The Letter
Getting a letter from the Human Resources department of a long ago employer is usually never a good thing. That goes double when the former employer was an agency inside the vast Department Of Homeland Security!
So today while I am up to my armpits in boat stuff (not really, I was just swapping out some stuff) the mail arrives. No big deal. I check the mail an there is a letter from the Transportation Security Administration.
Uh oh! What do these people want? Did they find out about the 10 or so pairs of vinyl gloves I took? Or the uniform issue socks I kept? Those were some nice socks. The BEST part of working for the federal government is the socks they issue you. If you are a uniformed employee. Really, they gave me the best socks anyone has ever owned. I figured it was OK to keep them, because there were no logos or agency emblems on the socks. I could not try to impersonate a TSA employee while wearing the socks. And besides, the socks were in my feet! Did they really want them back?
If there was a way to do so, I would have a portion of my tax return converted into government uniform issue socks. I think a lot of people would do this. When I was working for them I had a chance to spend up to $70 in free money on uniform parts. But due to my high ethics I did not use any of that money. You see I did not need any uniform parts. I SHOULD HAVE ordered as many socks as that $70 would buy.
Anyway, the letter had nothing to do with gloves or socks. It was about something else.
Now keep in mind this the the Department of Homeland SECURITY. Notice how the emphasis is on the word "security".
It seems the TSA has "lost" an external hard drive containing all sorts of personal data. Names, social security numbers, birth dates, payroll info, bank account numbers, routing numbers, and whatever.
So Homeland "Security" keeps this stuff on an external hard drive huh? One would think that stuff would be on some sort of data storage device BOLTED TO SOMETHING LARGE AND HEAVY. They do not know if the device is in the HQ, out of the HQ, on the Mars Global Surveyor Spacecraft, or for sale on E-Bay. But they have launched an investigation!
I got something for you guys to investigate. Investigate why this info was on an external hard drive in the first place. It should be on a secure server, in a server vault, behind 4 or 5 locked security doors, and bolted down so it is hard to move. You guys are the security department! You can afford some doors like they have in Super Max Prisons.
Anyway, they are nice enough to give me 1 year free access to this great data monitoring service, which of course I signed up for. Now anytime anyone (even me) tries to open an account using my info the cell phone will ring and I have to enter my secret number or else the application is rejected. I hope I do not forget the secret number.
They also told me to contact the three credit reporting agencies and have a fraud alert placed on my files, which I did. Here are the agencies and the fraud numbers. You should probably write these down and keep them handy in case you ever suspect some funny business is going on.
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian: 1-888-397-3742
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
You only need to have a fraud alert placed with one agency. I called Equifax and the nice computer generated voice said that it would contact the other two agencies for me, so I did not need to call them. What a nice computer! I bet that computer's hard drive is not external!
Anyway, my mama did not raise no fool. I have been paying a monthly fee to have my credit monitored. With all the ID theft going on I decided it was a good idea. Plus, I can get my credit score whenever I want. So if you do not have a credit monitoring service, you may want to get one. It is not very expensive. And if it catches one fraud attempt you will be really happy you have it.
TSA ends the letter by saying they are "profoundly sorry". But I already knew they were profoundly sorry. OK OK bad joke there! They are just regular sorry. Ill stop now. Because really this is not that big of a deal. There is no evidence anything screwy is going on with my info. Most likely any investigation will turn up a big fat nothing. I am not too worried.
You see, the credit monitoring service I pay for has not alerted me to anything. So that means nothing is going on. With the totally ass kicking service they are giving me for free, and the service I am still going to pay for, and the fraud alert I just placed - my credit is pretty safe. Any attempted fraud will be detected and stopped within 10 minutes.
The swapping of crap from old boat to new boat is going well. I have a plan to mount the waterproof automatic battery charger in one place and then run wires to the batteries in another place. I installed the good speakers I bought for the old boat into the new boat. I also ordered another pair of the same speakers. The new boat has holes cut for 4 speakers. The speakers the new boat came with were cheapo marine speakers anyway, and needed to be replaced.
The boat tunes should sound much better. Boat tunes are important. I might even throw in a 4 channel marine amp for some extra kick at some point in the future.
So what is left to do? Install and wire up the stereo, replace the other two old speakers with new Pioneer TS-MR1640s, install and wire up my DSC ready VHF radio, install the GPS / Chartplotter, find a home for the battery charger, and think about which sound producing device I should get.
Labels: boats, identity theft
posted by The Lazy Iguana @ 00:31
11 Comments:
I try to maintain an identity that is not worth stealing. :)
My credit got messed up, so I left the country...
I have a cousin who works for TSA; she's says it's a joke.
Cathouse - good idea! Maintain an ID nobody will want to steal. I should have done this!
Michael - my credit is pretty good, and I intend to keep it that way. TSA security is better than what we had before TSA. I left to try something else that paid more.
if thou feel brave.. www.41hz.com has an amp kit thats like $39. its a 50 watt (25x2) amp that generates no heat and draws very little power as its a class T all digital, its what i used on breakaway. ran all day cranked up on a battery from a power wheels toy truck. since it generates no heat, you can put it in a sealed box. the amp itself is as big as an altoids tin just a little taller.
The Lazy,
I'm a pretty even tempered guy but when my identity was stolen I almost blew a gasket. If I ever meet anyone from one of those credit agencies I'll rip their lungs out with my bare hands. It was a black guy using my name and credit. The police did nothing to him. The homie kept all the stuff he stode. It took 3-years off my life.
I thought the green socks were pretty good, as long as I changed them occasionally.
I don't think any of us have many secrets any more.
Anonymous - I am not playing any games with the new boat. She deserves all new marine grade stuff. If I get an audio amp, it will be the right amp for a boat. You either do things right, or you do them half-ass.
Caiman - I am taking measures to prevent my ID from getting stolen.
Actionbell - it seems there is some kind of contest going on to see who can loose the most personal information. My government socks were not green, they were a very dark blue. Almost black.
Fuzz - the socks are the best part about working for the feds. I am telling you. They were amazing. They were the socks dreams were made of.
This concerns me a little, has anyone considered that this is a scam by the credit companies? to get you to sign up for monitoring services and pay money to them? be careful
Ba Doozie - TSA would have to be in on the scam. They sent me the letter.
Also the government is paying for the credit monitoring service they offered to me. They do not know I already have another service.
You can also take out a rider on your homeowners in case your id theft gets out of hand, and costly.
Those free fraud alerts, not the service mind you, are only good for 90 days (I thought it was four months, but I just checked). You can also do a free 7 year victim statement with proof of loss or police report.
You can also take out a rider on your homeowners as a precursor, in case your id theft gets out of hand, and/or costly.
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