Wow, that was unexpected and unwelcome.Just spent a couple of hours talking with eBay and PayPal and changing all of my passwords as I had my eBay and PayPal accounts compromised - ie. my identity stolen! Apparently someone hacked my account and purchased a laptop off eBay and paid for it! I got the email right away that said I had "won" my bid and knew right away it was wrong. (Not that I couldn't use a new laptop, but if I was going to get anything it would be a fast new desktop from Dell, not a HP off eBay.) I contacted the seller, eBay and PayPal right away to get the transaction halted. Not sure how long before I can transfer the money back into my checking account! Hopefully soon.
This little brush with identity theft was my second in the past 6 months. As we were preparing to move our mortgage lender informed me that my social security number had been used twice in the last 10 years. Apparently there was no fraud involved - I'm guessing that whomever it was has a number close to mine and put in the wrong digit - but it scared me. I immediately went to Zander Insurance and picked up some identity theft protection. This is the stuff that Dave Ramsey recommends. I'm really glad I have it (no this is not a paid endorsement, although if anyone from Zander sees this I'd be happy to talk about a deal!)
It's funny because we just talked about ID theft at our last Financial Peace University class. Now I'll have another anecdote to share. Oh, joy.
