Although it's annoying, this really isn't what's called identity theft. I know people who were victim of true identity theft, where someone actually assumed the person's identity, not just made a one-time use of a card or something, and the results are usually devastating to the person. You can't buy anything with a credit card, you can't get/keep a checking account, bank accounts can be frozen, retirement funds can be affected, your job is often impacted and you even risk losing it, your driver license is affected, insurance of all types and way more happens with an identity theft. That's some bad stuff. I've had fraudulent use of my credit card attempted before. And I applaud the cc company for being on top of it. Sad part is with the way things are now, we don't completely control our private data. Banks, employers, stores, health people, pharmacies, hospitals, insurance companies and many others are in possession of the data and we see on the news seemingly weekly where someone is broken into and robbed of sensitive data on millions of people.

I was also a realtor - the only reason we held an open house was to find out which neighbors were coming through and thinking about selling and to see if we could find a home for a prospective buyer - rarely the home you were showing. Back in the day we held broker opens the first Tuesday after we listed a property. This allowed us to show the home to all of the local area brokers and their agents. We wanted the local agents to know we had an available home and as an agent you wanted to know what was on the market in your local area so you drove from house to house all day every Tuesday to keep informed about your market. Where I live there are no more broker opens and the agents don't seem to know much about any of the properties except for the ones they listed or the ones a buyer has expressed interest in seeing. Most sellers, even if they have not completely moved out, should have most of their valuables out of the home, stored in a locked closet or in a safe, not sitting around for people to steal. We did our best to keep an eye on the potential buyers when we held an open house, but it was simply my best, I couldn't be talking to a potential buyer and keeping an eye on someone else walking through the house. I also asked sellers to make sure they didn't leave valuables sitting around that would tempt dishonest people. The same thing could happen when doing a private showing. The husband may want to look at the garage while the wife is looking in the kitchen. I couldn't be in two places at once, so one person may be unattended. During a private showing, even back in the day, we set the appointment and had the potential buyers information, so if something had gone missing, you had a pretty good idea of who took it. The lockboxes at that time were not as secure as they are today - most were supplied through the local Board of Realtors and had a key that opened the box. Anyone who was a licensed realtor could get a key that opened every lockbox. Some realtors had private lock boxes that were opened with a code, but the code was usually in the listing, so every realtor still had access to the house. I remember a time when we had some unscrupulous people who would look for vacant homes with a lockbox. They would advertise the house for rent on Craigslist or some small local publication, bring people in and collect a cash rental application fee and deposit, first and last month rent and give the key to the "Renter". I knew of several homes that were rented to unsuspecting renters - their money is gone, listing agent is surprised by a family moving into the house when it is still for sale. There is no limit to the ingenuity of scam artists and thieves. Sadly, if you are not a criminal, you may never think like a criminal, which makes you vulnerable.

Good topic! Back in early May, I was planning a big college graduation party for our son (in the state he was graduating, not ours). I called in my final head count from home before we left for the big day and the woman who identified herself as the assistant manager asked me for my credit card number and info to guarantee all this. Not finding this terribly unusual, I gave it to her. Two months later she ordered herself a lot of expensive jewelry with my credit card number. Turns out she was just a waitress, but had a rap sheet in two states for theft etc. The restaurant had never bothered with a background check on her! All this gal needed was a credit card number, name of user and exp. date. When they found her, she had a very long list of other credit card numbers in her posession. Scary! My advice is to be very careful during the holidays especially, when extra help is hired and may not be fully checked out. And keep a close watch on every charge on every credit card bill. Because this gal did not have my actual credit card in hand, I wasn't responsible for the charges, but it took months of credit searches, MANY letters, cancelling our credit card and fiing police reports in three states before I could rest (semi)easy again!

I wanted to share a couple other ways your identy/money can be stolen. Both happened to me. By the way, I'm really sorry you've gone through this. It is so frustrating. It seems like the majority of id theft is from credit cards. This first one happened years ago, when this was a relatively new crime, but it wasn't credit. Someone took my name and driver's licence number and the account number of a closed checking account. Then they created a new account and went shopping, at Sears, Macy's, Home Depot, and Victoria's Secret. All in one day. They almost got cought at VS, which ended their shopping spree. I believe they got over $3,000 in merchandise. It was a NIGHTMARE trying to convince all the different agencies and stores that I wasnt the thief. I didn't lose any money, but my driver's license number is still flagged with telecheck. Sixteen years later. BTW, after I made contact with Macy's to explain the situation, Macy's started billing me for the $900 purchase. We had a pretty heated conversation about how they wouldn't even have my information if I hadn't called them to do the right thing. The other was just a couple years ago. I was going over my bank statement and saw a payment to a cell phone company that we don't use. I checked a few monthes prior and noticed I had been paying someone elses bills. Cell phone and the utility bills. The utility bill was easy to miss because I use the same company. It was the cell bill that tipped me off. Someone used the account and routing number off a check one of us wrote and was paying her bills online. Once I cought it, I called the bank PG&E, and Verizon and had everything taken care of. The utility companies went after her on their own, so I don't know the outcome. There was a name on the accounts, but I was told it was probably fake. So anyway, these are just a couple more areasto consider and keep an eye on. Also, Sears can be kinda shifty. I would still be a little suspicious of them. I would not put it past them to issue you an unsolicited credit card. On the off chance that you accept it. It doesn't make much sense for a credit thief to have the card sent to your house. Unless, they were watching your house hoping to intercept your mail