Ughhhh!!!!!!

I know this will just be a ranting vent, but I'm so frustrated and need to get it out... How can anyone feel good about themselves while turning the lives of others upside down???!!! Okay, I know I have not had it nearly as bad as it could be at all, but I'm talking about Identity Theft....dum, dum, dum....

Starting in January, we had a few random charges to our main checking account. I called the bank and they were great to reverse the charges, cancel the debit card, and get things worked out. Then last week I happened to check a second account through a completely different bank that we hardly ever use. That account had very recent charges adding up to almost $200. These were all random charges in inconspicuous amounts & if I didn't keep a close eye on our money, it could easily go unnoticed. I thought it a bit strange that both times there were charges to Autotrader.com, Carfax.com, & other similar online companies... We are not currently selling, buying, or checking into cars at all.

So yesterday I checked my RP Inspirations business email. I was excited when there was a new mail sent earlier in the morning saying he had an inquiry & asked me to call his cell phone number (a local valley number). After a bit of cell phone tag, he finally sent another email saying that if I was selling a corvette and living in Canada - then disregard the email. Otherwise, he thought that my name was being used in a car selling scam.

I asked if he had any more information 'cause I'd had some banking issues. He was kind enough to call back a bit later and let me know what had happened to him. Of course I was a bit leery, but then realized that he was just a concerned citizen trying to help out. He had been corresponding via email and was interested in buying a car he found listed for sell on Autotrader.com. After several emails he told the person (signing the name Rashelle & using an email address created with my name) that he was interested & wanted to come see it. The last email sent back to him was that she had forgot to tell him that she had recently moved to Vancouver and could arrange for shipping the car back to Gilbert, AZ. That was when he realized it was all a hoax.

He then googled my name to find out more, and of course it came up with my painting website. That is how he found and emailed me. He forwarded me the email correspondence he had with this person. It's really violating to see your name signed on something you had nothing to do with -let alone the access to finances. It just makes me so angry!

So I've put in fraud alerts with the credit bureaus, but there is not much more I can do right now. I can't file a police report unless I have a name or description. We're trying to narrow down any charges the two debit cards have in common so that we know where it started.

Has this happened to anyone else? Do you have any advice on what else I can do to get things resolved (other than using cash as much as possible)?

Be Careful - it really can happen to any one of us!