This is how identity theft happens...

[nutraxfornerves]

When I was working, all my incoming business calls went through a receptionist. Almost nobody had the number of my private line. Since calls on it were always for me, I answered with just "Hi. This is Nutrax." Nothing to indicate the name of my employer.

Some policy agency sent out a notice to every other police agency in the country. "Call this number if you want to know if we have a warrant out for someone." Naturally, there was a big fat typo--it was my private number

It took me forever to get it corrected. In the mean time, I had this conversation at least one a week:
"Hi, this is Nutrax."
"This is Sgt. Smith of the BlahBlah police department and I have a Joe Blow here, his Social Security Number is 123-..."
"Ack!No! Stop! Don't tell me this!"

None of those brilliant Sgt. Smiths ever considered that just maybe they'd dialed a wrong number. They just launched off with all sorts of personal details of somebody they had in custody. I could have done rather well in the identity theft business--even considering that the average credit rating of those Joe Blows currently in police custody probably was pretty low.

[EricKei]

take care of business in a more quiet place, not a packed Port Authority bus!!!

The Port Authority, you say?

[taxguykarl]

The bus ride everyday is like an identity thief's wet dream. People telling their social security numbers, credit card info, addresses.

Sounds like one incident on the L back in the late '90's. A gal was making an order on her cell and was screaming her credit card number for all to hear.

[raudf]

Most of my ATMs are the type where you swipe the card, so you have less chance of forgetting it at the ATM. This does mean that I've lost my card in my car before.... >.<

I did have a card get eaten by my bank's ATM, but it was because the card was expired and I grabbed the wrong one outta my wallet (because you use to have to activate new ones at the ATM.) It ate it and I just shrugged and pulled out the one I wanted.

[bankworking]

Bank account numbers get given out all the time... every time someone writes a check. Dispute process isn't that hard when it gets compromised, but changing the account number to a new one can be a pain in the a$$ since you have to change all direct deposits and automatic transactions that you want to continue (hopefully without accidentally making something bounce).

Debit and credit card numbers have a chance of being compromised every single time you pull them from your wallet. Skimmers, hackers, database compromises, keylogger viruses, long distance cameras and old-fashioned writing the numbers down. So many ways to have your number get in the wrong hands. Easiest thing to get replaced though, and most places will have a $0 liability on the dispute if you report it in relatively quick time even though legally they can make you liable for $50.

Opening up credit in someone else's name is a touch harder. Need more than one point of information, at least, and often an employee who misses the warning signs on the credit application. But if it happens, if someone uses your information and successfully starts opening up accounts and credit lines in your name, it is the BIGGEST pain to get fixed. Gotta get credit reports fixed. Gotta deal with collection calls from companies who won't believe that it wasn't you. Might have to freeze your credit, which will cost you money to unfreeze every time you want something for yourself, and if you didn't get all the fraud off your report, you get hit with higher rates on your new credit lines. And while it is possible to change a social, it's NOT easy in any way, shape or form, and if you do, you'll have credit companies questioning why your social is so much younger than your age for years to come.

...and yet people still shout their social out to tellers at the bank so everyone in the building can hear.

[protege]

Debit and credit card numbers have a chance of being compromised every single time you pull them from your wallet. Skimmers, hackers, database compromises, keylogger viruses, long distance cameras and old-fashioned writing the numbers down. So many ways to have your number get in the wrong hands. Easiest thing to get replaced though, and most places will have a $0 liability on the dispute if you report it in relatively quick time even though legally they can make you liable for $50.

After having my credit card number stolen in Poughkeepsie, NY, and having to deal with that mess, I'm very careful with my information. When that number got swiped, some asshole used it to make calls to *Australia.* Thousands of dollars, which I would have been liable for had I not bothered to check my statements. In fact, when I got the statement with those on there, I went along with the rep at USAA who was sorting it for me. Luckily, I didn't have to pay a dime, since I caught it quickly. But, if you're ever in the K-Mart store in that town, don't use your card. Trust me

It's become much harder to open up accounts in someone else's name now. It can still be done, but it's not as easy.

[Strathclyde]

As far as ATMs go, I remember one time I went to a con. Forgot my ID, so my buddy had to pay for the hotel. So I went to grab money to pay him back. The machine spit out a bunch and , though I should have, I didn't count it. TWO people came up afterwards and handed me the rest of the money.

[MoonCat]

I once walked into an ATM at a bank (main bank was closed-Saturday) and found someone's card sticking out of the machine and twenty-dollar bills falling out. No lie.

Being an honest schmuck, I pushed the card and the money through the space between the main doors into the lobby so they would be found on the floor when the bank reopened the following Monday. What I could never figure out was how the hell that even happened. The card wasn't stuck - it came right out. The machine was beeping away, spitting money out. Obviously something was wrong but why would the card's owner leave it there?

[dalesys]

... why would the card's owner leave it there?

The Clowns surprised them.