Neo-Modern Identity TAKEOVER: This can happen to anyone... Identity theft isn’t just about stolen credit cards anymore. What is happening to me is ONGOING Identity TAKEOVER, and it could easily happen to anybody. It started with a data breach at a major corporation that handles billing for Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program. With my personal information in hand, the criminals used social engineering to charm customer service agents across multiple companies. They remotely cloned my phone number and easily moved my phone number to a secondary line under their own account! (If this child monitoring option were not available, the criminals wouldn't be able to do this..) From there, they use **call forwarding and relay techniques** to intercept every incoming and outgoing call. It took 5 years before I started noticing that every call sounded eerily similar to the one that called before. The same agent was answering my calls, no matter what number I dial, even to this very day. I don't even answer the phone anymore. I get too mad so I simply stopped answering the phone. I finally realized I was being rerouted through a monitor—just like relay services used for deaf callers. They stole my pandemic unemployment, my SSI, and even my student loans and articles I used to get paid for started producing only rejection letters. Someone is intercepting every cent I earn and every benefit I am entitled to, as if they are actually me. These people have gone so far as to advise businesses that someone is trying to steal THEIR identity, making it extremely difficult for me to fight this! The companies I do business with are now unknowingly aiding the identity thieves to keep me away from my own life! This whole situation is so bizarre and seems to be preventable if the phone companies would stop offering secondary lines. ( I'm thinking this MUST be some kind of pilot program or something in which this problem is unleashed on me while the authorities repair the problem, in an effort to prevent this takeover from happening to anybody else. ) Be on the lookout for signs of TAKEOVER of your phone number, especially data draining quickly from devices. In the meanwhile, if you see me begging for food in Southern California, please bless me with a dollar or two. It is needed and greatly appreciated, as this is my true last resort.

Posted in Staying safe online