(WSPA) – Identity theft can upend your life as you know it. Any victim will tell you it takes countless hours to try to get your life back.
In this 7NEWS Consumer Exclusive, we examine why it’s so crucial to take key steps to guard your identity now and to act fast if something looks wrong.
Phone porting scam
Terri and Bob Phillips, in Greenville, had to deal with mounting stress when hackers ported Bob’s phone number, accessed his iCloud and cloned the phone.
“Once they got that then they’re you,” Bob said.
When Bob’s phone stopped working, Terri got an alert from their bank.
“I was afraid that they would drain the account,” she said.
“In addition to getting a debit card through Truist, they were able to get a new American Express credit card…It was overnighted, and of course, I paid the overnight fee,” Bob explained.
However, it didn’t stop there. The Phillips got an AT&T bill for the new phone service on their ported number. Plus Bob was locked out of his Social Security account after all the failed login attempts.