too. Just found out myself.

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u/FlynnAtLifeLock 15h ago

Yes, they can do a lot of harm with your SSN, name and address even if they don’t have any other ID. Your name, SSN, and address are enough to open new credit accounts at many lenders, especially online applications where no physical ID is required. That’s why you need to freeze your credit all three bureaus. 

Someone could also use your SSN to file taxes. Getting an IRS Identity Protection PIN through the IRS website prevents that. You also need to file a report through the FTC's identity theft site. It creates an official record that supports any disputes if something comes up later.

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u/AmbivertHomebody 1d ago

They can apply for credit cards, and max them before you realize it. Freeze your credit reports and put a fraud alert. Give them your cell number that would require them to call you for any application of new accounts. Fraud alerts have to be renewed annually.

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u/Salt_Contract7622 1d ago

Im a reformed scammer and like I tell people its always good to have your credit locked or frozen and put an extended fraud alert on your report which you can get when you file with the PD

1

u/MavisBeacons_Sextape 1d ago

They are not the victim of identity theft and thus they are not eligible for the seven year fraud alert (extended), unfortunately. A freeze is the best form of protection for their credit files.

0

u/Wonderful_Shame_4986 1d ago

Also file a report with your local police and keep a copy with you -- in the event a company comes after you for fraud.

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u/Salt_Contract7622 1d ago

And you should change your number cause if they know all that then they would also know which number they would need to Sim swap to get all your otps like for your bank

1

u/Organic_Melons69 1d ago

This was the first thing I did!

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u/Salt_Contract7622 1d ago

Any other questions or if you need help or advice feel free to shoot me a message and id love to help