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Forum nameGeneral Discussion
Topic subjectMy grandma got email scammed. Advice?
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=4&topic_id=13129232
13129232, My grandma got email scammed. Advice?
Posted by Frank Longo, Sat Feb-25-17 01:52 AM
She gave her name, email, birthday, phone number, address, and last four of her social (only her last four, she swore up and down) to a scammer pretending to be PayPal.

I told her to alert her banks/credit cards, and I showed her some warning signs for the next time someone tries to scam email/call/text/whatever.

Anything else I should do? Or have her do?
13129237, contact one of the 3 credit reporting comps. Ask for fraud alert
Posted by nonaime, Sat Feb-25-17 05:51 AM
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0275-place-fraud-alert

"Ask 1 of the 3 credit reporting companies to put a fraud alert on your credit report. They must tell the other 2 companies. An initial fraud alert can make it harder for an identity thief to open more accounts in your name. The alert lasts 90 days but you can renew it."

Not too sure what could be opened with just the last four of ssn, but if this is a free service, couldn't hurt.
13129238, Track the IP Address and cash em outside
Posted by Anonymous, Sat Feb-25-17 05:56 AM
13129307, I recommend this article
Posted by Playa_Politician, Sat Feb-25-17 06:11 PM
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/06/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-embrace-the-security-freeze/

In short, he’s saying you should freeze your credit accounts with the four major credit bureaus to prevent fraudulent lines of credit being opened instead of using credit monitoring services that just alert you once you’ve been compromised. this won’t affect your established credit accounts, only freezes new inquiries from being made. Some of the bureaus will charge you a fee to place a freeze and lift a freeze (to obtain new credit) but in the end the fees you pay to do this will still be cheaper than paying for credit fraud monitoring and having to resolve the issue after the fact.
13129308, Lifelock and credit monitoring service .
Posted by Kama7, Sat Feb-25-17 06:28 PM
13129310, take her computer away.
Posted by Hitokiri, Sat Feb-25-17 06:35 PM
13129318, RE: My grandma got email scammed. Advice?
Posted by x49, Sat Feb-25-17 07:29 PM
file a complaint with ic3.gov and maybe contact ftc's id theft dept 1-800-438-4338 or online identitytheft.gov