Advice on Identity Theft

April 23 at 2:30 pm and April 24 at approx. 10 am, I received calls from 469-327-6517 (Ennis TX) and 646 693 1187 (New York), respectively, with automated messages that I was being sued by the Social Security Administration for irregularities with my account.

I was urged to call back immediately. On April 23 I called back several hours later and the Verizon message indicated the could not go through. April 24 I called back sooner and digitally recorded my message with a man who identified as "Eric Foster" in the El Paso TX Social Security Office.

"Foster" said the call was being recorded by US Treasury and SSA and they were suing me for irregularities with my account. I told him I'd not received any such notices from the SSA. He had much of my personally identifying information and wanted more, including my full Social Security Number.

I asked "Foster" several direct questions and he hung up. I sent an email to Washington DC Police Chief Peter Newsham and I called the Congressional office of Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, whose staff told me to "ignore" the call! This is the wrong advice as phone fraudsters will continue to prey on victims until they are stopped. I sent Holmes Norton an email telling her to educate her staff.

I sent the phone numbers to Deputy SSA Commissioner Nancy Berryhill to investigate the calls and refer them to SSA's Fraud Dept. SSA advises victims of such calls to contact credit bureaus and credit card issuing companies.

"Foster" used a script intended to scare seniors and employers. It was very similar to the script I heard while in 2014 while stationed in San Francisco. I got a call from a "Dan Goodkin" claiming he was representing me in an Administrative Hearing at US Dept of Homeland Security. In 2013, I got a DHS letter informing me of a data breach by security contractor MSM/Innoviss, then-based in Chevy Chase, MD. MSM said there was no evidence my Personally Identifying Information was illegally access. Firms caught in data breaches ALWAYS say this and they are NEVER right. The "evidence" is based on internal investigations by the same fools who allowed their systems to be breached. MSM issued me an ID theft protection plan for 1 year. When that ended, "Dan Goodkin" called to inform me he was representing me in an Admin Hearing related to the breach.

I was planning a memorial for the 10th anniversary of my daughter, Alexandra's death, and I allowed "Goodkin" to charge $4,500 to my Discover card. When DHS informed me "Goodkin" was a scam, I contacted the US Dept of Justice, above image, and they referred me to then-Attorney General Kamala Harris. The above image is one of several letters from DOJ. AG Harris was helpful in getting the $4,500 refunded in Oct. 2016. Discover, belatedly, began its own fraud investigation as did Experian. I had been a Discover cardholder since 1986 and I closed my account over their inaction and because they refused to cancel the merchant account of "Goodkin." My experience is Discover cardholder services will not help cardholders victimized by fraudsters. Their employees claim they never my constant letters from 2015 to 2016 were intended for their fraud department. I do not recommend Discover. AmEx is the best at fighting fraud and getting results! It's accepted globally while Discover, at post time, is not.

Lessons Learned:

Be diligent in fighting fraud! Be diligent before the fraud. Be diligent in getting your stolen money back!

Be diligent in reporting the fraud. Be diligent in speaking out to educate others.

I am eager to speak with reporters on this case. My firsthand experience is that Kamala Harris cares about victims of ID theft and financial fraud. She timely assisted and helped get results.

Jim Patterson writer/speaker

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