r/IdentityTheft

Somehow it would appear someone used my Gmail account to sign up for a Walmart.Com account. I’ve been receiving order updates, delivery updates, customer service help emails etc. now for about a week and a half.

I’ve received probably a good 20 emails now for this person, and now have her complete name, address, photos of where things were left at her house, her phone number, the last four digits of her credit card, and information about her kids like ages names etc (based off what she ordered and customer support chat transcripts). If I were on the other side of this I would be terrified about a complete stranger having all this information.

I also do not live in the United States. When I’ve tried to use my email to log into a Walmart account to try and like cancel the account it keeps redirecting me since I’m not in the country. I’ve also tried contacting Walmart support, and once I found a phone number I was on hold for about an hour before they told me to try contacting google as they believe this is an issue on Google’s end. I can’t find anyway to contact gmail about this and also don’t really see how this is a Gmail issue since it’s a Walmart data thing? I don’t really want to call Walmart back given the whole international calling charge.

However, I’m still receiving these emails and don’t know what to do from here?

I’m also starting to be concerned as to how she even signed up with my email address and if I should be concerned about any of my information?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi everyone, I've wondered about this for decades so I’d appreciate some insight. I remember hearing when I was a teen and early 20’s in the early 2000’s to be careful of throwing away mail and other paperwork because some of it may have sensitive information that someone can use to steal my identity. So, I’ve always been shredding almost everything to get for decades and it’s really annoying. I think there were laws passed about what information advertisers and others can include in mail for this issue (used to have all kinds of pre-filled info for applications). Can someone point me in the right direction for what’s necessary and what’s overkill?

I’m in the U.S. and I’m looking for advice on personal safety and identity protection—not relationship advice.
I recently reconnected with a man who has liked me since kindergarten. After my long-term partner passed away, he reached out to offer condolences, and we started talking again. He quickly became possessive and repeatedly told me that he had wanted me his whole life and that I had always chosen other people over him.

After an argument, I blocked him on my phone and all social media. He then contacted me from another phone number and sent me my home address, phone number, and Social Security number. He threatened to register me as a sex offender in multiple states, made threats involving my family, said he would “enroll me in the Army,” and claimed he would take over my Instagram account and use it to post disturbing content.
He has also told me that he wants to become an FBI agent, and he is studying cybersecurity, which has made me even more anxious about the situation.
I eventually spoke with him because I was afraid and wanted to de-escalate things. Since then, he has acted like nothing happened and insists that I owe him an apology.

Part of me wants to file a police report, but I’m honestly afraid of retaliation if he finds out I reported him. I’m not sure whether I’m overreacting or whether I should document this now before anything else happens.
Would you file a police report in this situation? Besides that, what practical steps would you take to protect yourself and your identity?

Location: NY

This sub sees the aftermath of identity theft, so I want to share an upstream thing a lot of people don't realize.

A huge amount of ID exposure happens through totally normal requests: a landlord, a marketplace buyer, a rental host, or a "verify yourself" step asks you to text or email a photo of your driver's license or SSN card. You send the whole thing — and now a full image of your ID (name, DOB, ID number, address, signature, photo) is sitting in someone's inbox, chat history, CRM, or camera roll. If any of that gets breached, forwarded, or the person asking was sketchy to begin with, it's a goldmine for a thief.

Two things people routinely miss:

1. The back of a U.S. license has a PDF417 barcode that holds the same personal info as the front — name, DOB, address, license number, all of it. Covering the front but sending an uncovered back photo hands it right over. If you cover the front, cover the barcode too, or don't send the back at all.
2. Photos carry metadata. A straight photo of your ID often includes the date and GPS location where it was taken — frequently your home. The original usually has it even if screenshots don't.

Practical prevention:

• Send only what the request actually needs. Many "send your ID" asks only need to confirm one thing (your name, or that you're over 18) — you can cover the rest.
• Cover the sensitive fields and the back barcode before sending.
• Strip metadata — re-exporting or flattening the image usually drops EXIF/GPS.
• Delete old ID photos sitting in your camera roll and in sent messages. Those are a standing liability if your phone or cloud is ever compromised.
• Be suspicious of who's asking. "Upload your ID to verify" is a common phishing setup — confirm the request is legit before you send anything.

You can do all of this by hand: screenshot it, mark it up in Photos or Preview, re-save, and delete the original.

Full disclosure, I'm the developer of a small on-device iOS app that does exactly this, which is why I know the barcode/metadata details. The manual method above works fine and costs nothing — happy to point to the app in a comment if that's within the rules, but I'm not here to pitch it.

Stay safe out there.

My identity is being used in real-estate/financial records, and police keep dismissing it as mental health instead of reviewing the documents. What can I do?

I’m posting because I need practical advice on how to get identity theft, real-estate/financial fraud, and abuse properly documented when agencies keep dismissing my reports because of my mental-health history.

My identity has been used in connection with records and transactions I did not authorize. I started pulling public records myself — county recorder documents, deeds, property records, names, addresses, and related documents — and I found repeated patterns involving my name, altered versions of my name, and family members’ names connected to real-estate activity. This is not just a “feeling.” I am working from public records and documents.

I also have a serious mental-health history, including hospitalizations and periods where I was unstable, paranoid, or suicidal. That history is now being used to discredit me whenever I try to report the identity theft and fraud. Instead of reviewing the documents, agencies keep treating the entire issue as a mental-health problem.

The situation became worse after my father filed police/court paperwork against me that I dispute as false. A restraining order was granted, including a move-out order, and I became homeless from December until February. Around the same time, the family home was sold. The timing of that sale lined up with when I was moved into an apartment under circumstances that now raise serious concerns. I paid $1,200 believing it was for prorated rent, but later it appeared to be treated as a deposit.

I have also reported repeated episodes where I experienced symptoms consistent with being drugged or exposed to something: confusion, paranoia, loss of reality testing, disability, and inability to care for myself. When I reported feeling drugged or unsafe, police did not take it seriously. My concern is that my family contacted police before or during these reports and framed me as mentally ill so the reports would be dismissed.

That creates an impossible loop:

I report identity theft, fraud, drugging, or abuse.
My family frames it as mental health.
Police rely on that framing instead of reviewing the records.
No investigation happens.
Then the lack of investigation is used to make it look like nothing happened.

I am not asking Reddit to diagnose me or decide the whole case. I am asking how to force a records-based review.

What I need advice on:

1. How do I get police to take an identity-theft report when they keep dismissing me because of mental-health history?
2. If police refuse to take a report, what exactly should I ask for in writing?
3. Should I go to the district attorney, attorney general, FBI IC3, FTC IdentityTheft.gov, postal inspectors, county recorder fraud unit, or another agency?
4. How do I organize deeds, addresses, name variations, timelines, credit records, and police contacts so an investigator or attorney will actually review them?
5. What kind of attorney handles identity theft connected to real-estate records, family fraud, credit reporting, and civil-rights issues?
6. How do I protect myself when family statements are being used to make agencies ignore records?

Hi everyone,

I'm a 20 year old woman from Maharashtra, and I'm honestly very scared and could use some advice.

Someone posted a mobile number in an Instagram reel along with false and defamatory information, encouraging people to call it. The number in the reel was 11 digits long, but except for the 7th digit, every other digit matched my actual phone number. Because of that, multiple strangers started calling and messaging me on WhatsApp.

At first, I had no idea how they got my number. Eventually, one of the callers told me it was from an Instagram reel and sent me the link. I have screenshots of the reel, the Instagram account, the WhatsApp conversation, and my call logs.

I even told the lady politely to delete the reel,but the reel is getting more views and she has not deleted the reel yet(it's been more than 24 hours since i told her that).

I contacted the cyber crime helpline, and they registered my complaint. They gave me a complaint number and asked me to upload my evidence online. They also told me to visit my local police station within 24 hours.

The problem is that I'm really anxious. I've never been to a police station before, and I'm worried that I might somehow get dragged into something bigger. I'm also worried about whether the person who posted my number could retaliate after I report her.

Has anyone here gone through a similar process? What usually happens when you visit the police station? Am I just giving my statement and submitting evidence, or should I expect something more? Is there anything I should carry or be careful about?

My parents have no idea about it, only my sibling does,that's why I'm scared because I'm still getting calls and the number leak has caused me a lot,but I'm scared at the same time.

I'd really appreciate any advice or reassurance.

I am/was in the market to buy my very first home. We ran my credit report and I didn’t look too deeply into it and started making payments on some things I owed to boost my credit.

However I took a closer look when I was validating everything was paid and noticed 5 transactions that had my name on them but I had no records or memories of owing this money.

I opened up an account for the LCC who owns the debt and found my Dads first and middle name, his address, and phone numbers. With all 5 accounts totaled up it is around 5k worth of debt.

Steps I’ve taken so far.

- Freeze credit on all three credit companies (Transunion, Equifax, and Experian)
- Put a fraud alert on all three as well.
-I’ve taken screenshots of all debts and balances alongside my dad’s personal information attached to these debts.
-I am filing a police report today and once done I will be filing a report online with FTC
- (Edit) I have also disputed all 5 transactions with the LCC and will be attaching the FTC and police report once done.

That’s all I’ve got so far and don’t really know what to do next and how to really handle this situation.

I contacted my brother and he is in the same boat. He currently owes almost 10k to different lenders because of my dad.

My dad has done this to me before when I was younger. When i turned 18 I discovered a 3k debt for DirectTV. An account that was open when I was 15. I was young and didn’t care about my credit so I just waited and let it fall off on its own.

I’m pushing 30 years old now. I don’t even live in the same state as him and he still did this to me.

I know some people on here have asked for advice on similar situations, but I’m hoping to still find some sort of help. My CCs are never physically lost, but I have had fraudulent activity on both do my main cards ever month since April. First it started with just my Capital One card. The weird part about that was that both my physical card number AND virtual card number were getting used. I replaced the cards and took off any saved cards on accounts I could think of. I changed my email and capital one account passwords. I still kept getting hacked. Finally, I updated the Automatic Updater System with CO and completely froze my virtual CC, and since then, I haven’t had a fraudulent purchase appear on those cards.

BUT, tonight, my Chase CC detected fraudulent activity (and there was a purchase from a few days ago that was not from me but I was not alerted to).
I have tried figuring out if there is a common store that may be skimming my card numbers, but nothing lines up.

No one in my family has access to my bank accounts. I don’t think I have card info saved anywhere. I do have Monarch linked to all of my accounts. Has anyone ever had a problem with that service and CC leaks?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Disclaimer: I understand this is my fault. There was decpetion involved, but I was responsible for going forward. I understand I am an idiot, please look past that and offer some advice. I am offering some gratituity for your time.

In a nutshell, I was going to be paid to make an Etsy shop with a burner email in my name, and I followed their instructions:

- KYC verification for Etsy, set up the shop.

- gave Etsy logins to him, later did another KYC verification link (don't know if it was for Etsy)

- gave ssn, drivers license picture, selfies of me holding front and back of DL, bank name, my own phone number

This was over the course of a few days, and he's waiting for a photo of my SS card. This is when I came to my senses. I'm actively freezing my credit and contacting my banks and brokerage accounts and setting up 2fa with phone for everything, along with all of the other first aid steps. Here's what I am considering:

- reporting the Etsy account

- reporting identity theft to the recommended agencies on the subreddit

- getting a new drivers liscence and ss card

I'm hesitant, because I would likely be held liable for this. Wether it is still worth it reporting I don't know. If I withhold information from law enforcement, they may be curious how I know where to look. Please help. I am considering consulting a lawyer, but I don't want it to be escalated to law enforcement. It has been 10 days since personal information was shared. I'm trying to be quick, because I have reason the believe that the recipient will move to plan b and try to get assets once he realizes I am not complying anymore. He messaged me this morning asking where the photo is. Please help.

As if 12/28/2025 I have horrifically found myself the victim of identity theft. Someone from another state opened a $3k+ loan in my name using most if not all of my information. I haven’t heard a word from anyone in well over a month. Those who have been through this what do you recommend or how would you navigate this? I’ve done everything I’m supposed to and it’s still been since before June 1st if not longer since I’ve heard anything. I’m frustrated to the point of crying and feeling like no hope is left. Please help🥺😭

Editing to add: top if off with ever since the loan occurred I’ve been getting a large (probably 100 or more) calls from Google Business claiming my business is at stake or my account is in danger, etc. i have never nor ever plan to have a business account with Google fyi.

got a notification a few weeks ago that my email and some personal info showed up in a data breach from a service i had not used in years. changed my passwords, set up two factor where i could, and then started wondering what else i should actually be doing.

the breach already happened so i am not looking for something that promises to prevent it next time. more interested in tools that help monitor what is out in the wild with my information, flag anything suspicious before it turns into a real problem, and give me some visibility into what is being done with my data without having to check ten different places manually.

looked into a few identity protection tools but a lot of the marketing language feels aimed at people who have not been breached yet. curious what has worked for people already dealing with the aftermath and whether the monitoring features are genuinely useful or just alerts that do not tell you anything actionable.

For the majority of my life my mother has opened credit cards and bank accounts in my name. Even created a credit karma in my name. I've reported past things to the police. But nothing ever comes from it. The banks she applies at are places I've never had accounts with. I keep reporting it, and having to report fraud. The banks will let her apply for the credit card but refuses to give me the phone numbers associated with the accounts. The last time I reported it to the police nothing ever came from it. I don't know what to do. I know I need to freeze my credit. But, she will just unfreeze it. She has my SSN and all my personal information because she's my mother. She just denies doing it and is very smug about it.

Hi, I have never experienced identity theft, but the company I work for had a data breach a year ago that exposed all employees’ names, addresses, phone numbers and SSNs. Since then, I keep finding my information on the internet and every several weeks, I get emails about breaches that may include my information. Usually, it’s data like my main email that I had for years, username, password or name and surname.

I know that the majority of people have their information leaked on dark web. But with these breach notifications and my personal info just like that on the internet, I keep thinking if it might lead to actual identity theft one day. How do you guys deal with this paranoia? What steps do you take?

At self checkout I noticed after I paid with a credit card that a pop up would display showing my correct first name and a partially blocked phone number that is not mine. I contacted customer support after a few times noticing this and was told the person before me entered a phone number on the self checkout screen and left. I scanned my items and when I paid with card the system linked my card to that unknown account. They told me system settings were changed to prevent this from happening again. Walmart has told me my “full payment” information was not available to the unknown account, but will not state that partial payment information was not linked. They also do not have a reasonable explanation as to why my name was displayed along with an unknown number. I was made aware of an online Walmart account I have from 2025, but there are no cards linked, no purchase history, and no emails confirming I made an online purchase. Walmart also told me they cannot tell me what transactions paid for by me were sent as digital receipts to the account my card was linked to.
I cancelled my credit card and do not see any suspicious activity, but am concerned that a system setting would allow my credit card to be attached to an unknown account and walmart customer service responses include statements like, “it’s limited information we can share.”

This morning I received a text from a legitimate loan/asset recovery in regards to my former-step-father My mother divorced this man when I was 14 years old. 20 years later I am being contacted by his debt collectors. When I contacted the loan/asset recovery they told me that I was listed a one of his references for the loan, the agent explained that they could not confirm or deny if my social or any of my information was used to get the loan ( as they are the 3rd party trying to recover the debt).

I am at a loss on what to do should I contact the IRS? Where do I start to make sure he has not stolen my information.

He is a shady character and a previous felon, I want to go about this in a safe manner even though I do not live in the city/state I grew up in anymore, my mother does.