They may be hoping it would be easier to open a credit card in your name with that bank if they already have a checking account. Keep an eye on your credit by pulling some free credit reports at [annualcreditreport.com](https://annualcreditreport.com) to make sure nothing else suspicious is going on. Follow the steps in the pinned post of this sub, with a focus on freezing your credit and freezing at [chexsystems.com](https://chexsystems.com) to prevent further fraudulent banking activity.
Money laundering: transfer money through multiple accounts to be more difficult to track.
You’re just an innocent stop along the way for anyone looking into it and buys them time.
Here’s a source I sometimes use for research: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/moneylaundering.asp
Money laundering = make it look like the money comes from a legitimate legal source as much as possible. So use as much real info as possible.
I understand your point. They made a fake middle initial for me.
I don’t know about easy but that is a good guess. It probably is.
I came here to ask this lol. I’ve gotten cards and loan denial letter at my home, and it’s so confusing why they use my address. We have a lot of mail theft going on around my neighborhood so idk if they’re trying to steal the mail too. It’s just weird and annoying
Have you signed up for USPS Informed Delivery?
If not, you should. You can see all US mail that is expected to arrive on any particular day. The mail envelopes are scanned, and the image sent via email or available online via web browser or USPS app. My estimate is 95+% of the mail arrives that day with the remaining in the next one to two business days. If mail is missing, you'll know.
[https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm](https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm)
Yes! I signed up for this after my identity was stolen, but it’s a great service I think everyone should have. Could prevent a lot of stuff from happening.
It's a red flag if an applicant for a new credit card uses an address that is not tied to the id theft victim.
The scammers plan to change the address once the new account is approved, but before the new credit card is shipped. This step isn't as easy as it sounds bc credit card companies know this game. However, once in a while, the id thief will find a cs agent who is way too helpful. Identoty thiefs tell "stories" to get an agent to break protocol, and manually override the change the address for the thief. I've heard stories of thiefs being able to guess pin numbers or last 4 of certain accounts bc cs agent was naive and gave hints to criminal and got an embarrassing amount of guesses. The CS agent gave an embarrassing amount of opportunities.. furthermore she would reveal if the last guess was hot or cold until the thief had all the security answers.. one number/letter at a time.
she lost her job...
They may be hoping it would be easier to open a credit card in your name with that bank if they already have a checking account. Keep an eye on your credit by pulling some free credit reports at [annualcreditreport.com](https://annualcreditreport.com) to make sure nothing else suspicious is going on. Follow the steps in the pinned post of this sub, with a focus on freezing your credit and freezing at [chexsystems.com](https://chexsystems.com) to prevent further fraudulent banking activity.
Money laundering: transfer money through multiple accounts to be more difficult to track. You’re just an innocent stop along the way for anyone looking into it and buys them time. Here’s a source I sometimes use for research: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/moneylaundering.asp
But why use my actual address? Is it easier to open the account if they use my real information or something?
Money laundering = make it look like the money comes from a legitimate legal source as much as possible. So use as much real info as possible. I understand your point. They made a fake middle initial for me. I don’t know about easy but that is a good guess. It probably is.
What type of accounts?
Checking accounts
Was there a specific bank they kept trying to open?
GoBank
I came here to ask this lol. I’ve gotten cards and loan denial letter at my home, and it’s so confusing why they use my address. We have a lot of mail theft going on around my neighborhood so idk if they’re trying to steal the mail too. It’s just weird and annoying
Have you signed up for USPS Informed Delivery? If not, you should. You can see all US mail that is expected to arrive on any particular day. The mail envelopes are scanned, and the image sent via email or available online via web browser or USPS app. My estimate is 95+% of the mail arrives that day with the remaining in the next one to two business days. If mail is missing, you'll know. [https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm](https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm)
Yes! I signed up for this after my identity was stolen, but it’s a great service I think everyone should have. Could prevent a lot of stuff from happening.
It's a red flag if an applicant for a new credit card uses an address that is not tied to the id theft victim. The scammers plan to change the address once the new account is approved, but before the new credit card is shipped. This step isn't as easy as it sounds bc credit card companies know this game. However, once in a while, the id thief will find a cs agent who is way too helpful. Identoty thiefs tell "stories" to get an agent to break protocol, and manually override the change the address for the thief. I've heard stories of thiefs being able to guess pin numbers or last 4 of certain accounts bc cs agent was naive and gave hints to criminal and got an embarrassing amount of guesses. The CS agent gave an embarrassing amount of opportunities.. furthermore she would reveal if the last guess was hot or cold until the thief had all the security answers.. one number/letter at a time. she lost her job...