Orlando man Charged in Theme Park Scheme

[PigletIsMyCat]

There was another member on this board who had a similar experience... and I feel obligated to repost what I said on that thread. Also, Chickapin, sorry to hear about what happened to you - credit card and identity theft stink!!! But, truthfully, there are no 100% blameless victims - you have to arm yourself with the knowledge to outwit these idiots and be vigilant in protecting yourself. Chickapin and JoeH have both learned a horrible lesson the same way I did... you would think that the sharing of their stories may elicit some sympathy and help show/teach others how to avoid credit card and identity theft scams, instead of turning certain people into raving lunatics, but that's neither here nor there.... :brick:

Never EVER give out ANY personal information - full name, mother's maiden, SS#, credit card info, mailing address - UNLESS YOU INITIATED THE CALL!!! If you get a call from, let's say, Sears, asking you to verify ANY information at all, tell them you will call the customer service number on your card and give the requested information to the customer service rep. My husband and I have had our identities stolen or compromised THREE TIMES since August 2004, when Hubby was pickpocketed at a Red Lobster in New York.

Don't ever give out or even CONFIRM personal information without initiating the call - these ID theif creeps will call you, give you info to confirm - your name, address, phone number - then ask you to give another bit of pertinent info. This person calling you may already know your name, address, phone number, credit card or bank information, and may ask you to confirm your mother's maiden name - BOOM! Numerous fraudulent accounts can be started with just that info.

Also, if you do any online banking, bill payments, etc., periodically check to see that your personal information is still correct. It's usually under a link marked 'profile' or something similar, and will give all your contact information. The last time we were targeted, they actually somehow gained access to our online banking, changed the mailing address and phone number, and went wild with online charges. Of course, the bank attempted to call and verify the fraudulent charges - but these guys had changed the number; the bank wasn't calling us.

We learned all this the hard way. So far, all three instances of ID theft have cost us a total of $2581, and we were only able to recover $986 of it.

 

[goofntink]

How exactly did being a former CM help him to "get around the resorts unnoticed"?

First of all pal,and I use the term pal lightly, BACK OFF! CHICKAPIN is just one an unfortunate number of victims of this guys scam, and it is not her fault!. Secondly how he was able to do it is something I am not stupid enough to relay on this matter. And last but not least.Tigfan, why are you so interested in knowing how he did it? With your attitude,you would be the last person I would give or trust that information to.

 

[The Mom]

I do believe this thread has run its course.

I thank everyone who has had the courage to share their experience with this criminal, even at the risk of opening themselves up to unwarranted criticism.

I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned here, and not all of them have to do with dealing with criminals.