I just came within a hair's breadth of having my identity stolen

[realisticphish]

I responded to a CraigsList ad for a room to rent. The person who respnded wanted me to get a credit report, so they could see whether I had been evicted, etc. Yes, I know this sounds totally obvious in retrospect, but I'm apparently a goddamn idiot, so I went to the link they helpfully provided, and did so. She hadn't gotten back to me, so I googled her domain name, and found a bunch of scam warning websites. I didn't get to the end-game, though, which is sending the report to them. So I probably dodged it.

That said, I still placed alerts on my account with all three credit reporting companies, canceled the check card I used to sign up, and filed a police report. Since I clicked on the link, I don't know what kind of redirecting tomfoolery might have gone on. Luckily I have a mac, so I don't have to worry as much about trojans or keyloggers, but I'm still running an anti-virus check ASAP. The company, nationalcreditreport.com, is legit, and other people who were scammed used experion and the other big names too. But I'm not taking any chances.

Take this as a lesson. Don't assume that because you've been on the internet a lot that you can't fall for something.

[suninvited]

1. it isn't an identity scam

it is a scam designed to get you to that site to sign up for that credit report site. Then they begin charging your credit card fees for your 'membership'. Your credit report was free or only one dollar, but if you read the fine print you would have seen you were signing up for a free three day membership and then would be charged after that.

Their affiliates arent supposed to use misleading means to get people to sign up, but they get ten dollars for every person who they get to sign up and that false rental unit on craigslist is one of the most common ways to get people to sign up.

they arent even interested in getting the report back from you, which is why contact ended when it did. Without realizing it you got to end-game.

[realisticphish]

2. it's possible

but this is actual fraud. I know how the old "cancel anytime" deal works; I had planned on calling and canceling immediately anyway. But other people got the exact same scam, from people of the same name, but with Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion as well. Of course, there may be some middle man I'm not aware of that's common to all these.

Like I said, you may be entirely correct, and if so, hey that's awesome. Because it's resolved now, and I have the bank on speed dial to contest any charges. If you aren't correct, I have the alerts out, and the police report to back me up :shrug:

[targetpractice]

3. Did you type any personal information at the link?

I don't know anything about scam sites... But, I do know it's possible to create a web site that captures anything user types without requiring the user to "submit" or "send." No keylogger software required.

Also, are you sure the link in the email actually to you to nationalcreditreport.com?

[realisticphish]

4. it did send me there

I contacted the company directly, and they confirmed that I had an account there, etc.

And yeah, I had entered all the usual financial stuff. Hopefully the steps I've taken will head off any problems, but only time will tell

[nolabear]

5. Congrats twice, on avoiding the scam and on knowing how to use "hair's breadth" correctly!

[realisticphish]

8. grammar defeats scammers

ALWAYS :D

[valerief]

12. A hare's breath is pretty nasty, so you want to keep your distance from that. nt

[Callalily]

6. It's amazing that we have to

be so diligent, every step of the way, in everything we do.

Is this a sign of the times?

How utterly tragic!

[realisticphish]

7. it is

people can gripe about the "old days" being tough, but in the old days people couldn't steal your identity with a few clicks.

This has been a BIG learning experience for me (assuming it's over)

[ThomasQED]

9. You might also post something in the room for rent section

on Craigslist too, to warn others.

[realisticphish]

10. that's an excellent idea nt

[av8rdave]

11. Good catch, and no, you're not an idiot

You were trying to accomplish a task, and were focused on finishing whatever steps you had to in order to get it done.

In the aviation business, we call it "target fixation." Happens to everybody.

Glad you took the time to do some homework afterward and see the threat!

[realisticphish]

13. I'm just glad she didn't get back to me

I googled her domain name to see if I could reach her by phone (it was her "realty company"). That turned up all the scam sites. If she had worked faster, I would never have known. If she had just said "oh, sorry, it just got rented," I would never have suspected.

Of course, that's assuming its not just a bot :shrug:

What bugs me is that a previous apartment I checked out, I was super paranoid. It was in an area of town I wasn't familiar with, and has a certain reputation. I emptied my car of anything valuable, and took only my driver's license and cell phone. They turned out to be very cool, though the apartment was kind of a hovel, and I didn't take it. Maybe that got rid of my suspicious nature towards craigslist, I don't know.