Excitement! Just in time for this week’s essay.

My first experience with identity theft.

Here are some things I did and some things I learned:

I made sure the loan or credit company who called me to ask for money they say I borrowed, is legit. It was legit — an online bank from which almost anyone, I presume, can borrow (spell that KEEP) $1,000 — with practically no real checking up of who’s who.

I told the loan company the police asked for something in writing.

By providing the loan company my real email address and setting a new password, I was able to access the loan company’s website and print out the application form that the crook used.

Figuring Out Identity

On that print-out I included information I learned about the crook, but that didn’t appear on his application form. From a loan company person, I was able to learn the crook’s almost definitely fictitious email address and alternate telephone number, as well as his real bank account number, into which the loan company deposited $1,000 – and from which the crook likely withdrew the money and closed the account.

I took that print-out to the police station and filed a police report. The good news: Once you get the police report number and provide it to the credit agencies, you can have the three major credit companies put a “freeze” on your account for 7 years.

That means that you will be called on the phone as soon as anyone tries to get information about you. You can then accept or decline to have that information passed on. I heard that without a police report number, you can have only a month-long “freeze” — that doesn’t sound fair.

The final step is to fax the police report to the loan company. Actually, I hope the even more final step is to catch and arrest the crook. But the police say that is highly unlikely — they told me they get at least 20 identity theft reports each week.

The police say I’m lucky I got the report filed early – before negative comments went on my credit report — because those are more difficult to expunge. Don’t forget: you can get free (no gimmicks) credit reports from all 3 credit agencies, once a year, at: annualcreditreport.com

And, you can tell me your identity stories at robertebsen@hotmail.com