New member - Possible id theft or something else?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 22 Sep 2012 Posts: 2

I initially got a call from carmax, from a car salesman saying he needed more info than what I submitted on their online form... which I never inquired about. I froze my credit and got an identity theft protection service subscription.

Next, I started getting calls from window companies/ contractors responding to my submission through servicemagic.com. Never have been on servicemagic.com!

Some time passes... now just the other day, I'm getting calls from insurance companies about my submission through Netquote.com about getting auto insurance. Didn't do that.

Is this identity theft? Or is this some scammer who is using tons of people's info (probably hacked) to have a computer program submit millions of submissions through these companies (netquote.com, etc., etc.) and get referral $. I'm thinking the last option because the scammer/thief doesn't appear to be opening accounts and stealing, just submitting my info. ?? any ideas? EXTREMELY annoying and worrisome!

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 2:24 am

Hello asdf0987 and welcome to the forum.

Companies buy information and there are others that sell information, I don't know what other people are going to pipe up and say, but this sounds very much more like a set of marketing campaigns than an actual scam. IE> a marketing company that makes money from bulk referrals is submitting your data. Very annoying, I agree.

Another possibility might be a practical joke by a friend or neighborhood kid. (Or ex-partner) Do you have any details how your details were submitted? Was it by telephone, email, postal letter? What was the phone number that the call came from? the email address?

I presume that your forms of ID are safe - Passport/Drivers Licence?

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 22 Sep 2012 Posts: 2

Someone or something (hacker's software) is actually filling out forms for various services. The calls I am getting are from local companies and when some of them hear that I did not submit the inquiry they are surprised (i assume because 99.99% inquiries are legitimate). I don't have anyone I know that would be doing this as a prank... 100% sure of that.

I'm really leaning to some kind of scam where data is hacked that includes name, address, email, etc., but not account #'s and ssn#'s... because no money or credit has actually been stolen (so far). And then the data is used by some program that automatically fills out forms on sites that pay referral $ back to the the scammer. All the while, the companies are not aware that no actual person filled out the form.

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 1:52 pm

Being a tad technically deficient in some areas, I am thinking would these be sites that a bot could fill in information? Some of the sites I visit require typing in the CAPTCHA information and a bot could not do that.

Maybe someone more technical advanced can answer that unless there is some kind of new hacker-type software that could do that. My other question would be why would this be occurring. It sounds like a new take on someone filling out magazine subscriptions and having pizzas delivered by pranksters.

Elite Baiter Joined: 19 Jan 2009 Posts: 1440

I'd love to know what this is all about too. It sounds like the submissions to the various companies have little of your information required since whoever/whatever is sending them doesn't know your info...but still extremely odd.
Do the people who phone address you by your name?

Master Baiter Joined: 07 Sep 2012 Posts: 100

Morgain Le Fay wrote:

Some of the sites I visit require typing in the CAPTCHA information and a bot could not do that.

I think some types of CAPTCHA can be beaten.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 26 Jul 2012 Posts: 1123

^ Yes it is possible to do and even somewhat efficiently these days:

http://code.google.com/p/captchacker/

As for the original post I am still trying to figure out what that could be. I know sometimes fraud artists, ID thieves, and launderers will set up services in the name of someone else in order to make that person a sort of fall guy. For the most part those services are abused for fraudulent purposes.... but this is still beyond me with the OP.

servicemagic.com?

netquote.com?

Where is the personal profit for the scammer in submitting stolen identity information to these companies? Where can they abuse this information to extort money?

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