Saphire: The following link explains just one of the reasons why you might be getting mail from those you would least expect. That and search engines like Zaba, USA people search, etc. I've heard of search engines that will also list known relatives and neighbors. When we rented, we lived across the hall from someone who didn't pay a debt. We got a call from a collection agency asking questions about him. We told them we didn't know the person and not to call us again. Data breaches 2006 idtheft.about.com/od/dataandstat1/a/2006_breaches.htm I'd be cautious about anyone who called ME asking for information. My sister in law got a call one day from her bank. They knew enough about her that she gave them her checking account number. They started withdrawing 9.99 out of her account each month. When she finally noticed, she went to the bank in person and asked why anyone would be allowed to withdraw funds from her account without written authorization. They told her that because the company (insurance) was an affiliate, they didn't need anything in writing to be able to do this. They wouldn't refund her money so she told them where to go and switched banks. I told her she should report them to the Office of the Comptroller. cathie54: Years ago I went to a big fair, and filled out a ticket for a drawing to win a prize. (I think it for a car). I started getting tons of junk mail and phone calls that just wouldn't quit! Most contests are just a marketing ploy to get your information. I don't usually fill these out, but when I do, I don't include my telephone number and change the way I spell my name so I know where the junk is originating from. This works well with magazine subscriptions. I used to subscribe to Fine Woodworking. I subscribed under the name "Woody Johnson"! If you pay with a money order, it doesn't matter what name you use. That way I could keep track of who was selling my name and to who. Some people use their real name and add a fake middle initial that starts with the name of the magazine. Everyone has their own system. We don't get many telemarketing calls these days. We signed up for the Do Not Call registry and never answer our phone. Our answering machine screens every single call. Family and friends know to say something if they want us to pick up. We don't bother with caller I.D. or privacy manager. It is just another racket. I think it should be against the law for the phone company to charge you for phone service AND be allowed to sell your number to strangers without your permission. I don't mind the solicitations for charity as much as I mind the political calls. What is the worst are the autodialers. They never leave a number to call so you can a) tell them where to go or b) tell them you won't vote for them as long as they use autodialers to harass you! Did you know when you call 800 and 900 numbers from your home telephone number, your number is displayed to the party you are calling? Doesn't matter if you have an unlisted/unpublished number. I was in an auto accident a few years ago. The police showed up and had us fill out an accident report. Within a month I got mail from three lawyers and a chiropractor. Needless to say none of them got my business. mariend: "What is confusing to me is I shop at a store for one item they carry, which I use and that is it. Now I am getting catalogs and emails from that store. One organization I really got into it because they wanted medical information from DH and if anyone had diabeties in the family and I told them first, I subscribe to the magazine, and what they were asking me is not avaiable to anyone but the medical staff." Unless you paid cash, they will send you a catalog and sell your name to other stores (whether you opt out or not). We started donating to charity anonymously when we learned they sell their lists. Not worried about a tax deductions so we use money orders. There are many good causes out there, but we don't want to be hounded for $ by every single one of them.

I agree she couldn't be concerned with a slight variation, but credit scores and reports are important. I think it's interesting that you think it's a scam, arcy. With excellent credit you can get the best rates and the best credit cards with rewards. Credit isn't only for people who can't afford cash. We make thousands a year in free money by responsibly using our credit in our advantage via credit card rewards/cash back and low interest rates. The best credit card perks are reserved for those with good credit. Paying attention to credit reports is also important to catch identity theft as early as possible. It's a very real problem these days. We will probably be freezing our accounts soon to help prevent it.

Oh, you'd be surprised at how much info Facebook can glean from you, even if you don't use it much: I Downloaded the Information That Facebook Has on Me. Yikes. NY Times by Brian X. Chen April 11, 2018 When I downloaded a copy of my Facebook data last week, I didn’t expect to see much. My profile is sparse, I rarely post anything on the site, and I seldom click on ads. (I’m what some call a Facebook “lurker.”) But when I opened my file, it was like opening Pandora’s box. With a few clicks, I learned that about 500 advertisers — many that I had never heard of, like Bad Dad, a motorcycle parts store, and Space Jesus, an electronica band — had my contact information, which could include my email address, phone number and full name. Facebook also had my entire phone book, including the number to ring my apartment buzzer. The social network had even kept a permanent record of the roughly 100 people I had deleted from my friends list over the last 14 years, including my exes. There was so much that Facebook knew about me — more than I wanted to know. But after looking at the totality of what the Silicon Valley company had obtained about yours truly, I decided to try to better understand how and why my data was collected and stored. I also sought to find out how much of my data could be removed. Full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/technology/personaltech/i-downloaded-the-information-that-facebook-has-on-me-yikes.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news ======= After reading this article, I used the download tool and it was quite eyeopening. I use FB very rarely; have maybe contacted 3 people directly in 10 yrs. I have nothing personal posted on FB, not a photo or birthdate, no employment or personal history. I have used FB to sign in on perhaps a dozen websites at different times - and in fact, there is one forum that I participate in that can only be accessed through a FB or Google log-in. In just a 15-second look: - 314 advertisers downloaded my contact info, including: * Top Kickstarter Games - I never play games. Ever. On anything. * HolyClothing - Never heard of 'em, and altho I buy clothing by mail, that's not a brand name or website I recognize. * Tabletop Games Crowdfunding Videos * John Chiang (Dem currently running for CA governor) * Sears PartsDirect - Haven't dealt with Sears in 10 yrs since I bought one range from them. * Americans for Prosperity - Florida. Sounds GOP or right wing. Not gonna win any votes from this lifelong Dem. Note my info was also downloaded by the same organization but from Mississippi, Alaska, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Kentucky, New Hampshire, North & South Dakota, Georgia, Tennessee. * AFP Foundation - Mississippi. Umm.....Mississippi?!? Seriously? The furthest South I have gone in the US is New Mexico, LOL. * Chandini Chowk. No idea. * Jewel-Osco. Could have sworn they aren't in CA at all, but who knows? * IPad Pilot News. We have no Apple products at all. * Affordable Pharmacy Action Network. No need, we belong to Kaiser which provides all medications for $10 a refill. All of them - no exceptions. * A New Missouri. Don't care about the old one, and won't be visiting the new one either, LOL. * New England Regional Council of Carpenters. Oh, I loved this one....don't live in NE, hardly ever visit (2x in 35 yrs) so why would I need a carpenter? * Protect Dialysis Patients. Sure thing....just explain to me, exactly what are we protecting them FROM? * Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform. I'm all in on this one, too. Do they let Californians vote for reforming Pennsylvanians? Ah, such power! Okay, I'm being rather facetious here; but you must admit, you'll probably find some equally strange names in YOUR Facebook records if you use their "archive download" tool!

Speaking of theft, I happened to pull up my bank account a little while ago and saw someone had charged 46 dollars on my debit card at a Walmart in Washington. As I am in Alabama, not washington, I called my credit unions after hours number and immediately cancelled my card, and she informed me that they had attempted to charge 200 more dollars on it,but it was declined. I hate theives. I hope horrible, inhumane things happen to whoever stole my card information. As for the original topic, as someone who has has her identity stolen more than once for various purposes, not just financial, i wouldn't worry about that particular scenario. Just monitor your financial accounts to make sure no one is charging anything on them. I have a freeze on all 5 credit reports (yes there are 5 not 3) am a member of lifelock, and monitor my bank and credit card accounts very closely. As I have mentioned, my identity has been stolen before and there is no way to fully secure it after that. People SUCK!