Is it Theft if Someone Gave It to You?

I came home from Fort Lauderdale to find my mailbox stuffed with envelopes from Charles Schwab Bank. Panic was starting to set in even before I got the envelopes in the house. I started opening the envelopes and discovered debit cards, account verification letters, and notices of returned items.

The first thing I did was call Schwab Bank to let them know I had not opened any of these accounts, nor did I currently have any accounts with them. They said they'd pass the information on to their Fraud Department. I think they should have passed me through to the fraud department but I don't write their policy. The next thing I did was phone the police. The number three thing on my list was to call Experian and place a hold on my credit file. Next step was to call the folks at IDShield.

The following day I got a checkbook from Schwab Bank and a few more account verification letters and another notice of returned items. Once again, I thought I'd let the good folks at Schwab know. They still didn't seem particularly concerned.

Mark helped me open and organize everything. When all the mail had been opened, I had 30 debit cards all issued by Charles Schwab Bank. In addition to these debit cards I had four welcome packets, account verification letters for 32 accounts, one checkbook, and six notifications of returned items.

The account verification letters showed the email address used to open the accounts. (Not surprisingly, it wasn't mine.) While Schwab wouldn't tell me much of anything, they did confirm with IDShield that my name, address and social security number had been used to open the accounts.

I'm still not understanding why someone would open a bunch of accounts and order debit cards for them when there was no money in those accounts. Although someone must have put some money in one of those accounts because I received a box of checks and the verification letters indicated that checks would only be issued after the account had been funded. Yet all of the attempts to transfer money to PayPal failed. (At least as far as I know and if some were successful, it might have been done in my name, but it was done without any of my money.) Perhaps I'm just not devious enough to figure this out.

My best guess is that this is a direct result of the Equifax breach. We found out about it while we were in Italy so there wasn't a great deal I could do about it at the time. And then when I learned that the IRS had contracted with Equifax to keep their data safe, I assumed that we were all doomed and I bought IDShield while we were still in Florida, before I knew what was waiting for me in my mailbox at home. (Even though they are treating this like a pre-existing condition, they have been very helpful in guiding me through the reports that I need to get and the precautions I need to take to ensure that nothing comes of it.)

But the other thing I don't understand is why bells and whistles were not going off over at Schwab Bank. Perhaps I'm naive but I can't imagine that most people open 30 accounts. I can imagine scenarios where someone might need four or five, but I just can't imagine that someone opening 30 accounts doesn't set off an alarm somewhere. And just this morning I got the answer to that. It did set off a stink alarm. I was contacted by the Fraud Department at Schwab and we reviewed the scenario - apparently the 30 accounts got their attention but not before the cards and checks had been mailed. They confirmed with me that the identity thief has my name, address, phone number, and social security number - but NOT my mother's maiden name. (And this is why I will not play that silly game on Facebook where you list your parents and grandparents surnames!)

He was also able to tell me the name associated with the PayPal account that was supposed to be the recipient of the failed transfers. I think he was surprised when I recognized the name. I know I was surprised.

Bottom line. Whoever did this has stolen my time and my peace of my mind, but so far no money. Watching closely.